ORLANDO, Fla. – Hundreds of students at University of Central Florida will be delayed in moving into their dorm rooms this weekend because their new dorms won't be ready in time for the school year, which starts Monday.
The new dorms are the Neptune community residence halls, near the UCF police station.
UCF officials sent out an email to 650 residents Thursday night, leaving many parents scrambling to rearrange their move-in plans for the weekend.
Reginald and Valerie Polnitz came down from Tampa to move their daughter Alana into her dorm room. She's staying in the Nike dorms, which are completed.
"If I was in that situation with my daughter, I'd be so upset that someone would have to explain to me why this is happening last minute," said Reginald Polnitz. "We're glad she's taken care of, but it just kind of blows my mind that students are just now finding out about this."
Two out of three buildings in the Neptune residence halls are still not finished. Students moving into building 157 won't be able to move in until Sunday, a day before school starts.
"If you're paying tuition and paying for housing, you feel like your child should be comfortable when you leave here," said Valerie Polnitz.
UCF officials said another building won't be completed until early in the fall semester, which means 200 students will be put up in temporary housing.
Parents from the Facebook group "UCF Pegasus Parent" have been venting their frustrations online.
One post reads in part, "This adds more stress to the ton I have. I don't like the lingering."
Mack Cope is helping his daughter, Madeson, move in and said he feels for families coming from out of state.
"We're lucky to be in the Nike unit," said Cope. "If I was from out of town, I don't know how I'd deal with that."
Students in temporary housing will have the option to move into Neptune once their room is ready or remain in their temporary room for the fall and spring semesters at their current rent.
UCF said they will provide temporary housing for students that try to move in before Sunday.