Colorado State University Pueblo Enhances Housing Operations and Student Experiences with StarRez

At Colorado State University Pueblo (CSU Pueblo), residence life is an essential component of student success, with the campus offering a variety of suite-style and loft apartment housing options for its 850 residents. Carl Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Housing, oversees day-to-day housing operations, including assignments, building management, and staff supervision. As a smaller school with a dedicated housing team, CSU Pueblo has achieved remarkable success with StarRez since implementing it in 2022.

Real-Time Record Keeping Transforms Operations

CSU Pueblo’s housing team, consisting of seven professional staff members, two graduate assistants, and about 50 student staff, has been able to streamline processes significantly with StarRez. Rodriguez, a power user of the platform, shared how vital features like dashboards, notes, and automated reporting have improved efficiency for both staff and students. “Dashboards have been huge for us,” Rodriguez explained.  

“Being able to see live data in real time has replaced our old pen-and-paper tracking, which was much less efficient. The automation of reports has also saved us a lot of time, especially with financial reporting.”

- Carl Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Housing, Colorado State University Pueblo

Rodriguez and his team have also benefited from StarRez’s note-taking functionality, allowing staff to keep detailed records of interactions, which has been key for resolving issues quickly. The previous housing system had limited functionality, making it difficult to track and manage critical information.

Effortless Engagement with Automated Communications

For CSU Pueblo’s students, the StarRez portal has been a game-changer. “Our students used to expect issues with the portal under our old system, but with StarRez, it's been smooth,” said Rodriguez.

One notable improvement has been in the automated communications that StarRez enables. The portal's ability to send automatic emails to students after they complete certain actions has reduced the number of phone calls to the housing office.

“The portal automatically sends emails to students when they submit applications, which has dramatically reduced the number of phone calls asking, ‘Did you get my application?’”

- Carl Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Housing, Colorado State University Pueblo

Additionally, CSU Pueblo’s marketing efforts have seen a boost, thanks to StarRez’s email wizard. The email communication feature has been a valuable tool, and the marketing team has made the emails more engaging, which has helped increase the organization's social media following. “We’ve been able to include links to our Instagram in our emails, which has helped increase our social media following,” said Rodriguez. “It’s been great to integrate our communications with our marketing in this way.”

Plans for Continued Enhancements using StarRez

While the transition to StarRez has been smooth, CSU Pueblo is continuing to enhance current processes and procedures. One of Rodriguez’s top priorities is implementing StarRez for room condition reporting, which is currently managed through a separate form system. “It’s tedious for everyone, and we’re excited to streamline it with StarRez,” he said. “We’re also working on improving our roommate matching process, which will reduce the number of room change requests and conflicts.”

Even though the project is still ongoing, CSU Pueblo has already seen a 92% reduction in room change requests this year. “Last year, we had about 25 room changes in the first month (of the academic year) alone,” Rodriguez shared. “This year, we’ve only had about two so far, thanks to better communication and room selection tools.”

The Decision to Switch to StarRez

CSU Pueblo's previous system, Cbord, had become too inefficient for all the initiatives their team wanted to accomplish. “Our old system took up to two minutes just to load a single entry,” Rodriguez recalled.

“When we switched to StarRez, the difference was night and day. It’s been essential for our department, and we couldn’t go back to the way things were.”

- Carl Rodriguez, Assistant Director of Housing, Colorado State University Pueblo

For a smaller institution like CSU Pueblo, StarRez has proven to be a powerful tool for improving staff efficiency, enhancing the student experience, and streamlining operations. As Rodriguez and his team continue to implement new features and refine their processes, they look forward to seeing even more benefits from StarRez in the future.

Learn more about the StarRez platform for higher education housing.

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