Creating a Successful Living Learning Community with Indiana State University

Pivoting Support to Increase Support of LLC Programs

Living learning communities are an important part of the bridge between academics and campus life that many institutions focus attention toward. Indiana State University’s (ISU) LLC program proves to be a popular choice among residents with data to support this. With an increase from 25% to 37% of students requesting to live in an LLC, ISU found that LLC popularity is continuing to grow, and participation correlated with a 0.4-point higher GPA for in their student body. Additionally, there is an 11% increase in the number of residents choosing to remain in housing for the spring term, and an 80% rate of students returning to housing for the following academic year.

ISU however has faced challenges in efficiently managing their Living Learning Communities (LLCs) that has required a need to pivot to enhance the resident’s experience as well as the efficiency for staff. These communities, designed to provide students with a unique and immersive educational experience, require a robust and streamlined process to handle student assignments and communication from start to finish.  

The existing business process was time-consuming, taking an average of 5-8 minutes for our staff to complete the review and decision steps for each student. Updates were done via a bulk entry update based on LLC groups, making it difficult to provide personalized attention to each student. Additionally, the staff had to manually add a profile for every interested student, resulting in a cumbersome and inefficient workflow. It was also challenging to communicate with specific LLC students which resulted in sending multiple bulk emails, creating a communication bottleneck that hindered effective engagement. Overall, it was important to create a less confusing and time-consuming process for the students and to create sustainable practices as popularity in the LLC program increases. These issues highlighted the need for the Residential Life team at ISU to rethink their LLC enrollment process and utilize more capabilities of their smart software tools.  

Automating an Effortless Housing Process from Start to Finish

To address these challenges, ISU utilized their housing software, StarRez, to help them deliver a seamless and effortless LLC process from start to finish. To streamline their business process, ISU created a 3-step process for residents to apply and book themselves within an LLC community. With the help of StarRez, their new approach also helps automate their processes, enhance communication, and create a more engaging and supportive environment for their LLC students.

“With 19 LLCs, 12 of which are associated with academic courses, it was important for our team to create a seamless booking process from start to finish for this cohort of students.”

David Kachman, Occupancy Specialist for the Office of Residential Life at Indiana State University

Implementing Efficiency for a Growing Community

The utilization of StarRez yielded significant improvements in managing the LLC program for the Residential Life team at ISU. The team saw a remarkable increase in operational efficiency and effectiveness, saving valuable time and resources. Key outcomes and benefits included:

Refined Processes: The team automated previously manual tasks, such as application status, student assignments and communication, reducing administrative burden and freeing up staff to focus on more meaningful interactions with students. This automated approach resulted in a quicker and more streamlined way for students to apply, accept, and get placed into an LLC area. With data subscriptions, the ISU team can now automatically accept, update profile fields, and communicate with students with the click of a button.  

“We’ve taken a 3–5-minute process and simplified it for our staff to complete in the click of a button – which includes accepting, notifying, and updating all data fields for students in an LLC.”

David Kachman, Occupancy Specialist for the Office of Residential Life at Indiana State University

‍Improved Student Experience: By leveraging StarRez's features, ISU created a more personalized and supportive housing process for LLC students. The team utilized smart tools within StarRez, like applications and PortalX, to give students the opportunity to easily identify areas of interest, apply for an LLC, and ultimately book themselves into a space within those areas. The comprehensive tools for administrative staff makes it easy to build a process that will continue to function one year to the next as the programs continue to grow.  

Additionally, ISU has been able to automate the ways they can communicate with residents about their housing journey. Through this process, ISU can now automatically distribute important information, updates, and resources to students, as a reaction to a student being categorized as interested or accepted into an LLC program within their profile, application, or both.

Indiana State University's partnership with StarRez successfully transformed their LLC management practices. Through the business process review of their current LLC program, they’ve been able to pivot by using robust and smart solutions to create a streamlined, enhanced, and ultimately improved student and staff experience within their Living Learning Communities.  

StarRez continues to support ISU's commitment to providing a dynamic and engaging educational environment for its students. To learn more about how StarRez can support your transformative goals for your organization, connect with us to learn more!