Transforming Conduct Management: How Grand Canyon University Achieved 98% Time Savings with StarRez

With a student population of over 17,000 residents, Grand Canyon University faced significant challenges in managing student conduct effectively. Matt Hopkins, Director of Community Standards, oversees a team that addresses various incidents, from non-academic and non-Title IX cases that includes resident-related issues such as alcohol, theft, and conflict resolution. In recent years, the demands of managing these incidents have surged dramatically. Since implementing StarRez for conduct management, Grand Canyon University has recorded over 24,000 incidents. But, with an increased case load, Hopkins’ team needed to part ways with spreadsheets and manual processes to make room for improved data management and tracking systems.

Challenges and Growing Demands within Conduct Management

Historically, the team at Grand Canyon University managed conduct incidents through StarRez and through manual spreadsheets, manually assigned sanctions, and one-off communications. This labor-intensive approach, while functional on a smaller scale, became increasingly unsustainable as the volume of cases grew. Staff were responsible for tracking each incident and its subsequent actions, creating and updating spreadsheets, and ensuring that all incidents and sanctions were accurately documented.

“In some ways, we were asking staff to ‘pitch a perfect game’ every day. Expecting perfection in complex data management without automated support was an unrealistic burden.”

-Matt Hopkins, Director of Community Standards, Grand Canyon University

Compounding these challenges was the team’s reliance on spreadsheets to maintain academic and conduct holds. Staff would manually assign sanctions and send communication to parents and stakeholders—all processes susceptible to errors and missed steps. While these manual processes had served the institution for years, the scale of today’s operations revealed the critical need for a centralized, efficient, and automated solution.

A Holistic, Automated Approach to Conduct

To address these growing demands, the University’s Conduct Team turned to StarRez’s Conduct & Concerns Solution to streamline, centralize, and automate its operations. The implementation to fully adopt StarRez for all conduct related tasks was led in collaboration with Sarah Castro, Director of Housing Operations, who has long advocated for the comprehensive adoption of StarRez to support various campus functions. With her team acting as “keepers of the system,” they worked closely with Hopkins’ team to integrate the Conduct & Concerns Solution into the University’s conduct management process, eliminating spreadsheets and manual tracking systems.

The conduct team fully leveraged StarRez to centralize data and reduce error-prone, manual processes. The flexibility of StarRez allowed Castro’s Housing Operations team to configure the system based on the Conduct Team’s specific needs. Together, they redefined conduct processes, streamlining sanctions and incident management to maintain data integrity and enhance the efficiency of their operations.

“This collaboration has been a transformative experience for our entire team. We worked with Matt to build features and workflows that meet their needs, all while creating efficiencies across departments.”

-Sarah Castro, Director of Housing Operations, Grand Canyon University

Flexible and Adaptable Solutions Drive Success  

The StarRez Conduct & Concerns Solution offered a flexible and adaptable solution to meet the University’s complex conduct management needs. For Castro, fully integrating all conduct related tasks within StarRez was the ideal choice because of its robust configurability options, enabling them to set up automated workflows, notifications, and dashboards tailored to their processes.

“We didn’t need to be experts in data management—we could be experts in student conduct and let StarRez handle the rest. It was empowering to have a system that would manage the details so we could focus on supporting our students."

-Matt Hopkins, Director of Community Standards, Grand Canyon University

By incorporating these tools, Grand Canyon University achieved greater efficiency and enhanced the conduct process, demonstrating how similar solutions can streamline operations and drive meaningful improvements in community satisfaction:

1. Dashboards: The conduct team designed dashboards to track sanctions, conduct holds, and incident details. For instance, the dashboard auto-populates the names of students who require family notifications, providing staff with a comprehensive view of all pending actions without the need to search through files.

2. Automated Notifications: Email and SMS alerts were set up for conduct notifications, instantly notifying stakeholders, including the CARE office, athletic coaches, and residence life leaders, when incidents involving their students occurred. This automation was particularly useful for wellness checks and ensuring prompt communication without relying solely on staff.

3. Workflow Automation for Minor Violations: For minor conduct issues, such as low-level residence life violations, the team implemented automated workflows that reduced the need for manual data entry and tracking. Instead of relying on spreadsheets, student workers now manage these cases within StarRez, allowing them to track each incident, assign tasks, and update statuses with ease.

Navigating Conduct Procedures with Confidence

Since fully integrating all conduct management work within StarRez, Grand Canyon University has seen significant improvements in the effectiveness, accuracy, and consistency of its conduct management process. Firstly, data integrity has been increased tenfold with the help of automated reporting. Instead of manually compiling data, the Conduct Team now pulls reports directly from StarRez. This transition eliminated redundant spreadsheets and increased data accuracy, giving staff a reliable “source of truth” for conduct-related information while increasing their trust in the data being presented and delivered.  

In addition, automated workflows have improved efficiency and morale by allowing staff to focus on higher-level tasks, reducing the risk of burnout. Previously time-consuming tasks, like generating incident letters and tracking sanctions, are now handled within minutes through dashboards. The streamlined process has significantly reduced anxiety and mental burden on staff, who no longer worry about missing critical steps in the workflow.

“The pressures and anxieties of staff thinking 'Did I do this right? Did I update the spreadsheet? Did I forget something here?’ has completely disappeared.”

-Matt Hopkins, Director of Community Standards, Grand Canyon University

Workflow automation has also transformed the role of student employees, who manage low-level violations seamlessly within StarRez. The enhanced tracking and workflow tools have made the process faster and more reliable, helping student workers develop valuable skills while ensuring consistency and accuracy in data handling in minimal time. For example, student staff employees used to spend an hour a week processing parental notification letters that explain their student has been held responsible for a drug or alcohol violation, as allowed by FERPA. Now, it takes 98% less time to use dedicated dashboards to confirm appeal statuses and address mailings with confidence and ease.  

Looking Forward: Expanding GCU’s Capabilities

Inspired by the impact of the Conduct & Concerns Solution, the Housing Operations team is now exploring additional ways to leverage StarRez’s capabilities. The University aims to expand its automation to support further data integration, such as tracking academic holds within StarRez. Castro and Hopkins anticipate that continued improvements will make student conduct processes even more efficient, enabling the university to provide fair and timely support to students across all aspects of campus life.

“We’re seeing what’s possible with StarRez. Our goal is to keep building on these successes, using the system’s capabilities to serve our students and the entire campus community.”

-Sarah Castro, Director of Housing Operations, Grand Canyon University

Connect with our team to learn how to transform your conduct management process.