Reshaping the Move-In Experience for Students at Manhattan University

Needing to Reimagine the Move-In Experience

The move-in process is a pivotal moment in a student’s college journey. As Manhattan University's student population grew, the move-in process became more complex. The arrival of hundreds of students and their families required greater levels of coordination in order to decrease wait times and improve communication regarding room assignments and the move-in timeline.   

The staff at Manhattan University faced challenges in preparing for the student move-in process. In addition to the increase in manual workload, the turnover of spaces and room assignments added a layer of complexity, causing frequent last-minute changes. Additionally, the staff experienced difficulty in retrieving accurate data from their existing systems and presenting it in a meaningful way. This lack of access to reliable data hindered their ability to make informed decisions, allocate resources efficiently, and provide a seamless move-in experience.

Recognizing the urgency of this issue, Manhattan University sought a solution to not only alleviate these pain points but also create an environment where students could feel welcomed and supported before they even set foot on campus. To achieve this, Manhattan College chose to implement StarRez as their go-forward platform that would address immediate concerns for both their students and staff and would aid them in providing their students with exceptional resident experiences.  

Creating a Student-Centric Approach

Acknowledging the need for a more streamlined and student-centric approach, Manhattan University embarked on a transformative journey by implementing StarRez. The goal Manhattan University set with their implementation was to understand their current business processes and rebuild them in a way that best served their community – with the StarRez system supporting those needs. This approach was a vast improvement upon previous processes that were set up to fit within the confines of a limited system’s capabilities.  

"Switching to StarRez has proven to be a great decision. We have improved how we can distribute information among our campus partners and get our students engage more with the portal. It’s been a great experience for everyone involved.”

William Atkinson, Assistant Director of Housing Operations, Manhattan University

The move to StarRez will allow Manhattan’s team to focus on the improvement of business processes that impact the overall student experience. Through their implementation, the team focused on areas that support future growth and enrollment. They are actively improving the resident experience through personal interactions and streamlined processes and operational procedures. Additionally, significant focus was placed on how staff work with the software to effectively maximize productivity, freeing up time to prioritize resident satisfaction. For example, using the occupancy graph within StarRez enabled the team to understand when and where students were moving in, so they could appropriately communicate with public safety staff for traffic management. This proactive approach prompted the team to reorganize their move-in staffing plan based on the information gathered from the occupancy graphs.

Implementing Impactful Changes

The implementation of StarRez directly impacted Manhattan’s move-in operation especially in key areas such as communication, task automation, and day-of coordination. Notably, the use of increased automation has revolutionized the management of reserved bookings, offering advanced communication capabilities. Two days prior to check-in, students receive specific information along with a unique barcode, allowing for real-time check-in, streamlining the process.  

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Additionally, automation has facilitated tailored communication based on student status, addressing reservations, cancellations, and students with holds. Automated communication significantly reduced the number of students with holds, with a remarkable reduction from 174 holds to just 75 in a single weekend, a testament to the positive impact of these improvements on the move-in process.

“Using StarRez has made it easier for our campus partners to access up to the minute information. That has been valuable during our busiest times of the year."

William Atkinson, Assistant Director of Housing Operations, Manhattan University

Configurable automations have proven to be a game-changer, particularly from an operational standpoint, with significant improvements in managing last-minute cancellations and room changes. In the past, generating combination cards for 1,200 students posed challenges, especially when reassignments occurred, requiring new cards and the disposal of old ones for security reasons. However, with StarRez, the team is now able to upload door codes into the system as custom fields. When a student scans a barcode at check-in, custom coding coupled with a configurable processes triggers the system to automatically generate an email containing their door code information. This ensures that students only gain access after physically checking in, making it a safer and more secure method of disseminating this information. Additionally, this approach streamlines information management and eliminates the need for physical index cards and mailing labels.

“We are working on using StarRez to optimize more of our processes. Using different features in StarRez has allowed our staff to dedicate more time to our students.”

William Atkinson, Assistant Director of Housing Operations, Manhattan University

For more information on expanding on ways to transform your business operations, visit www.starrez.com.

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