The concept of student housing turn refers to the transition period in college and university housing where current students move out and new or returning students move in. This typically occurs at the end of an academic year, semester, or other timeframe.
There is often a whirlwind of activity, with students and parents carrying boxes and furniture in and out. Opportunistic criminals take advantage of this chaos to target unsuspecting residents. They strike when belongings are unattended and make off with valuable items like electronics, laptops, TVs, and other personal possessions.
This period is also critical for student housing departments to manage efficiently due to the high volume of logistical tasks. Examples of these tasks include room inspections, repairs, cleaning, and updating room inventories. The goal is to ensure that housing units are prepared and welcoming for incoming students.
The key aspects of a successful student housing turn include the following:
Detailed planning and scheduling: Universities plan the turn process months. Some tasks consist of setting specific move-out and move-in dates and scheduling necessary maintenance or renovation work to minimize downtime and disruption.
Maintenance and upgrades: After students move out, housing services conduct thorough inspections to identify damage or items needing repair. It’s crucial to quickly and efficiently handle maintenance issues to avoid delays in the availability of rooms for incoming students.
Cleaning and preparation: Rigorous cleaning is another major component of the housing turn. Student housing management often brings in professional cleaning teams to deep clean rooms, communal areas, and facilities to ensure meeting health and safety standards.
Communication and support: One of the keys to student housing success is effective communication with outgoing and incoming students. University housing management must provide detailed instructions on moving procedures, orientation activities, available resources, deposit information, and other related matters. This communication needs to be done multiple times in multiple ways as everyone has a different preference for how they receive information.
Technology: Many universities rely on technology and housing management software to streamline the process. The app can support room assignments and maintenance requests. This technology can track the status of rooms and help new students complete all the required tasks on schedule as they may feel overwhelmed.
By managing these elements efficiently, university housing staff can create a smooth student housing turn between outgoing and incoming students while maintaining the quality and readiness of student housing facilities. This process is integral to the operational success of university housing departments and the satisfaction and well-being of students starting or continuing their college experiences.
That said, here are the top ways to manage a successful student housing turn season and help keep students happy for the entire academic year.
8 Steps to a Successful Student Housing Turn
To effectively manage student housing turns, university housing must develop and implement a comprehensive strategy. Here are the steps to work through as part of a student housing turn strategy.
1. Plan and coordinate
Effective management of student housing turns starts with advanced planning. This involves setting clear timelines and coordinating multiple departments to create, align, and verify the completion of all tasks on schedule. Key activities during this process include the following:
- Develop a detailed timeline: Create a timeline for each step of the turn process, from initial inspections to final cleanings and move-in setups.
- Coordinate with departments: Coordinate between maintenance, cleaning, administrative, and customer service teams to communicate their responsibilities and timelines.
- Allocate resources: Assess and allocate needed resources such as staffing, cleaning supplies, and maintenance tools far in advance to avoid last-minute shortages.
This phase sets the stage for an effective transition between residents. Use checklists to confirm the scheduling and completion of all the prep work on time.
2. Create an effective communicate process
Student housing turn will not succeed without effective communication. Providing clear instructions and timely updates can boost the residential experience for incoming and outgoing students.
For outgoing students, provide comprehensive move-out information, such as deadlines, cleaning requirements, and deposit return processes. For incoming students, offer detailed move-in instructions, including what to expect on arrival, key collection procedures, and orientation schedules.
Enhanced communication cuts confusion and builds trust and satisfaction among students. So, use multiple channels such as emails, texting, and online portals to keep students informed of changes or important notices.
3. Streamline check-out and check-in processes
Simplifying check-in and check-out processes can notably reduce wait times and administrative drains. The following are some of the proven strategies:
- Use automated systems: Implement digital check-in and check-out systems to speed up the process, cut wait times, and eliminate paperwork.
- Post signs and instructions: On moving day, post clear signs and instructions to guide students through the moving process. This helps prevent bottlenecks and waiting times.
- Have adequate staffing: Use past experiences to verify there are enough team members to handle peak times, answer questions, and help with issues that pop up during the moving process.
These steps help manage the high volume of student transition, so that the staff can handle every student’s needs quickly and efficiently.
4. Manage maintenance and repairs
Good maintenance and repair management means being able to get them done in a timely manner and communicating updates to residents as needed.
- Prompt inspections: Conduct thorough inspections immediately after move-out to identify damage or areas needing repair.
- Scheduled repairs: Prioritize and schedule repairs based on urgency and availability of rooms. Repairs consist of painting, carpet cleaning, doing repairs, or replacing fixtures.
- Ongoing maintenance: Doing regular maintenance minimizes the occurrence of bigger problems later. It’s important to implement a regular maintenance schedule to address issues before they become urgent or bigger and more expensive problems.
Proactive maintenance extends the life of the housing facilities and keeps them welcoming and safe for students.
5. Use professional cleaning services
Student housing needs to make sure that the facilities meet health and safety standards by using professional cleaning services. Here are things to consider.
- Deep cleaning: Hire professional cleaners to perform a thorough cleaning of all rooms, common areas, and facilities between transitions.
- Health standards: Confirm that cleaning practices meet current health and hygiene standards for the safety of residents.
- Regular assessments: Consistently assess cleaning needs and adjust contracts with service providers to maintain high quality.
In addition to improving the physical appearance of the housing facilities, cleaning promotes and maintains a healthy living environment.
6. Invest in the right property technology
An Allegion study reviews the wants and requirements of multifamily housing residents. Student housing should pay attention to these findings if they want to attract and retain residents. These trends show more than just preferences. The study demonstrates a shift in the expectations of today’s students.
To meet the demands of students and their families, student housing should adopt property technology or proptech. Technology enhances operational efficiency and speeds up housing services’ response to student needs and questions.
As mentioned before, technology streamlines many aspects of student housing management, everything from room assignments and building access to maintenance requests and communications. Using current software solutions or apps offers these benefits:
- Security management, video cameras, and remote monitoring: Students’ families prioritize safety. Partner with a security company experienced with student housing security, access control systems, and monitoring services. Allegion has found that fewer than 1 in 3 respondents feel secure in their units. Thus, security, video cameras, and monitoring services are a high priority.
- Digital documentation: It’s time to move toward completely paperless operations where students can sign forms, submit requests, access communications, and receive notifications digitally.
- Real-time updates: Use systems that provide real-time updates on room status, maintenance progress, resident visitor access control, and other important information and activities.
There’s a growing demand for mobile access control with 60% expressing a preference for housing that provides it. What’s interesting is that over one-third of respondents have shown a willingness to pay more for the convenience of mobile access. This accentuates the importance of investing in advanced technologies to enhance security and convenience for students.
7. Hold staff training
Well-trained staff can make or break the execution of a student housing turn strategy. Host regular training sessions on customer service, emergency procedures, and operational protocols. These maximize the process and avert bottlenecks.
Be sure to provide support staff during peak times. They can get burned out if they’re working long hours. Consider supplementing them with temporary staff. Be sure to train the temporary staff, so they can be productive right away and ease the full-time staff’s load.
It’s also important to implement a way for employees to share feedback on the turn process to identify areas for improvement. Make it possible for them to submit anonymous feedback and assure them it’s completely anonymous.
Investing in staff training can heighten the quality of student services to help the students feel like they’re getting the best possible support.
8. Implement feedback and continuous improvement processes
As previously mentioned, feedback and continuous improvement play a key role in refining the housing turn process. And it’s not just for the staff. Students and their families need an opportunity to share their experiences. Strategies for implementing this include:
- Get post-turn feedback: Collect feedback from students, families, and staff after each turn cycle to gather insights into what worked and what didn’t.
- Hold review meetings: Conduct regular review meetings to discuss feedback and identify actionable improvements.
- Implement changes: Act on feedback to make changes to processes, training, or resources to better meet the needs of students and employees.
This approach increases the efficiency of future student housing turns while reinforcing a culture of continuous improvement.
By doing these eight things, universities can effectively manage student housing turns to create a seamless transition, optimize facilities, and create a positive residential experience for students.
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