StarRez is a software that streamlines the student housing process for higher education institutions. It has helped in managing over 3.5 million residents and has over 917,000 monthly users.
Elizabethtown College students became aware of its usefulness when they received an email on Aug. 8 of this year from the Office of Housing and Residence Life. They told students that that was where their new housing placement would be rather than JayWeb, as it had been in years past. This change began over the summer but became widespread and available to the students on the aforementioned date.
It made sense to move all this information to one place that Resident Assistants (RAs) and other members of the Residence Life team (such as the area coordinators and Director of Residence Life Tara Hoover, who did not respond to a request for a comment) could access.
Additionally, it may be easier for some to navigate and remember how to navigate in comparison to Jayweb, which already houses many forms.. By implementing StarRez, it gives students one place to do most of the required housing forms as it makes finding a roommate, finding out where one’s room is and getting information about one’s room all easier than it was in the past through Jayweb. Still, housing and Jayweb are relatively linked as the roommate agreement and outside visitor forms remain on Jayweb.
For RAs, StarRez displays their residents’ ages, birthdays, preferred name, ID photo and where they live on campus. This can be beneficial in terms of getting to know the residents through their faces over time and knowing who is where.
All rooms can also be checked on their current state such as what might be damaged or missing, and information can be added to each room as needed or as provided by residents. This makes doing inspections easier and puts all pictures under one file for the room. Each software entry splits the room into different sections and different condition ratings that go from “good” to “needs repair.”
When asking RAs their opinion on the platform, one of the Schlosser RAs, Bri Hastings, commented, “It’s definitely user-friendly, and you have to get used to it. It’s not nearly as bad as it could potentially be.”
One RA who preferred to stay anonymous stated, “On the RA side of things, I found that StarRez can be difficult to use since I currently only have access to the mobile app (when trying to access more backend information that only members of the Residence Life staff have access to). It makes it harder to navigate the platform when we’re trying to do our tasks like [room checks]. But I do like that everything is on one platform. I also haven’t explored StarRez as much, so my opinion on StarRez may not be completely accurate. I know that the platform is a work in progress and that the ResLife team is trying to make the transition as smooth as possible as issues and questions arise,” they stated. “I think that StarRez is very new to us, and it will take time for us to fully adjust and understand it as well as gain more access and experience to it.”
Additionally, students can check their room reports that their RAs made and correct them or accept them as needed so that they would not be charged for any damage done prior to their arrival. If they correct them and add additional damages that may have been missing from the initial report, then the residence life team will verify the information and the room will be reapproved.
Overall, it seems to have brought a lot of useful features to both ResLife staff and the general population on campus and using it should become easier over time and more streamlined. If you have any unanswered questions about the platform, reach out to the Office of Housing and Residence Life, and feel free to explore it as needed as it is meant to help the students as much as it is meant to help the Residence Life staff.
