How Eastern Kentucky University Streamlined Staff Hiring with eRezLife
“Before eRezLife Staff Selection, it felt like juggling spreadsheets, emails, and guesswork. Now? It’s all in one place, and we finally have the clarity and consistency we needed.”
– Donovan Cyrus, Associate Director of Residence Life
When Donovan Cyrus and Sydney Giles joined the Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) housing team, they were ready to build on their existing process and take student staff hiring to the next level. They were managing hundreds of applicants with a patchwork of spreadsheets, forms, and institutional systems – not ideal when you’re hiring over 200 student staff annually.
EKU was already using eRezLife’s Residence Life Management services, but Donovan and Sydney saw the opportunity to expand their toolkit. In spring 2024, they fully implemented the Staff Selection service, and it transformed how they recruit and hire.
A Streamlined, Centralized Hiring Experience
Donovan put it simply: “Everything lives in one place now.” From RA applications to interviews for community receptionists, their team built clear workflows inside eRezLife that supported every stage of the hiring process.
With over 250 applicants for 130 RA roles, having a centralized hub for evaluations, score sheets, communications, and decision tracking was critical. The team appreciated being able to:
- Track applicant progress through each step of the hiring cycle
- Automate communication with personalized templates
- Access real-time data on scores, cut lines, and candidate rankings
- Empower supervisors to make informed hiring decisions independently
Sydney, a Residence Hall Coordinator, emphasized that the system allowed their professional staff to become confident “hiring managers,” reviewing applications and feedback without waiting for updates from the central office. “They didn’t have to guess where candidates were in the process. Our staff could log in and see everything.”
Better Visibility and Stronger Candidate Conversations
The team also found that the transparency of the system fostered deeper, more intentional conversations both within their selection committee and with candidates.
“One of the most unexpected benefits was how it encouraged reflection,” Sydney shared. “Our team started asking better questions: what are the core competencies for this role? Are our interview questions aligned? Are we evaluating fairly?”
They used built-in data reporting to spot patterns and opportunities for growth. For example, one interview question consistently received lower scores across the board, prompting them to reexamine how they trained staff to evaluate responses.
Taking the Guesswork Out of Placement
EKU used the auto-assign feature to help minimize bias when assigning community receptionists to buildings. Applicants indicated their top location preferences, and the tool generated initial assignments based on availability and compatibility. From there, the staff team reviewed placements against interview results and student preferences before extending offers. This blended process saved hours of administrative time while still ensuring thoughtful, student-centered decisions.
Donovan summed it up: “That process had the least amount of bias and the most efficiency.”
Advice for New Users
Both Donovan and Sydney offered a key piece of advice for campuses getting started with Staff Selection: “Don’t wait to be perfect. Try things. Adjust next cycle.”
They used smaller hiring rounds as a “testing lab” to experiment with new features – like location preferences, scoresheet tweaks, and feedback form visibility – before scaling those strategies to larger groups. Now, they’re heading into their second full cycle with a clear roadmap, pre-built workflows, and the ability to “copy job” and refine rather than reinvent.
Final Thoughts
By making the process more transparent, intentional, and data-informed, EKU elevated both the candidate and staff experience. EKU’s experience highlights how the right tools can support thoughtful hiring decisions and give teams the space to focus on what matters most: finding the best student staff to serve their communities.
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