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At Lynn University, student-centered housing isn’t just an idea—it’s a daily practice. The team at Lynn has leveraged eRezLife Software to streamline operations, enhance communication, and ensure a more engaging experience for students and staff. We recently sat down with Hannah Link, Brian Gaida, and Kristy Shore to discuss how they have leveraged technology to focus on student success.
From Paperwork to a People-First Approach
Before eRezLife, Lynn University’s housing processes were a jumble of Excel sheets, binders, and countless emails. “It was all of our processes—either Excel sheets that we were just saving and emailing, or paper files kept in staff offices,” said Hannah Link, Director of Housing and Residence Life. This manual system presented a challenge for tracking information and took time away from focusing on students.
Determined to find a better solution, the department spearheaded a transition to using housing software. What stood out to the team was how intuitive the platform was for both students and staff. “We’re an Apple Distinguished School, so all our students get iPads. Having a housing management system that students can easily access on their devices just made sense,” Hannah explained.
Enhancing the Student Experience
One of the biggest improvements Lynn University has seen with eRezLife is in their student staff selection process. Having all applications, evaluations, and recommendations in one place has been a game-changer: “We assign RAs to interviews easily, and when they sit down with their iPads, they already have the score sheets assigned to them,” Hannah shared.
Brian Gaida, Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life, works closely on student staff selection and residence life processes. Emphasizing how helpful the form-building tools and conditional logic have been, Brian said: “The Help Site has been a lifesaver. Whenever I hit a crossroads, I can quickly look up how to adjust a setting or format a form.” The ability to track and run reports has made analyzing trends and making data-driven decisions easier than ever.
Beyond selection, eRezLife has enabled Lynn’s team to better support students’ personal and academic success. One example is their implementation of intentional one-on-one RA-to-resident conversations. “We use a red-light, yellow-light, green-light system to flag students who may need extra attention. This helps us ensure no student falls through the cracks,” Hannah explained. Having all this data in one place allows staff to quickly reference a student’s history and make informed decisions about how best to support them.
Housing assignments at Lynn are designed to give students agency in shaping their living experience. “Being able to pick your own room is special. It gives students ownership of their experience,” explained Kristy Shore, Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life. With a user-friendly system in place, students select their spaces with confidence, ensuring a better fit for their needs and preferences.
Beyond self-selection, technology has also helped the team improve communication with students. The ability to track whether students have read their emails has had a positive impact on staff: “Our RAs love that they can now check if residents are reading their emails. If they’re not, it signals that we need to find another way to connect,” Kristy noted. This level of insight has allowed staff and student leaders to adapt their outreach strategies to be more effective.
As Lynn University continues to expand—bringing on additional public-private partnership housing—having a reliable system in place is more critical than ever. “We’re growing, and with that growth, our processes need to be airtight,” Kristy shared. eRezLife’s ability to integrate with other campus systems, automate assignments, and keep staff on the same page has been essential in managing this transition smoothly.
Making Life Easier—for Students and Staff
One of the most unexpected but impactful changes has been reducing the volume of emails housing staff receive. “We’ve created processes that are so streamlined that students no longer have to email us for every little thing,” Kristy noted. Whether it’s selecting a room, submitting a request, or checking the status of an application, students can find what they need within eRezLife, making their experience more self-sufficient and efficient.
For the housing staff, this means more time to focus on student engagement while balancing tasks and work-life balance. “I can go on vacation and know that my team has all the information they need to keep things running smoothly,” Kristy added.
Lynn University has created a housing experience that is not just efficient but student-centered at its core. From making RA selection seamless to empowering students in their housing choices and providing valuable insights for staff, eRezLife has become an indispensable part of their operations.
“I think eRezLife makes the team be a team,” Kristy reflected. “It allows us to support each other, share information, and ultimately create a better experience for our students.”
At eRezLife, we love seeing our partners take full advantage of the software to make a real difference on their campuses. Lynn University is a shining example of how technology can enhance the staff-to-student connections that make campus housing so impactful.
Welcome to the community. We’re glad you’re here!
