Overview
Housing.Cloud is a comprehensive, cloud-based platform that manages every aspect of student housing operations—from the moment a student applies for housing through their entire residential experience. This article introduces the platform, explains its key capabilities, and helps you prepare for training.
Who this is for: All stakeholders involved in housing operations—administrators, residence life staff, IT personnel, and decision-makers participating in Housing.Cloud implementation.
What you'll learn: What Housing.Cloud is and the problems it solves, key platform capabilities, the Product Learning Sessions framework, and what you need to prepare before training begins.
What is Housing.Cloud?
Housing.Cloud is an end-to-end student housing management system that unifies housing applications, roommate matching, room selection and assignment, inventory management, maintenance requests, billing integration, communications, and reporting into one seamless platform.
Think of it as your single source of truth for all housing data, replacing the fragmented tools, spreadsheets, email chains, and manual processes you're likely using today.
Housing.Cloud is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), meaning there's no software to install, no servers to maintain, and automatic scaling during peak periods like room selection. Students and staff can access it from any device—desktop, tablet, or smartphone—with no app download required.
What Problems Does Housing.Cloud Solve?
Most housing departments face similar operational challenges:
Fragmented systems: Using Google Forms for applications, email for roommate requests, spreadsheets for assignments, DocuSign for contracts—each tool creates data silos and manual work
Manual processes: Spending hours copying data between systems, manually matching roommates, building room selection spreadsheets
Poor student experience: Students navigating multiple disconnected platforms with confusing processes and outdated portals that don't work on mobile devices
Limited visibility: Difficulty answering questions like "How many beds are available?" because data is scattered
IT dependency: Needing IT support to make simple changes to forms or rules—creating bottlenecks during your busiest seasons
Scaling challenges: Systems that crash during peak periods like room selection day
Housing.Cloud addresses these challenges by providing a unified platform with intuitive interfaces for both students and staff, no-code configuration tools, and enterprise-grade infrastructure that scales effortlessly.
Key Platform Capabilities
Housing Application Management
Build custom application forms with drag-and-drop form builders, configure multiple application phases with different deadlines, and use automated eligibility rules to determine who can apply to which housing cycles.
Roommate Matching & Room Selection
Students create public bios and filter by preferences to find compatible roommates. Configure rulesets with hard requirements and soft preferences for AI-powered auto-matching. Students can browse available rooms with photos and select their own room, or admins can assign rooms manually.
Inventory & Occupancy Management
Manage buildings → suites → rooms → beds → furniture with detailed tracking at every level. Visual Gantt charts show bed availability and occupancy rates over time. Tag rooms with amenities for filtering and automated assignment rules.
Check-In, Check-Out & Room Condition Reports
Streamlined check-in with QR codes, ID verification, and key distribution tracking. Document room and furniture condition at check-in and check-out with photos, compare reports to identify damage, and assess charges.
Student Staff & Duty Management
Assign RAs and student staff to buildings, floors, or room groups. Student staff submit duty logs and incident reports from mobile devices, check residents in/out, and manage room condition reports.
Meal Plans & Billing
Create meal plan tiers with pricing and flex points. Students select meal plans during application. Seamlessly sync housing charges, meal plans, and fees to your SIS (Ellucian Banner, Colleague, Workday) via Ethos, SFTP, or API.
Communications & Notifications
Send emails, SMS texts, or in-app notifications to students, staff, or parents. Target messages by housing cycle, building, tags, or custom filters. Create reusable templates with dynamic variables like student name and room number.
Tasks & Maintenance Requests
Students submit maintenance requests with photos. Admins create tasks for facilities or custodial teams, assign tasks to specific staff, track status, and configure priority workflows with automated escalation.
Reporting & Analytics
Create custom reports with a drag-and-drop report builder—no SQL knowledge required. Access pre-built reports for applications, assignments, occupancy, meal plans, and finance. Schedule automated report delivery via email.
Product Learning Sessions Framework
Your training follows a progressive structure across 9 core sessions:
Session |
Topic |
Audience |
|---|---|---|
PLS-0 |
What is Housing.Cloud (this session) |
All stakeholders |
PLS-1 |
Navigation & Core Concepts |
All admin users |
PLS-2 |
Housing Cycles |
Super admins, directors |
PLS-3 |
Forms & Tags |
Super admins, app managers |
PLS-4 |
Assignments & Rulesets |
Directors, assignment managers |
PLS-5 |
Meal Plans & Finance |
Directors, dining staff |
PLS-6 |
Student Staff & Check-In |
Residence life staff |
PLS-7 |
Tasks & Communications |
All admin users |
PLS-8/8.5 |
Student Portal |
All admin users |
Optional advanced sessions (PLS 9-18) cover reporting, integrations, room condition reports, events, HR/recruitment, packages, visitor management, and specialized features.
Sandbox Environment
You'll receive access to a sandbox (test) environment that mirrors your future production system. This is your safe space to practice navigation, build and test configurations, complete homework exercises, and experiment freely—mistakes in the sandbox don't impact students or real operations.
Housing.Cloud training is hands-on. The team members who actively practice in the sandbox, complete homework exercises, and ask questions during sessions are the ones who become confident system users. Schedule time between sessions to practice.
Implementation Timeline
Typical implementations follow a 5-month timeline:
Month 1: Kickoff, stakeholder alignment, data collection, sandbox environment setup
Month 2: System configuration, inventory upload, integration setup (SIS, SSO, payment gateway)
Month 3: Housing cycles creation, forms building, rulesets configuration, workflow testing
Month 4: Training sessions (PLS 1-8.5), communications setup, student portal testing
Month 5: User Acceptance Testing (UAT), data migration, cutover preparation, production launch
What You Need Before PLS-1
To ensure a smooth onboarding experience, gather the following before your first hands-on training session:
Stakeholder roster & roles: Identify everyone who will use Housing.Cloud and define their roles
SIS sample data: 200-row sample file from your Student Information System with student IDs, names, emails, class years
Test student accounts: At least three test student accounts that can log in via your SSO system
Housing cycle dates: Academic year dates, application windows, and move-in/out dates for Fall 2025, Spring 2026, Summer 2026
Branding assets: Primary logo (PNG/SVG), favicon, brand colors (hex codes)
Integration requirements: Your SIS platform (Banner, Colleague, Workday), integration method (Ethos, SFTP, API), SSO approach (SAML, OAuth)
Communication blackout dates: Exam periods, breaks, holidays when student communications should be paused
What's Next
You've completed Product Learning Session 0! Continue your onboarding journey with:
PLS-1: System Navigation & Core Concepts—Start PLS-1
Product Learning Framework: View the complete training structure
Homework Exercises: Access hands-on practice tasks