Overview
Profiles are the foundation of your housing system—every student who might apply for housing needs a profile first. This article teaches you what profiles are, what data they contain, and how to add, edit, and merge profiles.
What you'll learn: What profile data contains, how to add new profiles manually, how to edit profile information, how to merge duplicate profiles, and how profiles relate to applications and residents.
Prerequisites: This article assumes you understand basic table navigation, filtering, searching, bulk operations, and exports covered in PLS-1E: General UI Patterns and PLS-1F: List-to-Detail Pattern.
What is a Profile?
A profile is a permanent student record in Housing.Cloud.
It contains:
- Basic information: Name, email, student ID, date of birth
- Contact information: Phone number, emergency contacts, addresses
- Academic information: Class year, major, enrollment status
- Housing history: Past applications, assignments, and residencies
- Tags: Labels that categorize students (preferences, cohorts, special populations)
- Custom fields: Institution-specific data configured by your admins
Profiles vs Applications vs Residents: A profile is the person. An application is their request for housing in a specific cycle. A resident is their active housing assignment. One profile can have multiple applications and residencies over time.
Accessing Profiles
Navigate to Profiles from the main navigation sidebar. You'll see a table displaying all student profiles in your system with columns for name, email, student ID, class year, tags, and any custom fields.
Use the standard table features to find and manage profiles:
- Search: Find students by name, email, or student ID
- Filter: Narrow by class year, tags, or custom fields (save useful filters as custom views like "First-Year Athletes" or "International Students")
- Export: Download filtered profile lists for reporting
- Bulk actions: Tag multiple students, send messages, or export selected profiles
Quick Search shortcut: Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows) from anywhere to open Quick Search. Type a student name to jump directly to their profile detail page.
Adding a New Profile
To add a new student profile manually:
- Navigate to Profiles
- Click Add New Profile
- Fill out the required fields:
- First Name (required)
- Last Name (required)
- Email (required)
- Student ID (optional but recommended)
- Add optional information:
- Phone number, date of birth, class year, pronouns
- Emergency contacts
- Custom fields specific to your institution
- Click Create Profile
The new profile immediately appears in the profiles table and the student can log in to apply for housing.
Bulk import via SIS: Most institutions sync profiles automatically from their Student Information System (Banner, Colleague, etc.). Manual profile creation is typically used for edge cases like late applicants, transfer students not yet in your SIS, or staff members.
Editing Profile Information
To edit an existing profile:
- Click the student's name from the profiles table (opens their detail page)
- Click Edit
- Update any field as needed
- Click Save Changes
What You Can Edit
- Contact information: Email, phone, addresses
- Personal details: Preferred name, pronouns, date of birth
- Academic information: Class year, major, graduation date
- Tags: Add or remove category tags
- Custom fields: Any institution-specific fields
SIS sync override: If your institution syncs profile data from your SIS, manual edits may be overwritten during the next sync. Check with your integration team about which fields are safe to edit manually versus which are controlled by your SIS.
Merging Duplicate Profiles
If a student has multiple profiles (common when data comes from multiple sources or during migrations), merge them:
- Navigate to Profiles and open one of the duplicate profiles
- Click More Actions → Merge Profile
- Search for the duplicate profile to merge into this one
- Review both profiles and select which data to keep from each
- Click Confirm Merge
Merging is permanent: Once profiles are merged, you cannot undo the action. All applications, residencies, and history from both profiles will be combined into one. Double-check that you're merging the correct profiles before confirming.
Understanding Profile Detail Pages
When you click a student's name, their detail page opens with multiple tabs showing different aspects of their housing data:
- Overview: Summary of basic info, contact details, tags, and recent activity
- Applications: All housing applications this student has submitted across all cycles
- Residents: All current and past residencies (housing assignments)
- Tags: All tags assigned to this profile
- Attachments: Files uploaded by or about this student
- Activity: Audit log of all changes to this profile
This gives you a complete picture of the student's housing history in one place.
Profile-Specific Bulk Operations
Beyond standard bulk actions, you can perform profile-specific operations:
Bulk Tag Management
Select multiple students and click Bulk Actions → Manage Tags. The bulk tag editor shows:
- Tags on All: Tags assigned to every selected student (removing a tag here removes it from all)
- Tags on Some: Tags assigned to only some selected students (drag a tag to "Tags on All" to apply it to everyone)
This is useful for tagging entire cohorts at once (e.g., tag all first-years with "Class of 2028").
Real-World Scenarios
Scenario 1: New Transfer Student Needs Immediate Housing Access
A transfer student who isn't in your SIS yet needs to apply for housing today.
Solution: Add New Profile → Enter their name, email, and temporary student ID → Create Profile → Student can immediately log in and apply for housing. Update the student ID later when your SIS sync runs.
Scenario 2: Export All Athletes for Priority Housing Report
Your athletics department requests a list of all student-athletes who applied for housing.
Solution: Filter profiles by Tag: "Student-Athlete" → Export to CSV → Share spreadsheet with athletics department.
Scenario 3: Finding and Fixing Duplicate Profiles
You notice John Smith appears twice in your system (likely from a data import error).
Solution: Search for "John Smith" → Open both profiles and compare data → Use Merge Profile to combine them → Select which email, phone, and fields to keep → Confirm merge → John now has one complete profile with all his application and residency history intact.
Scenario 4: Viewing a Student's Complete Housing History
A student applying for senior housing claims they've lived on campus for three years, but you need to verify.
Solution: Search for the student → Click their name → View the Residents tab → You see all past residencies: Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024 → Confirm they meet the three-year requirement.
What's Next
Continue your Product Learning Session 2 journey:
- PLS-2B: Understanding Applications—Learn how applications work and how students move from profiles to applicants
- PLS-2C: Understanding Residents—Learn how students become residents and how to track residency data
- Complete PLS-2: Product Learning Session 2: Managing Your Housing Data