Overview
In this module, you'll configure advanced settings that control when cycle data syncs to your SIS, how room condition reports work within your cycle, and when housing information becomes visible to students through release dates.
What you'll learn:
How to configure SIS integration transaction timing relative to your residence period
How to set inventory preview dates
How to configure room condition report (RCR) workflows
How to use release dates to control information visibility
Time: 10 minutes
Three Separate Tabs: This module covers three configuration tabs: Integrations, Room Condition Reports, and Release Dates. These are grouped together because they're advanced settings most institutions configure once and rarely modify during the cycle.
The Integrations Tab
The Integrations tab organizes when housing data from your cycle syncs to your Student Information System (SIS) for billing and occupancy reporting. These dates control the flow of transaction data relative to the residence period you defined in PLS-6A.
Navigation: In the cycle editor, click the Integrations tab.
Resident Cycles Only: The Integrations tab only appears for resident cycles. Non-resident cycles don't involve room assignments or occupancy reporting, so these integration settings aren't applicable.
Connecting to Your Term Code: These integration dates work in combination with the external term code you set in PLS-6A. The term code tells your SIS WHERE to categorize the data; these dates tell it WHEN to process that data.
Transaction Settings
Transaction settings control when housing and meal plan charges are sent to your SIS for student billing.
Transactions Effective Due Date
Field: Transactions Effective Due Date
This date determines when housing charges are considered "due" in your institution's billing system.
Example:
Residence period: August 15, 2025 - May 15, 2026 (from PLS-6A)
Effective due date: August 1, 2025 (before residence starts)
Result: Housing charges show as due on August 1 in student billing accounts
Coordinate with Bursar: This date should align with your institution's billing cycle and payment deadlines. Most institutions set this 1-2 weeks before the residence period begins to allow payment processing before move-in.
Transactions Egress Start Date
Field: Transactions Egress Start Date
This controls when housing charges BEGIN exporting from Housing.Cloud to your SIS.
Example:
Room assignments finalized: May 15, 2025
Egress start date: July 1, 2025
Result: No housing charges export to SIS before July 1, even if students received room assignments in May
Use when:
You want to delay billing until closer to the residence period
Your financial aid office needs specific timing for charge posting
SIS billing cycles have specific cutoff dates
You're finalizing assignments and don't want charges posting until verified
Billing Timing Critical: Misaligned egress dates can cause charges to post in the wrong billing period or semester, creating reconciliation issues. Work closely with your bursar and SIS team to set these dates correctly relative to your residence period.
Transaction Invoice Date (Ethos Integration)
Field: Transaction Invoice Date
For institutions using Ellucian Ethos integration, this sets the invoice date that appears on housing charges in your SIS.
Typically matches: Either the effective due date or the residence period start date
Ethos-Specific Setting: This field only appears if your institution uses Ellucian Ethos integration. As you learned in PLS-6A, Ethos requires term codes and enforces strict alignment with academic term structures.
Meal Plan Assignments Egress Start Date
Field: Meal Plan Assignments Egress Start Date
Controls when meal plan assignments sync to your SIS, separate from housing charges.
Use when: Meal plan billing timing differs from housing billing. Some institutions bill meal plans and housing on different schedules or through different processes.
Occupancies Egress Start Date
Field: Occupancies Egress Start Date
Controls when room occupancy data (who lives where) exports to your SIS for institutional reporting and space management.
Typically set to: The residence period start date or shortly before (e.g., August 1 for August 15 residence start).
Inventory Preview Settings
Inventory Preview Date
Field: Inventory Preview Date
Controls when students can preview available rooms before the room selection phase officially opens—view-only browsing without ability to select.
Example:
Room selection phase: May 1-15, 2025
Inventory preview date: April 20, 2025 (11 days early)
Result: Students can browse and explore rooms starting April 20 but cannot select until May 1
Use when: You want students to explore options, discuss with roommates, and plan their strategy before selection officially opens.
Show Inventory Preview Date
Toggle: Show Inventory Preview Date
Controls whether the inventory preview date is visible to students in their portal.
Enabled: Students see "Room browsing opens April 20" message
Disabled: Preview date is hidden; rooms simply appear when the date passes
The Room Condition Reports Tab
The Room Condition Reports (RCR) tab organizes how room inspections are managed at check-in and check-out during your cycle's residence period.
Navigation: In the cycle editor, click the Room Condition Reports tab.
Resident Cycles Only: RCR settings only appear for resident cycles. Non-resident cycles don't involve physical room occupancy, so condition reporting isn't applicable.
RCR Configuration Settings
RCR Flow Type
Field: RCR Flow Type
Determines who completes room condition reports within your cycle.
Options:
Student-Submitted: Students complete RCR during check-in/check-out
Staff-Submitted: Only housing staff complete RCRs during inspections
Both Required: Both student and staff complete separate RCRs for comparison
Most common approach: Student-submitted RCR at check-in (documents initial condition), staff-completed RCR at check-out (assesses damages relative to initial condition).
RCR Auto-Create
Toggle: RCR Auto-Create
Controls whether RCRs are automatically generated when students check in during the residence period.
When Enabled:
System creates blank RCR automatically when student checks in
Student sees "Complete Room Inspection" task in their portal
RCR appears in student's action items immediately
Ensures every check-in has documentation
When Disabled:
Staff manually create RCRs as needed for specific situations
More control but requires staff action for each resident
Best Practice - Enable Auto-Create: Enable auto-create to ensure every check-in generates an RCR. This creates a documented baseline of room condition at move-in, essential for fair damage assessment at check-out when the residence period ends.
RCR SLA (Service Level Agreement)
Field: RCR SLA Days
Number of days students have to complete their RCR after check-in.
Example:
Student checks in: August 15, 2025
RCR SLA: 7 days
RCR due: August 22, 2025
After August 22, RCR shows as "Inspection Late" in admin view
Common SLA values:
3 days: Strict timeline for immediate completion while room details are fresh
7 days: Standard grace period balancing timeliness and student adjustment
14 days: Extended window for busy move-in periods or large populations
RCR Deep Dive: For detailed information on creating RCR templates, configuring room inspections, furniture tracking, and managing RCR workflows throughout the residence period, see elective PLS-B: Room Condition Reports & Furniture Management. PLS-6J covers only the basic cycle-level settings.
The Release Dates Tab
The Release Dates tab controls when specific housing information becomes visible to students in their portal, independent of phase dates. This provides fine-grained control over information disclosure timing within your cycle.
Navigation: In the cycle editor, click the Release Dates tab.
Feature Gate: Release Dates require the CYCLE_RELEASE_DATES feature to be enabled. If you don't see this tab, your institution doesn't have release date controls enabled. Contact support to inquire about this feature.
Understanding Release Dates
Release dates control WHEN information becomes visible to students, independent of when that information exists in the system. This allows you to:
Prepare assignments in advance without immediately showing them to students
Control announcement timing for housing decisions
Coordinate releases with institutional communications campaigns
Prevent premature access to sensitive assignment information
Finalize and review data before students see it
Release Date Configuration
Housing Selection Release Date
Field: Housing Selection Release Date
Controls when students can see the room selection interface and browse available inventory.
Example:
Room selection phase dates: May 1-15, 2025
Housing selection release: April 25, 2025 (6 days before phase opens)
Result: Room selection interface appears April 25, giving students early preview
Residency Information Release Date
Field: Residency Information Release Date
Controls when students can see their assigned room and roommate information.
Example:
Room assignments finalized by admins: May 20, 2025
Residency release: May 25, 2025
Result: Students cannot see their assignments until May 25, even though assignments exist in the system since May 20
Use when: You want to finalize all assignments, resolve conflicts, and verify accuracy before revealing them to students. Also useful for coordinating announcement timing across departments.
Meal Plan Release Date
Field: Meal Plan Release Date
Controls when meal plan selection or meal plan assignment information becomes visible to students.
Typically aligned with: Application approval or room assignment timing
Room Swap Release Date
Field: Room Swap Release Date
Controls when the room swap interface becomes accessible to students during the residence period.
Typical setting: 2-4 weeks after move-in (e.g., September 15 if move-in is August 15). Aligns with the room swap phase dates you may have configured in PLS-6E.
Release Dates Are Flexible: Unlike most cycle settings that lock when your cycle becomes active, release dates CAN be edited even after activation. This allows you to adjust visibility timing as needed without unlocking the entire cycle configuration.
Integration Date Strategy
Typical integration timeline for a Fall 2025 cycle:
Residence Period: August 15, 2025 - May 15, 2026 (PLS-6A)
Transactions Effective Due Date: August 1, 2025 (when charges are due)
Transactions Egress Start: July 1, 2025 (when charges begin exporting)
Occupancies Egress Start: August 1, 2025 (when room assignments export)
Meal Plan Egress Start: July 15, 2025 (when dining assignments export)
This timeline ensures charges export to your SIS with enough lead time for financial aid processing before the residence period begins.
Billing Timing Critical: Misaligned egress dates can cause charges to post in the wrong billing period or semester, creating reconciliation issues for your finance team. Work closely with your bursar and SIS integration team to set these dates correctly relative to your residence period and institutional billing cycles.
Advanced Settings Configuration Checklist
Before leaving these tabs, verify:
✓ Integrations Tab:
✓ Transaction effective due date aligns with bursar billing cycle
✓ Transaction egress start date coordinates with SIS billing periods
✓ Transaction invoice date set (Ethos integration only)
✓ Meal plan egress start date configured if billing separately
✓ Occupancy egress start date set appropriately
✓ Inventory preview date set if allowing early room browsing
✓ All dates make sense relative to residence period (PLS-6A)
✓ Coordinated all dates with bursar, SIS team, and dining services
✓ Room Condition Reports Tab:
✓ RCR flow type selected (student, staff, or both)
✓ RCR auto-create enabled if requiring RCRs for all check-ins
✓ RCR SLA days set based on your completion policy (3-14 days typical)
✓ Staff trained on RCR review and damage assessment workflows
✓ Release Dates Tab (if available):
✓ Housing selection release date set if controlling room browsing timing
✓ Residency information release date set if delaying assignment visibility
✓ Meal plan release date configured
✓ Room swap release date set (typically 2-4 weeks after move-in)
✓ Communication plan coordinates with release date timing
Advanced Configuration Complete: Your cycle now has SIS integration properly timed relative to the residence period, RCR workflows configured for check-in/check-out, and information release dates set to control visibility. You're almost done—just one final critical module covering the phase calendar and active cycles.
Key Takeaways
Integrations tab controls when cycle data syncs to SIS for billing and reporting
Transaction dates must align with bursar billing cycles and residence period
Egress start dates prevent premature data export before you're ready
Inventory preview lets students browse rooms before selection phase opens
RCR settings organize how room inspections are managed during residence period
RCR auto-create ensures every check-in generates documentation baseline
RCR SLA sets deadline for student completion after check-in
Release dates control when housing information becomes visible independent of phase dates
Release dates CAN be edited after cycle is active (unlike most settings)
All integration timing connects to the term code you set in PLS-6A
Common Questions
Why are there so many different transaction dates?
Different dates control different aspects of billing integration: effective due date (when charges are due in student accounts), egress start (when charges begin exporting to SIS), invoice date (how charges appear in billing records). Each serves a specific purpose in the billing workflow relative to your residence period.
What happens if I don't configure integration dates?
Charges may export to your SIS immediately when assignments are made (potentially months before the residence period), which could cause billing to appear before you want it in student accounts. Setting egress dates prevents premature billing and allows strategic timing.
Do I need to configure RCR settings if we don't use room condition reports?
No. If your institution doesn't use room condition reports, you can skip the RCR tab entirely. The settings won't affect your cycle if RCRs aren't part of your workflow.
Can I change release dates after students have already seen information?
Yes, release dates can be edited even after the cycle is active. However, setting a release date AFTER students have already seen information won't retroactively hide it—it only controls future visibility.
What's the difference between inventory preview date and room selection phase start?
Inventory preview date allows students to BROWSE rooms (view-only, no selection ability). Room selection phase start date allows students to actually SELECT and claim rooms. Preview typically opens a few days before selection to let students explore and strategize.
How do these dates relate to the term code I set in PLS-6A?
The term code tells your SIS which academic term to categorize the data under. These egress dates control WHEN that categorized data is sent. Both work together—the term code provides the category, the egress dates control timing.
What's Next: PLS-6K
Now that you've configured all cycle settings across every tab, you're ready for the final—and most critical—module.
In PLS-6K: Phase Calendar & Understanding Active Cycles, you'll learn:
How to visualize your complete cycle timeline using the phase calendar
The critical concept of "active cycles" and what triggers activation
What you CAN and CANNOT edit after your cycle becomes active
Best practices for avoiding accidental cycle activation
Pre-activation checklist to verify everything is ready