Case Study
Customer: University of Kentucky
Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Project: Combine all university
housing into one database for seamless campus-wide integration
University Size: 2613 undergraduate
units, 729 apartment units
With robust features and unparalleled flexibility, CS Housing provided the
solution University of Kentucky needed to combine all residential life
information into one complete database.
Nestled in the heartland of the Southeast, the University of Kentucky is the
home of the Wildcats, as well as approximately 6,000 students
who reside in university housing. The
university’s Auxiliary Services division manages 2613 undergraduate housing
units and 729 apartment housing units, which are available to graduate students
and students with families. Though
the university has used Diebold’s Housing Information System (HIS™) software
to manage its undergraduate housing since 1994, the university looked to Diebold
for a more comprehensive
solution that would allow it to administrate all housing in a single database.
CS Housing, released in 2001, proved to be the answer to the
university’s needs.
“Our goal was to make things seamless, with no division between our
undergraduate and graduate housing,” said Tammy Dishion, CS Housing systems
administrator, University of Kentucky. “CS
Housing gave us the flexibility to customize the software for all of our housing
situations. It also gives us the
ability to provide other divisions of the university with access to the
database, eliminating much of the redundant data entry that often occurred.”
The university began the conversion to CS Housing in October 2000 when Diebold
representatives came to the campus to assist in setting up the software to
accommodate its facilities. “We
decided to phase in the software, which gave us time to address any issues and
get more comfortable with using it,” said Dishion.
“Our apartment housing went up on July 1, 2001, and our undergraduate
housing, including one apartment complex, three fraternities, and 19 residence
halls, went live in December 2001. The General Accounting area was given immediate access
to the database to handle billing. Within
the next year, our Maintenance, Food Service and Dean of Students will have
“view access” to the data. Within
the next two years, students will be able to go online to submit housing
applications, view waiting lists and relay maintenance issues.”
The university takes advantage of CS Housing’s financial
data management features to automatically generate billing reports, which are
sent to the General Accounting office. “It
used to take three hours to run and post these reports,” said Dishion.
“Now it only takes 15 minutes.” The software also provides the
ability to automatically download files for accounting functions such as
billing, posting charges and credits and assessing late fees.
Dishion also appreciates the depth of demographic data that
can be stored in the system. CS
Housing’s efficient screen design streamlines data capture and display for
persons in dozens of categories, including specific data, demographic data, and
subjective data. “We needed to be
able to track different aspects of our student population and had no efficient,
university-wide mechanism to do it. We
now enter that information into CS Housing.
CS Housing and the Crystal Reports® feature allows me to search the
database on dozens of parameters and tailor reports to meet specific requests
for information.” Also important
to Dishion is the software’s built-in security features. Access levels and screen parameter viewability can be defined
for each user group, protecting students’ right to privacy.
As the university begins more widespread use of CS Housing,
Dishion is evaluating the implementation of additional software features, such
as wait lists and key, mailbox and parking space management.
“The beauty of this application is its flexibility,” said Dishion.
“You don’t have to take advantage of all the features and the
software can be easily customized so that you only capture the data you need.
But, everything is available if and when you need it.
It’s obvious that this product was created by housing professionals for
housing professionals.”
Product Description and Features
CS Housing allows campuses to harness information, Web and
wireless technology to efficiently capture and effectively use a wealth of
residential life information in one complete database.
The software accommodates a variety of facilities, including residence
halls, family housing, apartment complexes and summer accommodations.
CS Housing combines functionality and flexibility allowing universities
to maximize service while reducing costs.
Features
·
Familiar Windows® graphical user interface
·
Oracle® database
·
Password protection and user-defined access levels
·
Standard and unlimited user-defined data fields
·
Manages financial data and automates routine financial functions
·
Incident reporting and judicial tracking
·
Comprehensive maintenance tracking for room surveys, inventory and
work orders
·
Ability to use Tablet PCs for “roaming” functionality
·
Weighted criteria for room selection
·
User-defined wait lists and priorities
·
Key, mailbox and parking management
·
Flexible search capabilities
·
Standard and customized reporting through Crystal Reports