Recruitment & Retention

Strategic Leadership Promotion Sets The Tone For COCM’s 20th Year In Business

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., – COCM is excited to announce the promotion of Jeremy Biddy to Executive Vice President for Operations. Jeremy has been with COCM since 2008 and has consistently demonstrated an outstanding work ethic, dedication, and leadership. Over the course of 15 years, Jeremy worked under COCM veteran Sandy Hill until her December 2022 retirement. During his career with COCM, he has…

Summer Conferences on Campus: Recovery Starts Today

In the post, Summer Conferences on Campus: More than Extra Dollars, we explored the value proposition of summer conferences and what it brings to campus in addition to revenue. Understanding the full value proposition of summer conferences is important because it create the imperative of what we need to do next, which is focus on recovery.…

Summer Conferences on Campus: More than Extra Dollars

When discussing the benefits of summer conferences, the first to come up is typically the additional revenue generated from underutilized resources in the summer months. However, the value proposition of summer conferences is much greater and can be used to leverage recruitment, employment, and create a sense of vibrancy on your campus during the summer…

Summer Internship Housing – with Emily Eskridge-June

We associate summer on campus with conference programs. But summer interns need housing, too, and many campuses are capitalizing on this need. Today, Emily Eskridge-June joins us to explain how she developed a thriving internship housing program at Cornish College of the Arts and what summer interns are looking for in a place to stay.

3 Management Tips That Create A Rockstar Leasing Team

We asked COCM’s Student Housing Marketing expert, Brittany Pieper, for her top three management tips to create an amazing leasing team. There are so many things you can do day-in and day-out, but implement these three first — and see the difference in your student housing success. Serve More Than You Take Serve more of…

The New Normal of Conference Services – with Christine Sismaet

The conference services team at the University of Washington was looking forward to serving 11,000 overnight guests and facilitating 200 overnight conference sessions this summer. But 2020 had other plans, and though the campus did not close, Christine Sismaet and her team had a very different season than expected.  Christine is the Operations Manager of…

Utilizing Conferences and Summer Programming for Income Growth

Conferences and summer programs offer institutions an opportunity to generate revenue that can reduce the financial burden placed on students during the academic year. And it’s not just housing – a strong, efficient summer program brings revenue to other campus entities as well, including dining services, athletics, facilities, and even academic departments. Developing these programs…

Top Channels for Communicating with Students – with Mellissa Taylor

During her tenure at COCM, Mellissa Taylor quickly became known among students as The Housing Lady. So, what did she learn as the face and voice of student housing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham? How have those lessons around communicating with students carried over to her current role in higher ed?Mellissa serves as…

Reflections on Working in Student Housing – with Brian Collins

After working with COCM for over 10 years, IT Coordinator, Brian Collins, made the decision to move to a new company in a new professional field. Brian explains why he needed this shift and encourages others at COCM that the need for growth doesn’t necessarily mean leaving the company to find ways to stretch yourself – he suggests to engage in opportunities outside of your defined roles, and see what you learn.

Ribbon Cutting at UMass Boston’s New Residence Hall

UMass Boston excited to open its first-ever residence Students now can truly call UMass Boston home. This past Tuesday, Mayor Walsh, Interim Chancellor Katherine Newman, University of Massachusetts President Marty Meehan, local elected officials and university supporters gathered to celebrate a ribbon cutting for the very first residence hall at the University of Massachusetts, Boston…

Understanding Diversity of Sites – with Brian Kraft

Join the Conversation Podcast Brian Kraft on Diversity of Sites When it comes to student housing, there is simply no way to copy/paste a set of processes on each new campus. Rather, you need to gain an understanding of the institution and the property itself and customize your approach based on the circumstances at hand.…