The Student Housing Matters blog explores ideas with leaders in higher education and the student housing profession. This is the place to find stories from those who have worked in the field for many years, podcast interviews, and videos about relevant topics in the student housing world.

It’s about matters relating to on-campus student housing, as well as why quality on-campus student housing really matters. We want this blog to serve as a forum for sharing ideas and insights about how your on-campus student housing can do things beyond simply housing students. How it can be used as a more powerful tool to recruit and retain students on your campus. We look forward to you joining us in the conversation.

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Student Housing

Podcast

Why the Excel Award Is a Win for Your Team– with Michelle Smith

April 28, 2021

The head coach may get all the kudos, but the folks who work behind the scenes truly deserve recognition too. Today on Student Housing Matters, Michelle Smith shares her history as part of the COCM founding team and explains why earning the Excel Award was a WIN for her entire staff at Florida Atlantic University.

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Podcast

To Earn Respect, Be a Team Player – with Kerissa Hobstetter

April 21, 2021

Some student housing professionals are only willing to perform the duties listed in their job description, while others do whatever it takes to provide the best possible experience for residents. Today on Student Housing Matters, Kerissa Hobstetter explains how being a team player earned the respect of her colleagues—and the COCM Excel Award!

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Podcast

Summer Internship Housing – with Emily Eskridge-June

February 16, 2021

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.

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Podcast

Facilities & Operations in Student Housing – with Patrick Shanahan

February 9, 2021

What does it look like to serve students from the facilities and operations side of student housing? What does it take to keep a residence hall complex well-maintained and running smoothly? Patrick Shanahan is the Director of Facilities and Administration at The Heights, Montclair State University’s newest residence halls complex. Patrick has worked at The…

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Podcast

Solving Complex Problems in Student Housing – with Kern Williams

February 2, 2021

LISTEN HERE: As you rise through the ranks of a career in student housing, you face more and more complex problems. Imagine, for example, taking on a site that has occupancy concerns, building issues AND staffing challenges. So, what do successful leaders do to avoid overwhelm and focus their energy on finding solutions? Kern Williams…

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Blog

3 Management Tips That Create A Rockstar Leasing Team

October 30, 2020

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…

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Podcast

The New Normal of Conference Services – with Christine Sismaet

September 1, 2020

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…

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Podcast

Utilizing Conferences and Summer Programming for Income Growth

August 18, 2020

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…

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