Colorado State University Redefines Off-Campus Life Through Strategic Housing Innovation

Meeting Students Where They Are: Off Campus and Beyond

When Lindsay Mason steps into her role as Director of Off-Campus Life at CSU each day, she’s thinking far beyond rentals. From neighborhood relations to transportation security, Mason’s office is a one-stop resource for students navigating life off campus.

"Yes, we help students find housing, but it's really about supporting the whole living experience. I don't know another office like ours that also runs the university's safe ride program... It's unique, and it's essential."

- Lindsay Mason, Director of Off-Campus Life at CSU

Established nearly five decades ago, CSU's Off-Campus Life office has evolved from a simple rental bulletin board to a multifaceted student support hub. Today, the team includes six full-time employees, a graduate assistant, and around 15 student staff members. The office addresses everything from lease education and roommate matching to city ordinances and late-night safety initiatives.

Scaling Student Support Without Losing Connection

As CSU’s enrollment grew and the student experience diversified, the challenges of supporting off-campus life expanded in parallel. Students expected user-friendly, mobile-friendly tools for housing. Property managers sought efficient ways to connect with student renters. And institutional leaders were looking for scalable, reliable systems that aligned with broader strategic goals.

At the time, CSU was running its own in-house rental listing site. "It was loved, but we weren't a tech company," Mason says. With no dedicated development team, the system became increasingly difficult to maintain and fell behind on modern features students had come to expect.

Simultaneously, Off-Campus Life was stepping into a broader student support role. The office found itself on the front lines of basic needs insecurity, particularly around housing and transportation. "When a student is housing insecure, that impacts everything—sleep, stress, academic performance," Mason emphasizes.

These converging needs; enhanced technology, stronger community collaboration, and deeper student support called for a solution that could scale without compromising the personalized care CSU was known for. The next phase of the office’s evolution would require the right tools and the right partners.

"When a student is housing insecure, that impacts everything; sleep, stress, academic performance... We needed systems that let us redirect our staff energy to those deeper support efforts."

- Lindsay Mason, Director of Off-Campus Life at CSU

College Pads and Collaborative Growth

In 2019, CSU partnered with College Pads to take their housing platform to the next level. With College Pads, CSU gained access to a professionally managed, mobile-optimized system built specifically for student renters.

"We went from managing everything ourselves to partnering with experts who do this every day...It freed up our team to focus on more strategic, student-facing initiatives."

- Lindsay Mason, Director of Off-Campus Life at CSU

The partnership was highly technical but also relational. Mason frequently consults with College Pads’ leadership. "Being able to pick up the phone and talk to someone like [the VP of Partnerships] about national trends? That's invaluable," she adds.

College Pads also offered CSU a path to generate revenue through listing fees, helping reduce reliance on student funding.

“We’re very conscious of the student fee burden. This [College Pads] partnership helps us diversify.”

- Lindsay Mason, Director of Off-Campus Life at CSU

To foster stronger ties with landlords, CSU even created a unique staff role: Property Manager Liaison. "This position came from property management," Mason explains. "It helped bridge our world and theirs in ways I never could alone."

From Site to System, and Student to Strategy

The shift to College Pads had a ripple effect across CSU’s off-campus ecosystem by:

• Improving Operational Efficiency: The office no longer manages site maintenance or landlord listings, allowing staff to focus on education, community outreach, and basic needs programming.

• Enhancing Vetting: While not marketed as a vetting tool, College Pads’ landlord support model and fee-based system inherently filter out scams, which are a growing concern for students.

• Boosting Community Engagement: CSU launched the Good Neighbor Program, where landlords who meet ethical guidelines are featured in the College Pads portal, giving students insight without steering.

• Enabling Strategic Growth: CSU is actively working with nearby institutions to create a shared regional housing platform. "We’re not the only city where students attend multiple schools and want to live together," Mason notes.

Looking ahead, CSU is also exploring deeper integration with its on-campus housing system, which is especially promising now that College Pads is part of the StarRez ecosystem. "We will be under the same reporting line as Housing and Dining Service," Mason reveals. "That opens up so many possibilities."

The Whole Student Housing Journey Counts

For Mason, housing is foundational to student success. "I can’t always prove that Off-Campus Life directly retains a certain percentage of our students," she admits, "but I know that poor housing situations can derail students."

That conviction drives her holistic approach. From running safety programs to advocating with city officials, CSU’s Off-Campus Life office doesn’t operate in a silo. "We work with police, code enforcement, landlords, student government, everyone."

And that’s why she believes institutions must treat on- and off-campus housing as a single student experience.

"Students don’t segment their lives. Their housing, their wellbeing, their academics - it’s all connected."

- Lindsay Mason, Director of Off-Campus Life at CSU

As other universities consider how to support commuter and off-campus students, CSU offers a compelling example. Not only have they modernized their tools with College Pads, but they’ve also built a student-centered, community-integrated model that reflects the real lives of today’s students.

"We’re not the office students tour on their first visit to campus," Mason says with a smile. "But when life gets hard, they find us. And we’re ready."

Ready to create a seamless off-campus housing experience for your students? Explore the StarRez Off-Campus Housing Platform.