How Self-Selection Dramatically Changed The Student Experience At Bournemouth University

Bournemouth University has been a customer of StarRez since 2013. They started by allowing students to go online and select their rooms themselves and could also book a time slot to attend inductions. By year four, with the increase of rooms becoming available, it became even more streamlined and students could use our time slots solution to leave and receive all the necessary instructions, such as returning of keys, just as they did for their induction. In year five, they introduced PortalX and that gave staff the option for Conditional students to reserve their rooms as well as the usual Unconditional bookings.

When students log into StarRez via Bournemouth University, they are given a classification and this could be new student or returning student. This then determines what options are available to them when they are setting up their profile. Once their profile is uploaded, they can select rooms by location, gender, and room types. They can see a selection of rooms available and once booked they can then see profiles of who else is in room with them.

By giving the students more ownership and self-selections options they have managed to:

• Reduce complaints by 80%
• Remove the manual process, saving 95 hours per term
• ‍Reduce transfers or withdrawals room by 80%

Self selection has changed our workload so much, it has given the students freedom to see exactly what is available for them to book when they log into the system. Any cancellations go straight back onto the portal for a new booking and it has all been very fluid with a massive reduction in complaints. Also using the portal means everything is in one place, whether the students are; booking accommodation, paying rent, booking their arrival timeslots or learning about where to leave their keys, it is all on our Accommodation Portal making it very simple for the students.

Naomi Crabb, Bookings and Administration Officer, Bournemouth University

Automation of communications

The University also use the StarRez automated email solution. At any stage from booking a room to confirming that reservation an email is generated via StarRez, removing the manual piece and providing consistency across the university.

Expanding their resources for busy periods

Another busy period for the university is A Level results day. They have a call centre set up from 8am – 7pm on A-level results day and onwards for the next few days (including weekends) to answer any queries students may have. By generating emails in the lead up to this normally busy day means the call centre is now a lot quieter and mainly dealing with inquiries regarding insurance and clearing.