The NWU is implementing a new residence management system that will significantly improve efficiency within the university’s residences. The StarRez system is specifically designed for student housing and has numerous applications for residence management, placements, student interactions and reporting, among others.
“This is a trusted student residence system which is used worldwide and the NWU will be the first university in South Africa to implement the StarRez’s cloud-based system,” says Herman Steyn, the NWU’s director for special projects, business enterprise and development.
One of the greatest advantages of StarRez is the capability to manage beds across all three campuses – from the application process for residence spaces to allocation of beds according to the NWU criteria and the placement of students in their preferred residences. It will keep track of the movement of students between residences and finally provide proper control over the occupancies in the residence environment, which currently has more than 13 000 beds.
StarRez fills management gaps
StarRez addresses several residence management gaps identified during the planning phase of the Student Information System (SIS), as well as those previously identified through the VSS student administrative system.
The gaps included limited capability to keep track of the different statuses of a single bed at any given time, as well as constrained reporting capabilities.
Filling these gaps is in line with the strategy of the NWU to create a high-quality residence environment that supports academic and personal success.
“The development of the new residence management system also provides management with an ideal opportunity to optimise and align the residence processes on the campuses,” Hermans says. “Full IT integration between StarRez and all relevant current NWU systems will be possible.”
Tailored to the needs of the NWU
The new system will be customised to meet the needs of the NWU’s residence operations, ensuring a good technical and culture fit.
This will be based on the insights and recommendations that the university and the StarRez team have been gathering over the months. The StarRez team, under the lead of its business development manager Mark Stewart, has been working with the NWU residence management project team and the NWU Information Technology( IT) team under the leadership of Mari Prinsloo.
The process has developed to the point where the NWU Council approved the appointment of StarRez during its meeting on 13 November 2024.
According to Erin Greeff, specialist for record management systems (RMS) and SIS support, the project will be carried out in phases, with the first focusing on residence applications. The other phases comprise registration, room allocations and student communications.
The project team leading its implementation includes the NWU’s IT, residences, finance and student life departments. The sponsor is Prof Daryl Balia in his role as deputy vice-chancellor for operations and digital artificial intelligence systems.
“Although the dates are not fixed as yet, we are hopeful that the project will be completed by the end of 2025,” says Erin.
“We are truly excited about StarRez; its implementation will definitely usher in a new era in how the NWU manages our residences,” concludes Herman.
A happy occasion: present during the signing of the contract are Herman Steyn, William Quarta (StarRez), Elmarie de Beer and Mark Stewart (StarRez). In the second row are Annamarie Motsie, Erin Greeff, Wilma Lotriet, Leanne Dootson (StarRez) and Marinda Riekert. At the back are Leroux Malan, Greg Roberts, Erik Marx, Tiisetso Motshabi, Kobus Joubert and Caro Bamberger. Colleagues from the implementation team who could not attend the ceremony include Pola Mmapulana, Freedom Gwele, Goitse Makhoba, Lungile Masango, Tumi Mmabo, Karin Venter, Mmabatho Raphuse, Anna-Marie Bell, Jim Molautsi, Chris Williams, Corrie Rheeder and Celeste Rossouw.
