Project Category: Consulting (Operational Assessment)

Russia

Student Housing Case Study: Russia

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Opening a New Campus in the Russian Far East

Campus Advantage provided four years of consulting services for a new university campus in the Russian Far East. The project was a high-profile initiative of the Ministry of Education to create a world-class institution based on western design and operating standards. Several of Campus Advantage’s team members spent six months living and working at the campus in 2014.

The campus is located on Russian Island near the port city of Vladivostok, next to the border of China on the Sea of Japan. Fall classes commenced in September 2013 with approximately 25,000 students. CA’s work focused on four main areas: residence life programming, on-campus housing management, international marketing, and summer camps and conferences.

Campus Advantage was first invited to assist with the project in 2010 by the builder of the $7 billion project, who was based in Moscow. During visits to Moscow, CA had the opportunity to meet with several high-ranking leaders in the Russian federal government who were educated in the United States and Western Europe. These individuals were very interested in replicating the feel and atmosphere of western campuses at the new university in Vladivostok with the goal of attracting international students and faculty.

The campus includes over 12,000 beds of new housing. A team of architects from Moscow and the United States worked together with CA’s consulting group to design and plan the unit mix, common areas, and amenity spaces throughout the residence halls. This was the first new university built in Russia in many years, and the goal was to incorporate a true residential experience based on western traditional campuses.

Campus Advantage’s time in Russia was carefully designed to provide the university with tools that would assist their goals of raising their QS World University Ranking and becoming a world-class institution. The consulting team worked closely with university staff to provide training, policies, and procedures. One of the most exciting tasks accomplished was the development and implementation of the first Resident Assistant program in the country. With help from higher education marketing agency Catalyst, Campus Advantage developed recruiting concepts and materials that led to hundreds of students applying and interviewing to be chosen for the program.

Campus Advantage shared policies and procedures to help the campus create a roommate-matching program and customer-service-based management practices. CA also recommended special programs to assist international students and further advised on methods to increase access for students with disabilities. By putting a summer-turn plan in place, CA provided the university with the necessary tools to handle students moving in and out over a short period of time.

Working closely with Catalyst, CA was able to present the concept of a campus mascot and a university merchandise program. A faculty committee and student organization reviewed several mascot concepts and designs, along with a business plan for launching university spirit-wear and other branded products.

The work Campus Advantage conducted at Far Eastern Federal University provided them with the tools necessary to increase their QS World University Ranking — as well as ShanghaiRanking’s Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings — and was very well received by both the Russian federal government and the university. CA worked with Erik Holm-Olsen at the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok, who stated, “Campus Advantage, from everything I have seen, has been an excellent representative of the American private sector in Vladivostok.”

A sampling of accomplishments:

  • Introduced residence life programming to the FEFU campus
  • Created a mascot and a university merchandise program
  • Implemented world-class standards for residence hall management
  • Provided multiple opportunities to expand conference business at FEFU
  • Hosted several events on campus for students, allowing the FEFU staff and students to interact socially
  • Designed furniture and décor for leisure areas in the building

Plymouth, NY

Student Housing Case Study: Plymouth, NY

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Operational Assessment

Campus Advantage was engaged by the owner/operator of a portfolio of properties serving Plymouth State University. The owner’s goal was to sell the assets and retire, but they knew they needed to improve operations and increase occupancy before finding a prospective buyer, so they hired Campus Advantage to perform an operational assessment. In order to provide operational recommendations, the Campus Advantage team interviewed the site staff, toured the properties, conducted student intercept surveys, reviewed historical documents, and surveyed the market. Operational data and budgets provided by the owner were reviewed to create a comparative budget using industry benchmarks to illustrate the variances versus an average portfolio of this size. Campus Advantage primarily focused on identifying ways to streamline operations to increase efficiency. Furthermore, the team offered suggestions to strengthen the portfolio brand as the properties were located throughout the town at multiple locations and did not have a uniform style.

Campus Advantage’s assessment included the following:

Market Factors:

  • An overview of competitive properties in the market
  • A rate comparison to market averages
  • Enrollment trends for Plymouth State University

 

Marketing and Leasing:

  • Branding recommendations
  • Recommendations on tiered incentives for renewals
  • By-the-bed, individual leasing implementation
  • Website review and recommendations
  • Strategies to track effectiveness of marketing tools

 

Facilities:

  • Recommendations on additional amenities and outdoor features
  • Recommendations on audio/video features in the leasing office
  • Preventative maintenance schedule to focus on sustainability

 

Operations:

  • Additional training recommendations
  • Staffing/job duties assessment
  • Recommendations on management systems and accounting procedures

Residence Life:

  • Event schedule implementation
  • Advisement on campus relations

 

After providing the initial operations assessment, Campus Advantage was subsequently engaged to provide operations consulting to assist with the implementation of the recommendations. During Campus Advantage’s consulting engagement, the portfolio reached pre-leasing goals at a record rate and was 100% pre-leased by February for an August move-in. The owner was then able to successfully sell all of the assets within the portfolio.

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Morgantown, WV

Student Housing Case Study: Morgantown, WV

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Operational Assessment

In January 2016, Campus Advantage was engaged to provide an operational assessment along with ongoing marketing and leasing support for a student housing complex in Morgantown, West Virginia. This unique, two-part, 1,312-bed complex is composed of an apartment section and a traditional residence hall. The complex was newly constructed but opened with very low occupancy, so the owners needed a third-party perspective on how to improve marketing, leasing, operations, and resident retention. In order to provide operational recommendations, the Campus Advantage team interviewed the site staff, toured the properties, conducted student intercept surveys, evaluated operating procedures, reviewed historical documents, and surveyed the market. Operational data and budgets provided by the owners were analyzed and compared to industry standards to identify excessive expense variances.

The operational assessment was provided to the owners with recommendations primarily focused on achieving higher occupancy. The owners hired Campus Advantage as a leasing consultant to assist with tackling the leasing obstacles and achieving the occupancy goal.

A sampling of Campus Advantage’s recommended improvements:

Marketing and Leasing:

  • Refreshed the property branding and marketing materials
  • Differentiated the identity of the apartments and the residence hall
  • Relocated the leasing office and increased organization
  • Relocated the model unit
  • Revamped the model unit aesthetics
  • Increased social media usage
  • Revised the rate structure
  • Implemented a renewal campaign
  • Revised the website to promote both communities

 

Facilities:

  • Revised staffing structure
  • Made capital expenditure recommendations
  • Implemented a unit inspection schedule
  • Made improvements to the Wi-Fi network and amenities

 

Operations:

  • Implemented a resident satisfaction survey
  • Implemented a parking permit structure
  • Made staffing and training recommendations
  • Implemented new policies and procedures to increase efficiency

 

Residence Life:

  • Made co-vending recommendations
  • Recommended event and programming ideas
  • Made programming promotion and social media recommendations

 

After implementing Campus Advantage’s recommendations and utilizing the CA consulting team to assist with the marketing and leasing efforts, the residence hall’s occupancy increased 44%, and the apartment occupancy increased 31% from August 2015 to August 2016.

Case Studies