As part of the University’s Sussex 2025 Build on Strengths strategy, Housing Services and ITS have spent the past year completing two major upgrades to the system used to manage room applications and allocations in University residences.

StarRez is a student accommodation management system used by teams to take applications for accommodation; allocate rooms and record bookings; monitor incidents and welfare in the residences; take conference bookings; and check students in and out of accommodation.

The system has been used at Sussex since 2012, but has been developed extensively since. In early 2021, the University made an investment to complete two phases to upgrade StarRez, firstly moving to the latest cloud-based version of the software, followed by the implementation of StarRez Portal X, a modernised student application portal with better user experience and accessibility features.  

The system migrated fully to the cloud in May 2021, and this week marks the completion of the final phase of the project, with accommodation applications opening via Portal X for new student applicants arriving to Sussex in September 2022.

Becky Nash, Accommodation Services Manager said: “We are very pleased to see these vital upgrades to our student accommodation management system which give us with the ability to provide a better experience for students receiving room offers for September over the summer.

“These upgrades also ensure the longevity of our housing management system not only for our use in Housing Services, but also for SEF, Residential Life and Conferencing colleagues across the University. We are very grateful for the support received from ITS colleagues in implementing this upgrade.”

Katie Damen, Assistant Director, ITS Business Relations said: “We were pleased to work with our colleagues in Housing to ensure the StarRez cloud migration and upgrade project was achieved successfully and on target. Aligning to the IT and Digital transformation strategy, this shift of on-premises systems to the cloud will ensure the provision of a secure, stable, and responsive platform/portal for students, applicants and the Sussex Housing Services going forward.”

Using the StarRez Portal X system, housing applications for September 2022 will open for new postgraduates who meet the Sussex accommodation guarantee from Tuesday 15 February, followed a week later for new Undergraduate applicants on Tuesday 22 February.

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