Digital Transformation on a Deadline: How Lehigh University Modernized Housing Mid-Year
Overcoming a compressed timeline and operational void, Lehigh partnered with Housing.Cloud to achieve a modern, resilient system that immediately improved staff efficiency, financial visibility, and the student housing experience.
“When you know a contract is ending, you have to be willing to rethink everything. We had a compressed timeline, but with the right team and a system that could flex to meet our needs, we made it work.”
 | Michaela Criswell Associate Director for Housing Services |
Rethinking Housing Software to Meet Students Where They Are
When Lehigh University set out to replace its aging housing system, the goal was bigger than just swapping tools. The housing team wanted a modern platform that would meet students where they are, reduce friction in day-to-day operations, and allow staff to intentionally redesign processes rather than simply “lifting and shifting” what they had before.
Coming from a legacy system that felt outdated to students and staff, the team was looking for:
A modern, intuitive experience that students could navigate without confusion
Flexibility to customize workflows to Lehigh’s unique, high-volume housing operation
A partner willing to evolve the product alongside Lehigh’s needs
“We weren’t interested in just recreating the old system in something new,” Criswell shared. “We wanted to really look at what was working, what wasn’t, and where we could do better for our students and staff.”
Choosing Housing.Cloud in a Crowded Market
As their contract expiration approached, Lehigh cast a wide net across the housing software landscape. They reviewed options across the full price range, drawing on ResLife higher-ed Facebook communities to see what peers were using and then scheduling demos with vendors.
Housing.Cloud stood out for several reasons:
Balance of functionality and price: It was optimally positioned – offering capabilities that matched or exceeded higher-priced systems
Bonus functionality: Features like flexible resident views, integrated tasks and requests, and strong financial visibility presented clear advantages over other platforms
Customization and partnership: The team saw that Housing.Cloud could adapt to Lehigh’s unique processes rather than forcing Lehigh to adapt to rigid workflows
By the end of the evaluation, Housing.Cloud was the “resounding yes” from the team — on both functionality and value.
Implementing Mid-Year With No Playbook
If there’s ever a “worst time” to implement a new housing system, it might be August at a residential campus. That is exactly when Lehigh’s implementation started.
For a brief period, the team was juggling active housing applications and assignments while operating partially outside any system at all. They needed to stand up Housing.Cloud quickly, while still running a high-volume, in-term operation. “In some ways, it was intense,” Criswell reflected. “We had students on campus, applications coming in, and a brand-new system that we were still configuring. But it also forced us to make intentional choices instead of clinging to ‘how things have always been done.’”
Partnership and Support Through a Compressed Timeline
Given the implementation requirements and mid-year go-live, the quality of support from Housing.Cloud’s team became a critical success factor.
Throughout the rollout, Housing.Cloud:
Adjusted learning sessions to focus on what Lehigh needed right now versus what could wait
Stayed in close, day-to-day communication to prepare for key milestones and meetings
Helped the team continue configuring and improving the system even after go-live
“The customer service has been incredible,” Criswell shared. “Evan and John have been with us every step of the way — from adjusting timelines to reshaping training sessions around what we urgently needed to know. It’s a huge step up from what we had before.”
Despite the timing and pressure, Lehigh was able to transition into production, keep operations running, and begin realizing immediate value from the new platform.
Putting Data and Context at the Center
Today, Lehigh is using Housing.Cloud to bring structure, visibility, and context to its housing operation.
Resident Table: Real-Time Insights Without Reports
The resident table has already become a daily workhorse:
Staff can quickly see assignments, building rosters, and key fields in one place
Different offices can use tailored views, rather than parsing static reports
Teams are no longer tied to constantly running, exporting, and sifting through reports to answer basic questions
“Instead of constantly running reports just to see who lives where, we now have a quick snapshot that we can filter and customize,” Criswell shared. “It’s a huge time saver.”
Tasks and Requests: Replacing the Departmental Inbox
Student requests now flow directly into Housing.Cloud as tasks:
Requests come in through the student portal, including things like meal plan changes
Each request becomes a trackable task that can be assigned to the right staff member
Staff can communicate with students and resolve items within the system, with a clear record of what happened
Previously, the office relied heavily on a departmental email inbox, making it difficult to prioritize, assign, and track work. “Having requests move into tasks has been huge,” Criswell said. “We’re getting a high volume of everything right now, and instead of drowning in email, we can assign, track, and close the loop directly in the system.”
A Second Set of Eyes on Revenue
Lehigh’s housing office reports into Finance and Administration, with Residence Life situated separately under Student Affairs. That structure puts a strong emphasis on data and financials.
With Housing.Cloud’s financial tab, the housing team can:
See who changed what, when, and why
Catch issues like double refunds or incorrect prorations
Use the system as a built-in checkpoint as staff learn new workflows
“For our leadership, data and financials are critical,” Criswell explained. “Being able to see the full audit trail of transactions is invaluable — especially as we’re all still getting used to the new system.”
Serving Staff, Students, and Campus Partners
The impact of Housing.Cloud is already being felt across campus stakeholders:
Professional staff reported that during a busy first weekend on campus, they were able to quickly search for students, view emergency contacts, and access student snapshots on their phones while on duty.
Campus police also benefited from faster access to key information during that same high-activity period.
Student staff (RAs/“Gryphons”) now have their own portal module to see residents, roommates, and communicate individually or broadly across their areas — not just a single building.
Students themselves took to Yik Yak to call out the positive changes they noticed in the new portal and request experience.
Lehigh is also beginning to use Housing.Cloud’s email editor, with plans to layer in branding that reflects the university’s strong visual identity. “The new editor adds a level of professionalism to our communications that we haven’t been able to have before,” Criswell shared.
Looking Ahead: Housing Lottery and Beyond
With go-live behind them, Lehigh is now preparing for one of the biggest tests of any housing system: lottery and selection.
In the coming weeks, the team will run:
A Greek housing lottery as an initial, smaller-scale trial
A full housing selection process for approximately 3,000 students
Housing.Cloud has scheduled dedicated learning sessions to help the team configure and execute these events with confidence. Meanwhile, the existing requests and task flows are keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly in the background. “It’ll be a mini trial run before the full lottery,” Criswell said. “Once we get through that, we’ll feel truly golden.”
Advice for Other Institutions
Looking back on the process of evaluating, selecting, and implementing a new housing system, Lehigh’s housing team offers several pieces of advice to peers:
Start early: Begin evaluating options 12-18 months before your contract expires so you are not forced into rushed decisions.
Be open to change: Use the transition as an opportunity to question existing processes instead of simply replicating them in a new tool.
Accept that there is no “perfect” time: There will never be a completely calm season to implement a new system. With the right partner and internal team, it can still be done successfully.
Prioritize customization and fit: Small details — even being able to do things like changing “RA” to “Gryphon” in our case — matter when aligning the system with your campus culture and operations.
Despite a tight timeline and challenging starting conditions, Lehigh’s housing team has used Housing.Cloud to modernize their operations, bring clarity to data and workflows, and better support both staff and students. The result is a more resilient, flexible housing operation that is ready for the next phase of Lehigh’s growth.
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