The Campus Advantage Quarterly Newsletter
FALL 2018
CAMPUS ADVOCATE
the first six weeks Move-in and the following six weeks make a tremendous impact on a resident’s decision to renew in the coming year. pg. 4
CAMPUS ADVOCATE FALL 2018 Katie Degutis Assistant Editor Dana Slegar Copywriter Katie Zarzana Copywriter Bloom Communications Copywriter Haley Drinkwater Art Direction
IN THIS ISSUE 4 6 8 10 11 12 13 14 16
Move-In Experience Conference Student Housing Operators Investing in Student Housing RentTrack Employee Spotlights Welcome to the team In the News Birthdays
Fall is my favorite time of the year for many reasons: the changing colors of the leaves, the crisp and sunny Austin days, and of course, football is back! For me and everyone at Campus Advantage, fall also means move-in at our properties across the country. This is an exciting time for residents, their families, and even our staff, when new and returning residents begin embarking on the next step in their lives and education. As President and CEO, it makes me proud knowing residents are moving into a place that they can call home and where they are going to receive the best living experience possible. It’s also the most critical time in the resident calendar to ensure we’re setting ourselves up for renewals. As you’ll read in this newsletter, we reported a 14% increase in our “excellent customer service” rating over last year. This is a true testament to the hard work and effort our on-site teams put into making sure the needs of our residents are put first and working hard to ensure they immediately feel the sense of community that sets Campus Advantage apart from other student housing providers. Fall also represents the most active acquisition time of the year for the student housing industry. Over the years, we’ve helped both new and experienced investors through their acquisition process, and through consulting services such as market analysis and due diligence. Having delivered more than 250 consulting engagements to date — in addition to owning and managing our own properties — we eat, sleep, and breath student housing, and bring that experience to every consulting project and property. At Campus Advantage, we have many more acquisitions on the horizon, and we look forward to sharing those with you soon. Speaking of resident experience, we recently held our 14th annual Experience Conference in Colorado — a five-day workshop for 83 team members, in a variety of roles, aimed at collaboratively finding ways to continue improving property performance, as well as continuing to make the resident experience the very best for every Campus Advantage community. It’s a week filled with inspiration and an opportunity for our employees to meet team members from across the nation and learn from one another. I look forward to watching their new and creative ideas come to life! I, as well as the Campus Advantage leadership team, wish you a very productive fall and remainder of 2018. Mike Peter President and CEO
LETTER FROM MIKE PETER 3
CAMPUS ADVOCATE
4 MOVE-IN AND THE FIRST SIX WEEKS
move-in and the first six weeks Move-in and the following six weeks make a tremendous impact on a resident’s decision to renew in the coming year. During this time, our residents are settling into their universities and their peer relationships. If their living experience is challenging, this can negatively impact their year, as well as their eventual decision
Move-in and the following
six weeks make a tremendous impact
to renew. That’s why we put a significant emphasis on delivering excellent customer service, along with fun, memorable events that help to connect our residents with our properties and to each other. From August through October, we’ve hosted 935 events across 62 properties — including barbecues, picnics, craft nights, and more — culminating in Resident Appreciation Week. And our focus on elevating the resident experience shows. In our resident move-in survey, which closed in mid-September, we earned a 14% increase in “excellent customer service” ratings over last year, with more than 300 staff members called out individually by name for delivering great service.
CA experience conference
8 EXPERIENCE CONFERENCE 2017
In September, we hosted our 14th annual Experience Conference, an intensive staff workshop focused on improving property performance and equipping leaders to drive success at their communities. The 83 attendees — roles ranging from RDs to GMs representing each of our managed properties — dove into topics such as customer service, leadership, facilities management, and financial management, all with the purpose of creating action plans that will continue to evolve the resident experience for every Campus Advantage community.
EXPERIENCE CONFERENCE 7
CAMPUS ADVOCATE
Student Housing Operators Make the Best Consu Fall is the high season for student housing acquisition, and experience tells us that smart student housing investments begin with effective due diligence. Our proven due diligence process ensures proper evaluation before you buy. Check out the Intelligent Student Housing Investments Begin with Due Diligence white paper to learn more about our process, or contact us for more information. Read more.
fall is the high season
for student housing
acquisition 8 STUDENT HOUSING OPERATORS
ltants
Investing in Student Housing
Campus Advantage has begun fundraising for a new programmatic joint venture to invest in student housing assets. The venture will be geographically diverse and pursue multiple strategies, leveraging the company’s fully integrated platform and deep industry knowledge to deliver a strategic exposure to the student housing asset class. Through programmatic joint ventures and best-in-class management services, Campus Advantage has built its portfolio of owned and managed properties to more than 34,000 beds, continuing a decadelong record of being ranked within the top 10 student housing managers and owners.
10 INVESTING IN STUDENT HOUSING
RentTrack
RentTrack As part of our Students First® Experience, we are always looking at ways to enhance students’ success. One of those ways is through RentTrack, a new program we are offering in which our residents can build credit with their on-time rent payment. Residents who choose to participate will also receive credit education, credit monitoring, and score alerts. We are very excited about this new offering as it protects students’ credit and provides an opportunity to build their credit history quickly as only positive data is reported. For more information, visit renttrack.com/campus-advantage or contact our Students First® team at experience@campusadv.com.
RENTTRACK 11
EMPLOYEe SPOTLIGHTS Our team is the Campus Advantage. Check out our most recent employee spotlights to learn how Campus Advantage staff supports our clients and keeps our residents happy.
KAYLA COLUCI The Fun Accountant
As a property accountant for Campus Advantage, Kayla Coluci balances staying on task and on deadline with her personal principle of having fun and achieving work / life balance — a balance that includes keeping investors and residents happy, while also being a part of a local basketball league. Read more
PRISCILLA HALL Keeps the Lights On
Priscilla Hall is serious about finances. As Campus Advantage’s Accounts Payable Supervisor, she oversees the entire Accounts Payable (AP) department, leveraging her leadership to develop a strong, confident team while ensuring that residents at various Campus Advantage properties have the utilities they need for the best possible academic and personal experiences. Read more
12 EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS
WELCOME TO THE team CAMPUS ADVANTAGE AWARDED MANAGEMENT OF TWO COMMUNITIES IN COLORADO THE REGENCY • Denver, CO • Auraria Campus, University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the Community College of Denver • 576 Beds
THE VILLAS • Denver, CO • Auraria Campus, University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the Community College of Denver • 360 Beds
Read more on StudentHousingBusiness.com WELCOME TO THE TEAM 13
In the news MULTI-HOUSING NEWS
An Insider’s View of the Student Housing Business Read more
NATIONAL REAL ESTATE INVESTOR 2018 MIDYEAR OUTLOOK Build-to-Core: An Alternative Approach to Core Student Housing Investment. Read more (pg. 18)
MULTIFAMILY EXECUTIVE
Top 50 Student Housing Properties by Online Reputation for August 2018 Read more
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS (SEPT/OCT) Campus Advantage Acquires Six Properties Read more
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS (SEPT/OCT) Top Management Tips Read more (pg. 54)
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS (SEPT/OCT) Tier Two Timing Read more (pg. 62)
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS
Campus Advantage Awarded Management of Two Communities in Denver Read more
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS (JULY/AUG) Destination: Consolidation Read more (pg. 62)
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS (JULY/AUG)
Have you seen an impact on turnover at the property level over the past several months? What are you doing as a company to keep your property-level personnel onboard, engaged and committed? Read more (pg. 28)
STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS
Campus Advantage Promotes Jennifer Cassidy to EVP and Co-COO Read more
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT INSIDER
A Preoccupation with Occupancy Might Be Hurting Your Student Housing Profits Read more
IN THE NEWS 15
ANNIVERSARIES
JULY – DECEMBER 2018
CAMPUS ADVOCATE
15 YEARS
Nolberto Lozano
Pedro Gonzalez
Peter Jbeili
Hilda Green
Pamela West
Michael Martin
10 YEARS
Minoak Song
Carl Bostick
John Theriot
Jamaal Lenoir
Jesse London
Shauna Tisdall
James Foster
Krystal DePrinzio
Stephany Crow
Rickey George
Katelyn Hukins
Christopher Penrod
Bridget Trepasso
Meredith Boylan
Ronnie Macejewski
Katie Zarzana
Daniel Oltersdorf
Ndia Hill 5 YEARS
Tiffany Clem
Jasmine Foreman
Mariesol Morales
Maria Ippolito
Kathrine Skelton
James Craig
Margaret Baker
Kelsey Shirer
Chenoa Anderson
Amy Shepherd
Christopher Butterick
Jamie Matusek
Shaina Neidigh
Robert Long
Holly Rohan
Brian Summers
Christine Miller
Erin Oltersdorf
Maryann Bellanti-Trehy
Eric Steklof
Paul Wray
Marianne Farrington
Erin Westhoff
Paige McCarthy
Shawn McDonald
Roland Baker
James O’Connell
Shaun Baker
Christopher Capel
Marvin Ramsey
Chris Butler Tyler Evans
2 YEARS
Anna Winslow
Gregory Almanzar
Codey Brazeau
Alexandra Kress
Eric Te
Lorena Cardona
Kyle Decker
Armin Rakhshandeh
Margaret Storm
Gerald Morris
Samantha Pittman
Jessica Flohra
Thomas Richardson
Nicholas Nunium
Amy Harvey
Zachary King
Jennifer Gorski
Venus Sweetland
David Belcher
Gabrielle Murguia
Chelsea Yarnell
ANNIVERSARIES 17
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