By Richard Zagrzecki
A new database management system is making the on-campus housing registration process easier than ever before at the University of Houston.
Student Housing and Residential Life purchased the Mercury system from Raleigh, N.C.-based Residential Management Systems (RMS). Students who register for a housing assignment will discover the new system is quicker and more user friendly than Passport, the system it replaced. For staff who oversee and operate the housing management process at UH, it is a welcome addition designed to make life easier for everyone involved.
Kenny Mauk, associate director of operations and outreach for Student Housing and Residential Life, said the benefits Mercury provides are numerous.
“This is what RMS does. Their business is to provide housing management solutions for universities, and they have been doing so for years,” Mauk said. Mercury is more nimble, so students will find the registration process takes less time to complete than it did previously. It also simplifies the process for students who want to be roommates.
Residents also can now make a fix-it request, IT request, report a broken laundry machine, and email housing through their housing landing page that can be accessed through AccessUH. That could not be done with Passport.
“Accuracy, efficiency, nimble. It’s just a fantastic system for us and our students,” Mauk said.
For Housing staff, the new system makes it much easier to maintain and retrieve residents’ information. It also is much more time efficient than the previous system. Tasks that required IT staff to step in and complete can now be done in a few seconds by Housing staff.
One of the best perks the new system brings with it is a robust user community that UH can utilize whenever needed. Because there are many other universities and colleges that utilize the Mercury system, UH Housing can reach out to them for assistance and questions.
“The robust user community is a huge benefit to us,” Mauk said.
Don Yackley, executive director of Student Housing and Residential Life, said the new system is a welcome and needed addition.
“We are excited about the capabilities and flexibility that Mercury will provide our staff, as well as the easy and quick processes it will give to our students,” Yackley said.