The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 2 - 85

Public-Private Partnerships in College Student Housing

After 15 years, Collegia has the
longest tenure at SU of any housing
partner, yet staff members from both
organizations recalled how the first
several years of the partnership were
marked by territorialism and fear,
underscored by an absence of trust.

of contractual housing partnerships negotiated
with national and local developers. Daily oversight of campus housing and all SU housing
partnerships rests with the director of campus
housing, who reports to both senior financial officers for the university and its foundation, as well as the Vice President for Student
Affairs. Today, more than 40% of SU undergraduates live either in previously existing
campus housing or housing added during the
past 15 years through one of three SU housing
partnerships.
Working through mistrust. SU's first partnership was between the foundation and Collegia, a national corporation that develops and
manages college student housing. The SU
foundation leveraged its financial resources
and relative autonomy to build a number of
apartment- and suite-style residential facilities.
Rather than add campus housing staff, the
foundation contracted with Collegia to manage
typical residence life (e.g., student programming, duty coverage, student conduct) and
operations (e.g., assignments, maintenance)
functions. After 15 years, Collegia has the

longest tenure at SU of any housing partner,
yet staff members from both organizations recalled how the first several years of the partnership were marked by territorialism and fear,
underscored by an absence of trust. Despite expectations that they work together toward the
shared goal of housing SU students, a member
of the housing department's operations staff
remembered it was "our side versus their side
... significant fear that we would be absorbed
by what they were doing. As I've come to know
them, there was equal fear on their side that we
would want to reabsorb their spaces." This fear
seemed less a product of the contract and more
the result of growing pains associated with a
new relationship.
The partnership took a decidedly positive
turn in the late 2000s when campus housing
and Collegia decided to merge systems, processes, and policies for coordinating housing
assignments and adopt a shared housing
agreement. Streamlining housing processes
for students (and staff) seemingly opened the
door for collaboration, including hiring and
training of resident director and resident assistant staff members. One Collegia vice president described the relationship as "seamless"
and credited it with slowing increases in their
room rates. Having worked first for campus
housing, the person in charge of Collegia's operations at SU serves as both the official and
unofficial second-in-command to the director
of campus housing. In fact, this partnership
has become so integrated that the organizational structure and marketing materials make
it intentionally difficult for students, parents,
and other outside observers to differentiate
between the respective partners. The Assistant Dean for Student Conduct noted the ar-

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 43, No. 2

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