Scion Advisory Services launches strategic housing planning service for universities

Scion Advisory Services has announced a new initiative to help colleges and universities make strategic decisions about their on-campus housing programmes.

The newly launched Strategic Housing Planning service is designed to provide institutions with a thorough, cost-effective solution for aligning their residential programmes with their broader institutional missions.

Jay Pearlman, Senior Vice President of Scion Advisory Services, highlighted the unique approach of this new service: 

“We created this option to go beyond the limitations of a traditional single-building feasibility study by providing a complete assessment of a campus housing programme. 

Significantly, for an institution not needing a full facilities condition assessment or a design exercise, a Strategic Housing Plan can provide the value of a full housing master plan at a reduced cost and in a much shorter timeframe. Our team is ready and eager to serve the higher education community with these new customised consulting services.”

Unlike typical feasibility or demand studies that focus on individual residential facilities, Scion’s Strategic Housing Planning service evaluates the needs, challenges, and opportunities across the entire campus housing system. 

This broad perspective helps institutions address critical questions, such as whether their current housing programmes support their institutional mission, how to improve existing facilities to meet the needs of today's students, and how to handle ageing buildings to make them more appealing to students.

Through extensive engagement with institutional stakeholders and current and former residents, Scion collects detailed data to form the basis of their assessments. The service concludes with a comprehensive evaluation of current programmes, scenarios that align residential programmes with present needs, options for accommodating future growth, and financial models that demonstrate the sustainability of Scion’s recommendations.

Pearlman explained the practical benefits of the service:

“The COVID-19 pandemic caused many campuses to rethink the role of residential life. The Strategic Housing Plan addresses a notable void in the market for student housing planning services.

“Our approach has been shown effective at institutions concerned with current conditions of housing facilities or the quality of the student experience, or who are working to improve their competitive position among peer institutions or with the off-campus market. 

“A Scion Strategic Housing Plan provides a framework for future housing investments and could serve as a key first step in evaluating the viability of alternative financing, including public-private partnerships.”