Transforming student residential experiences

MRS manages 3,000 student beds in total, with around 200 of those set aside for exchange students coming to Australia for a single semester. Guided by Monash’s commitment to building thriving communities, Cassianne Martin from the MRS team saw an opportunity to improve these services by learning from the residential services team at the University of Warwick – from where many of Monash’s exchange students come from.

“We realized that collaborating with the Warwick team would help us understand what happens at their university and others like it,” she says. “Accommodation teams often face similar challenges, but the solutions can differ widely. Sharing knowledge helps us innovate more quickly.”

Sioned Cash is the Interim Director of Staff and Student Accommodation at the University of Warwick. Reflecting on her own motivation to collaborate, she saw the value in looking beyond her own experiences and those of her domestic colleagues.

“Working solely within our own national sectors can sometimes limit our perspective," she observes. “Connecting with colleagues globally, such as our counterparts at Monash, opens up new ways of thinking, helping us to share challenges, explore opportunities, and strengthen the future of student accommodation together.”

The collaboration aimed to benchmark best practices in three critical areas: pastoral care, building and asset management, and student onboarding policies. From admissions and pet policies to crisis management and induction programs, the project sought to uncover both similarities and differences in approach.
The initial phase involved virtual meetings between colleagues at both universities, scheduled across time zones. These discussions quickly evolved into deeper engagement, culminating in Warwick representatives visiting Monash’s Clayton and Peninsula campuses.

“They really loved our Peninsula campus,” Martin recalls, “noting the striking similarities to Warwick’s own halls of residence. The visit strengthened ties and sparked ideas for future collaboration, including with Monash’s Malaysia campus.”

An initial area of learning for the Monash team was in purpose-built student accommodation partners, of which the Warwick team had several. “It’s just not possible to house all students on campus," explains Martin, "and we were intrigued as to how Warwick handled this challenge.”

“Here in the UK, partnering with private student accommodation providers is well-established practice and often an effective way to address shortages on campus,” says Cash. “These collaborations can offer the flexibility and capacity needed to ensure students have access to safe, high-quality housing when demand outstrips university-owned supply.”

Beyond building management the collaboration inspired MRS to overhaul its 40-year-old pastoral care model. Traditionally, staff lived onsite and provided after-hours support, a system increasingly seen as outdated and risky. “This model has been in place for decades, but it wasn’t working for us,” Martin explained. “We needed a change.”

Armed with insights from Warwick and other universities, Monash engaged consultants to review global best practices. Warwick’s experience proved invaluable: they had already transitioned away from a similar model and shared lessons learned, including the challenges of change management and staff contracts.

By late 2025, the collaboration between the two groups was still going strong, with representatives from both universities catching up at a conference in the USA earlier in the year. “We had some wonderful conversations,” says Martin, “and I can already see that improving sustainability, particularly around reducing food wastage, is going to be a fantastic area for both of our teams to share knowledge, try new things, and improve our offerings to students.”