PLS-3B: What Goes in a Cycle

Last updated: October 5, 2026

Overview

In this module, you'll learn what components are assigned to housing cycles and how each piece contributes to your housing operation. Understanding these building blocks helps you see how cycles organize and connect different parts of the system.

Time Needed for this PLS: 15 minutes

What you'll learn:

  • How tags control cycle access and eligibility
  • How forms are assigned to cycles
  • How rulesets work within cycles
  • How meal plans connect to cycles
  • How documents and inventory relate to cycles

 

The Core Components of a Cycle

Housing cycles bring together multiple system components to create a complete housing process. Each component plays a specific role in how the cycle functions.

You'll Build These Later: In PLS-4 and PLS-5, you'll actually create tags, forms, and rulesets. Right now, we will focus together on understanding how these components relate to cycles conceptually.

 

Tags: Controlling Access and Eligibility

Tags are labels that organize and categorize students, applications, and inventory. In housing cycles, tags play a critical role in controlling who can access the cycle.

How Tags Control Cycle Access

Every housing cycle has applicability tags that determine which students can see and apply to that cycle.

Three types of tag logic:

Applicability Tags (AND): Students must have ALL of these tags to access the cycle 
Example: First-Year AND Residential → Only first-years who are residential students

Applicability Tags (OR): Students need AT LEAST ONE of these tags to access the cycle 
Example: Sophomore OR Junior OR Senior → Any upperclassman

Excluded Tags: Students with ANY of these tags are blocked from the cycle 
Example: Exclude Commuter → No commuter students can access this residential cycle

Real-World Example

Cycle: "Fall 2025 First-Year Housing"

  • Applicability Tags (AND): First-Year
  • Excluded Tags: Commuter, Non-Resident

Result: Only students tagged as first-year who are NOT tagged as commuter or non-resident can see this cycle.

Most Common Mistake: Forgetting exclusion tags. If you create a residential cycle without excluding "Commuter," commuter students will see the housing application even though they shouldn't apply for on-campus housing.

Tags Throughout the Cycle

Beyond controlling initial access, tags are used in many other places within cycles:

  • Phases: Control which students can access specific room selection or roommate phases
  • Inventory visibility: Determine which rooms students can see and select or be assigned to
  • Roommate matching: Used in rulesets to ensure compatible pairings
  • Moving groups: Assign students to specific check-in time slots
  • Meal plan eligibility: Control which meal plans students can choose

 

Forms: Collecting Student Information

Forms are assigned to housing cycles to collect information from students at different stages of the housing process.

Application (Form Type: Application)

Purpose: The main housing application students complete to express interest in the respective cycle
Required/Optional: Required. Each cycle must have ONE application form, only one
Contains: Questions about students' housing preferences, medical needs, housing history, emergency contacts, etc.

Example: "First-Year Housing Application 2025" form is assigned to your "Fall 2025 First-Year Housing" cycle. When students apply, they're filling out this form.

Roommate/Student Questionnaires (Form Type: Student Bio)

Purpose: Help students find compatible roommates 
Required/Optional: Optional. Each cycle can have ONE bio form 
Contains: Questions about lifestyle preferences (sleep schedule, study habits, cleanliness, hobbies)

How it works: When students submit their housing application, they're prompted to complete the bio form. Their answers appear in the roommate finder so other students can browse bios to find compatible matches.

Additional Forms

Purpose: Collect supplementary information beyond the main application 
Required/Optional: Optional. Multiple additional forms can be assigned to one cycle 

Examples: ESA (Emotional Support Animal) requests, parking applications, special housing needs

Reusable Forms: The same application form can be assigned to multiple cycles. For example, your "First-Year Housing Application 2025" form could be used for both Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 first-year cycles.

 

Rulesets: Automating Roommate Matching

Rulesets define the logic for how students should be able to view and/or be matched with roommates or assigned to rooms. They use tags to enforce compatibility rules.

How Rulesets Work

Hard Rules: Must be satisfied—if violated, the match fails 
Example: "Gender Identity must match exactly" → Prevents mixed-gender room assignments

Soft Rules: Preferences that improve match quality but aren't required 
Example: "Sleep Schedule should match" → Higher match score if both are early risers

Rulesets and Cycles

Each cycle is assigned ONE ruleset that controls:

  • Roommate compatibility during roommate selection
  • Auto-assignment logic if you're automatically placing students in rooms
  • Match quality scoring when students browse roommate finder

Example: Your "Fall 2025 First-Year Matching Rules" ruleset is assigned to your first-year cycle. It ensures that: Gender identity must match (hard rule), Sleep schedule preferences match when possible (soft rule), Study habits preferences match when possible (soft rule)

In PLS-4: You'll create your own rulesets with hard and soft rules based on your institution's policies. 
For now, just understand that rulesets are assigned to cycles and control how students can view and/or are matched.

 

Meal Plans: What Students Can Select

Meal plans are configured system-wide but are made available to students through housing cycles.

How Meal Plans Connect to Cycles

System-wide configuration: You create meal plan options (Unlimited, 14/week, 10/week, etc.) in Meal Plan Management

Cycle assignment: You select which of those meal plans are available in each cycle

Student selection: During the meal plan selection phase, students choose from the plans you made available

Meal Plan Settings in Cycles

Cycles control several meal plan behaviors:

  • Available plans: Which meal plan options students can choose
  • Default meal plan: Auto-assigned if student doesn't select one
  • Change limits: How many times students can change their selection
  • Proration: Whether mid-cycle selections are prorated for billing

Example: Your first-year cycle might offer Unlimited and 14/week meal plans with Unlimited as the default. Your commuter cycle might offer only 5/week and flex-only options.

Common Support Issue: Creating meal plans in the system but forgetting to make them available in the cycle. Students won't see meal plan options unless they're explicitly assigned to the cycle they're participating in.

 

Documents: Contracts and Agreements

Document templates for housing contracts, waivers, and other sign-able forms can be assigned to housing cycles.

Documents Deep Dive Later: Document templates and e-signatures are covered in detail in a future elective session (PLS-B: Room Condition Reports & Furniture Management). For now, just understand that documents can be assigned to cycles for students to sign as part of the housing process.

Basic concept: You can create document templates (like housing contracts) and assign them to cycles. Students then sign these documents electronically before or after receiving their room assignment.

Example: A "Fall 2025 Housing Contract" template assigned to your cycle. Students must sign it before they can check in to housing.

 

Inventory: What Rooms Are Available

Inventory (buildings, rooms, beds) isn't "assigned" to cycles the same way forms are, but cycles control how inventory is accessed and what's available for selection.

How Cycles Control Inventory

Availability windows: Room selection phases determine when students can browse and select rooms

Tag-based visibility: Tags on rooms control which students can see them 
Example: First-year-only floors tagged "First-Year" are only visible to first-year students during selection

Occupancy tracking: The system tracks which beds are assigned within each cycle

Pricing: Charge codes determine room costs, and cycles control how those prices are displayed to students

One Room, Multiple Cycles

The same physical room can be assigned to different students across different cycles:

Example: East Hall Room 201A

  • Fall 2025 cycle: Assigned to Sarah Martinez
  • Spring 2026 cycle: Assigned to Sarah Martinez (continuing)
  • Summer 2026 cycle: Assigned to Alex Johnson (summer housing)

Each assignment is a separate residency tied to its respective cycle.

 

How Components Work Together

Here's how all these components interact within a housing cycle:

  1. Tags determine access: Student has "First-Year" tag → Can see "Fall 2025 First-Year Housing" cycle
  2. Application form collects info and bio form completed: Student completes application form and bio form upon submission
  3. Application approved: Admin reviews and approves application
  4. Roommate phase opens: Student can now browse roommate finder using their bio
  5. Ruleset controls pairing: Roommate matching uses the assigned ruleset to suggest compatible matches
  6. Inventory visibility applies: Student browses rooms they're eligible to see based on tags
  7. Room selection happens: Student selects a room during the selection phase
  8. Meal plan chosen: Student selects from available meal plans
  9. Document signed: Student signs housing contract
  10. Residency created: All these components together create a complete residency record within the cycle

The Big Picture: Each component serves a specific purpose, and together they create a complete, customized housing experience. The cycle is the container that brings all these pieces together in an organized way.

 

Key Takeaways

  • Tags control access to cycles and determine eligibility throughout the housing process
  • Forms collect information from students (applications, roommate bios, additional forms)
  • Rulesets automate matching and enforce compatibility rules for roommates
  • Meal plans are made available through cycles, with defaults and change limits
  • Documents are assigned to cycles for electronic signature
  • Inventory visibility is controlled by cycles through phases and tags
  • Components work together to create a complete housing experience

 

What's Next: PLS-3C

Now that you understand what components go into a housing cycle, you're ready to learn how cycles control timing through phases.

In PLS-3C: How Cycles Control Timing, you'll learn:

  • The phase types and what they enable
  • The critical difference between cycle dates and phase dates
  • How phases create engagement windows for students
  • Common timing pitfalls to avoid

Continue to PLS-3C →