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For housing & res life teams

Hall life is where students decide they belong.

You're running programs across 20 halls, and most of your RAs are improvising with a Google Doc and a group text.

Guidebook puts every hall, every program, and every RA in one branded app so you can see what's actually building community.

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Trusted by leading housing and res life teams at top U.S. colleges

Why hall programming misses the students it's meant to reach

RAs print flyers no one reads. Hall events happen and nobody knows who came. The first-year on the fourth floor who never met anyone is invisible until they don't register for spring. And the program that built belonging looks the same as the one that didn't.

Reach the floor that doesn’t read flyers

Push notifications hit the phone every resident already carries. Not the bulletin board. Not the group text they muted after move-in.

Find the disengaged before they don't return

The residents at retention risk aren't at every event. Per-resident activity data shows who's quietly drifting, while you can still do something about it.

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Pricing

Hall life, the way residents actually see it.

“We rely on Guidebook to ensure our Residential Life student staff are fully prepared for their roles. The app includes comprehensive training schedules, contact information for the entire team, departmental procedures, and quick reference details for campus resources and programming tools.”
Breyan Tornifolio
Director of Residential Life, The University of Notre Dame

Key features designed for housing and res life teams in higher education

Every hall, its own identity. One platform.

Move-in week, hall socials, study breaks, RA programming, spring closing. Guidebook runs the whole housing calendar from one platform and tells you which programs actually moved residents.

Every hall event, pinned to a real floor

The fourth-floor study break. The hall-wide screening in the lounge. The fire drill staging point. Pin every program, every meeting, every space to the actual building students live in. RAs publish from their phone.

From move-in week to spring closing

Get ready: move-in maps, dorm-prep checklists, and hall assignments land before they pack the car. On campus: RA programming, hall socials, study breaks, and floor meetings in real time. Stay close: end-of-semester checkout, summer storage reminders, fall return prompts. The full residence year in one app.

See which halls actually built community

Average time in app per hall. Items tapped on each RA program. Comments and likes on hall posts. Spot the floor where engagement dropped before the housing officer hears about it from a resignation letter.

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75% of the top US colleges use Guidebook

See how real campus teams put it to work

Louisiana Tech University

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Louisiana Tech University brings orientation to life with Bulldog’s First Bite, a Guidebook-powered app that welcomes new students with everything they need in one place.



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Inside the app, students can:



  • Explore session-specific schedules and interactive campus maps.
  • Access handbooks, directories, and key campus resources.
  • Connect with campus culture through photos and social feeds.
  • Stay organized with built-in notes and real-time notifications.

Louisiana Tech University

‍

Louisiana Tech University brings orientation to life with Bulldog’s First Bite, a Guidebook-powered app that welcomes new students with everything they need in one place.



‍

Inside the app, students can:



  • Explore session-specific schedules and interactive campus maps.
  • Access handbooks, directories, and key campus resources.
  • Connect with campus culture through photos and social feeds.
  • Stay organized with built-in notes and real-time notifications.

Louisiana Tech University

‍

Louisiana Tech University brings orientation to life with Bulldog’s First Bite, a Guidebook-powered app that welcomes new students with everything they need in one place.



‍

Inside the app, students can:



  • Explore session-specific schedules and interactive campus maps.
  • Access handbooks, directories, and key campus resources.
  • Connect with campus culture through photos and social feeds.
  • Stay organized with built-in notes and real-time notifications.

Louisiana Tech University

‍

Louisiana Tech University brings orientation to life with Bulldog’s First Bite, a Guidebook-powered app that welcomes new students with everything they need in one place.



‍

Inside the app, students can:



  • Explore session-specific schedules and interactive campus maps.
  • Access handbooks, directories, and key campus resources.
  • Connect with campus culture through photos and social feeds.
  • Stay organized with built-in notes and real-time notifications.

University of Florida - Tours

The University of Florida's Gator Way App is a key piece in a prospective student's experience on campus, and gives a feeling of what it feels like to be a Gator. Their app allows students to:

- Tour campus with a guided route, audio descriptions.
- Register for sessions relevant to their major, and other interests.
- Connect with various departments on campus.

Students and families leave campus after a strong first impression, and can revisit the campus at home in the app to view anything they missed.

What EDU teams have to say

“With Guidebook, administrators are able to create the app themselves without any IT support and non-technical content creators can easily upload and publish content.”

Meredith Aden

University of Memphis

“With Guidebook, we use an audio tour guide to help prospective students navigate campus, learn more about university offerings, and feel part of the campus community - even if they’re unable to visit in person.”

Steven Kelly

University of Calgary

“We went from 200 hours and 5 staff members to just 25 hours and 1 person - compared with creating a website and printed programs.”

Kristin Sargeant

University of Edinburgh

“With schedules frequently changing, we needed a flexible solution to accommodate updates in real time. The team would print 40,000 programs to hand out at the events, which were costly, bad for the environment, and once printed, couldn’t be updated with constant changes.”

Open Days Team

University of Manchester

“With Guidebook, we use an audio tour guide to help prospective students navigate campus, learn more about university offerings, and feel part of the campus community - even if they’re unable to visit in person.”

Steven Kelly

University of Calgary

“We went from 200 hours and 5 staff members to just 25 hours and 1 person - compared with creating a website and printed programs.”

Kristin Sargeant

University of Edinburgh

“When we started we yielded 40%. After implementing Guidebook our yield grew to 82%. We believe Guidebook had a strong impact on that growth.”

Andrea Crilly

Indiana Tech

“Our app costs 29% less than printing, and our student yield increased by 105% once we began using Guidebook.”

Andrea Crilly

Indiana Tech

“With schedules frequently changing, we needed a flexible solution to accommodate updates in real time. The team would print 40,000 programs to hand out at the events, which were costly, bad for the environment, and once printed, couldn’t be updated with constant changes.”

Open Days Team

University of Manchester

“With Guidebook, administrators are able to create the app themselves without any IT support and non-technical content creators can easily upload and publish content.”

Meredith Aden

University of Memphis

“With Guidebook, we use an audio tour guide to help prospective students navigate campus, learn more about university offerings, and feel part of the campus community - even if they’re unable to visit in person.”

Steven Kelly

University of Calgary

“We went from 200 hours and 5 staff members to just 25 hours and 1 person - compared with creating a website and printed programs.”

Kristin Sargeant

University of Edinburgh

“When we started we yielded 40%. After implementing Guidebook our yield grew to 82%. We believe Guidebook had a strong impact on that growth.”

Andrea Crilly

Indiana Tech

“Our app costs 29% less than printing, and our student yield increased by 105% once we began using Guidebook.”

Andrea Crilly

Indiana Tech

“With schedules frequently changing, we needed a flexible solution to accommodate updates in real time. The team would print 40,000 programs to hand out at the events, which were costly, bad for the environment, and once printed, couldn’t be updated with constant changes.”

Open Days Team

University of Manchester

“With Guidebook, administrators are able to create the app themselves without any IT support and non-technical content creators can easily upload and publish content.”

Meredith Aden

University of Memphis

The hall life app residents actually open

Move-in, RA programs, hall socials, floor meetings. One branded app. Residents see what's happening on their floor and in their hall. You see what's working.

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FAQs

[faq] Q: How does Guidebook help housing and residence life teams build belonging? A: Guidebook gives residents one branded app for move-in, hall events, RA programs, maps, updates, FAQs, and community reminders. Instead of relying on flyers and group texts, res life teams can reach students on the phone they already carry. Q: Can Guidebook support different halls, floors, and resident groups? A: Yes. Content and notifications can be organized around halls, floors, cohorts, learning communities, or student groups. That means a fourth-floor study break, move-in traffic change, or hall meeting reaches the students who actually need it. Q: How does Guidebook help RAs without adding admin work? A: RAs can keep event details, reminders, and updates clear without printing new flyers or sending another message into a muted chat. The app gives them a simple way to promote programming while housing leaders keep a clearer view of engagement. Q: Can Guidebook replace printed move-in packets? A: For many teams, yes. Move-in maps, checklists, schedules, housing contacts, closing instructions, and FAQs can all live in the app. When something changes, your team updates the app instead of reprinting or emailing another PDF. Q: What can residence life teams measure in Guidebook? A: Teams can review app opens, event views, saved programs, push engagement, hall-specific interactions, and survey responses. That helps show which programs are building connection and which communities may need more attention. Q: How is Guidebook different from housing operations software? A: Housing operations software may manage assignments, conduct, or room data. Guidebook supports the resident experience: communication, programming, wayfinding, resources, and engagement. It helps students feel less lost and helps teams see what is working. [/faq]
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