Preferences are used to create assignment criteria in the Automatic Assignment function (in the Patron module), and they can be added to Application Forms (via Setup > Forms). Assignment criteria can be used to generate assignments automatically through the Automatic Assignment function or when generating an assignment manually with the Assignment with Assistance function.
Preferences allow a user to match patrons to the best facility and roommates based on their choices and the ranking of the choices. If an institution allows Patrons to mutually select their roommates, a preference must be configured to capture the mutually requested roommate choice. A patron may rank their choices or the housing office staff can rank the choices.
Preferences must be associated with specific Terms, but a Preference can have more than one Term assigned. A Patron’s Preference value is only effective for the Term’s date range. However, the Patron may have a different value for a Preference in another Term.
Users can find Patrons by their Preference values in Advanced Find. For example, a User could search for all Patrons who prefer a particular dorm or roommate type.