Hosted by APPA | Featuring CampusIQ + University of Kentucky
Watch the full webinar replay: Vimeo link
When budgets are tight and expectations keep rising, the fastest wins often come from using what you already have—better. In this APPA session, leaders from the University of Kentucky (UK) walked through how they’re improving service quality, right-sizing capital plans, and aligning teams using existing data sources (like Wi-Fi and building systems) with no new hardware required.
UK is a 918-acre, 350+ building, land-grant university serving a rapidly growing population—nearly 39,000 in 2025, up from ~28,000 a decade ago—bringing the usual mix of space pressure, capital projects, and student service expectations.
Leaders knew thousands passed through key buildings each week, but after entry they were “functionally blind” to where people went, how long they stayed, and which services they used—making it hard to staff, schedule, or invest with confidence.
UK’s Smart Campus team and Facilities brought together Wi-Fi occupancy signals, building controls, event data, and space inventories—then mapped usage to zones (rooms/areas) for flow, linger, and engagement patterns. No new hardware; just connective tissue and shared dashboards.
Right-size, don’t overbuild.
A hospital expansion required moving the College of Agriculture, Food & Environment. UK’s early assumption (based on standards) pointed to +7% space growth. Actual use data supported +2% instead—about a 5% reduction with long-term O&M savings.
“Buckys-level bathrooms” without overspending.
Restroom traffic patterns let custodial teams adjust cleaning windows to real demand—efficiency up, quality steady—with alerting when thresholds were hit. The point wasn’t “cleaner bathrooms”; it was targeted service at scale across ~350 buildings.
Meet students where they are (literally).
Weekend Wi-Fi activity in the main library’s basement matched weekdays, even though services were closed. Opening key services captured demand that had been missed—an operational change powered by real usage signals.
Plan for the new normal of space.
Post-pandemic patterns: academic space use down ~24%, class attendance up ~3% (hybrid effects), social/collaboration space use doubled, and total time on campus up ~5.6%—students are on campus more, just using it differently.
Cross-data alignment beats any one sensor. Combining Wi-Fi, registrar schedules, EMS, and surveys produces clearer answers than any data silo alone.
Fast wins fund the future. Pilot the highest-leverage spaces (student centers, libraries) to prove value quickly, then expand.
Transparency drives adoption. When occupants see their own usage data, they become partners in smarter space decisions.
APPA — Host and organizer
University of Kentucky — Gretchen Tucker (Geospatial/Facilities) & Erik Jarvis (Smart Campus)
CampusIQ — Aaron Benz (Founder)
Prefer the full story, visuals, and Q&A? Catch the on-demand session now and share with colleagues:
👉 A Living System for a Changing Campus: Building Resilience With What You Already Have