BTT Video - 12-16-2025
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[00:00:00] Veena Vadgama: Restrooms, temperature settings. Data analysis, privacy settings. What does all this stuff have in common? Well, I'm super excited that for my last Bow Tie Tuesday video of the year with Alyson Goff, we're gonna recap some of the highlights from 2025 in terms of what we've been learning, working with these fantastic higher ed institutions about improving their space planning, space utilization across campus.
Welcome Alyson Goff. It's such a pleasure to always talk to you. I so appreciate being here with you. How are you doing?
[00:00:33] Alyson Goff: Doing great, Veena. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:35] Veena Vadgama: Absolutely. Wow, what a year so much has been happening this year. Tell me some of the big takeaways and some of the big insights or things that changed your mind as we head to the end of 2025.
[00:00:48] Alyson Goff: Yeah, no that's a, that's a big question. You know, I, I was doing some reflecting of, just thinking of about my perceptions before I joined CampusIQ. You know, I'm, I'm not [00:01:00] new to the industry, been been in higher ed for over 20 years. But I do think one, something that I underestimated and I think we're seeing and, and as conversations ramp up is that there's more curiosity about occupancy analytics than I thought that existed. You know, and I, I think that's something that we're gonna just continue to see as we go into 2026, um, because there's more, you know, use cases, examples of how can I use this data?
What does it tell me? And so I think that's just been the most exciting surprise, um, that at least for me.
[00:01:36] Veena Vadgama: Excellent. Earlier this year you and I talked about how space management is having its heyday. Tell me why Alyson, like, you know, you've been in this industry forever, you know, you have seen things come and go.
Why is now becoming the right moment for these higher ed institution experts being wrapped around the fact that this data is there and the insights that, that they're able to achieve?
[00:01:57] Alyson Goff: Yeah, no, great question. You know, I, I think [00:02:00] there's this misconception that only institutions with shrinking enrollments or, you know, steady enrollments are making difficult decisions, looking for space optimization, and that's simply not true.
We're seeing this across the board, and there's just the reality of the, you know, rising cost of operations, you know, and we see that. Very much reflected in the, you know, individuals that we work with on a day-to-day basis who are managing these very large, uh, asset inventories. So thinking about their buildings and then the, just the, the cost to, to operate those.
So I think there's just this, understanding that we have to do more with less. Uh, I was actually at a conference last month and heard that phrase, and so how do we make more data-informed decisions and not necessarily something that feels arbitrary? Students have choice and we have to, you know, make sure that we acknowledge that. And, you know, so many institutions I think are trying to, uh, understand their, uh, [00:03:00] proposition value of just what can they offer. And, you know, that often is how can that be reflected in the space that we have on campus.
So that's something that I think is just coming into better alignment. Um, and because we have data. To push back against the anecdotes that have just reigned, uh, for the last several decades.
[00:03:22] Veena Vadgama: Are you able to pull back into the whole year that you've spent with so many different institutions? Some are customers, some are not.
What is a key example of what you're trying to explain to us give us, um, give us something we can touch and feel in terms of, of how this is, how this has helped this year.
[00:03:38] Alyson Goff: Yeah, so one institution, uh, in the Midwest. They are an example of, uh, an institution that, uh, just saw a significant shift in enrollment.
And I think that also just a reflection, you know, everyone knows of the enrollment cliff for many institutions, they're already there, um, or they will be very soon. And so [00:04:00] they understood that they had to do, they had to divest their properties because they simply couldn't manage to continue to operate with more than 50% of what they had needed in the past.
Um, and so using, uh, occupancy analytics, it's helping them now focus on that student experience.
So thinking about how can we look at the library. The library is, has always been a popular place on campus that it's always been a popular discussion point amongst planners and analysts and, and design professionals. But I think it's rethinking that use of the library and how do people flow in and out of that space and how can we understand our buildings.
And I think that's, you know, another insight is just that we're not looking at pieces and parts of the space inventory we're looking at, at buildings as their own ecosystem and understanding how they operate as single structures to the users in the spaces, but then how do they operate [00:05:00] within the whole?
Um, and now having occupancy analytics just gives us a whole other level of understanding. And so it's just enriching the conversation. And I tell people, there's no one single tool that is going to be your magic wand for space optimization. And I think that's what's exciting is that there's this, I tell people the, the sky feels like the limit of un untapped potential around the use cases and how can we leverage this data.
[00:05:32] Veena Vadgama: Okay, Alyson, so tell me, you know, when you, when we start to engage with a new institution, they, they, they must look at you with the deer in the headlights, kind of the look, right?
Saying like, we're about to get involved in this, all this data analysis, all this data work what's gonna be the prize? What do you sort of help them set to create good expectations? What is like maybe the one key thing. That's gonna happen by the end of the year and sort of get, being able to take time to get their [00:06:00] head around.
All that's coming their way now.
[00:06:03] Alyson Goff: Yeah. So one of the things that we try to, uh, practice internally is good insights, meet people where they are, and simply that, um. everyone's data quality data availability is going to vary. Their understanding of their spaces, how they could potentially use this data may vary.
Uh, many of the institutions that when we're first working with them, they're simply trying to see what this is all about. And so we really try to focus on understanding their, you know, top two to three questions problems. We really do try to hone in on what, what is the most important thing for you. If we look back in a year, how will you know this has been successful?
And so we really try to, to keep that in mind. And I will, you know, one of our, our customers noted. One of his key goals was just the journey itself. He is like, I, [00:07:00] he's like, I don't fully understand this, but I know it's important. I've seen just, scratching the surface of what I could learn from this.
So I think it's just, uh, be in it for the journey and know that you'll get, you know, good insights regardless of where you are in that journey.
[00:07:18] Veena Vadgama: Excellent. Is there a common misconception that you're constantly educating on?
[00:07:25] Alyson Goff: We're not tracking people.
[00:07:27] Veena Vadgama: Good point. That's a really good point. That does come up all
the
time.
Explain that if you don't mind.
[00:07:32] Alyson Goff: Yeah. So and I get the concern, um, sometimes when we're working with end users, uh, they, they're like, okay, you're tracking me. You're, you're, you're gonna know all of my behaviors. And it's like, no, that's not what we're doing. We're again, focusing on the spaces' behavior.
How is the space being used? What are the behavioral patterns we can see of the anonymized people that are moving through that? So, that is, I would say, comes up in almost [00:08:00] all of our conversations. Um. And, you know, we have really good long detailed technical documentation that says the same thing.
But I will say that once people start seeing the data and they get excited about what the data tells them, that concern is wholly addressed, and they move on, um, and then become advocates within their institution to, to calm any other concerns that may uh, exist.
[00:08:27] Veena Vadgama: Excellent. What are some use cases that you experienced this year that were completely unexpected?
[00:08:36] Alyson Goff: So there was one around restrooms and uh, again, never thought I'd be talking about restrooms.
But so what institution that we were working with, uh, really prized themselves in providing, uh, a top tier student experience, particularly in their, their student center. And so they wanted to provide restrooms that were at the same level of cleanliness as Buc-cee's. [00:09:00] So for those who have not heard of the phenomenon of Buc-cee's.
It's just, it's.
Convenience store.
[00:09:07] Veena Vadgama: It's an amusement park theme. It's an amusement park of
convenience store. It's a legend in Texas. And yes. Yeah, I hear
[00:09:13] Alyson Goff: Go Google if you don't know what Buc-cee's is. But they're known for having some of the cleanest restrooms in the us And so thi this institution said, okay, well we wanna provide, you know, that quality.
Cleanliness. So they needed to, they wanted to use occupancy data to understand how do they deploy their custodial teams? Where are the most, used restrooms? Where are those heavy utilization times so that they could ensure that they put the teams, you know, in those spaces first, and then spaces that maybe weren't, being used as often they could leverage them elsewhere. And so they actually did satisfaction surveys and saw those scores increase. Um, and that seems like something so [00:10:00] small. But again, when you think about the user experience, that's not just the academic setting, it's the entire experience. And it was just really interesting how they leveraged it for that, but also the operational component of putting, you know, our resources where they're most needed. And so you think about that service you know that, that service agreement, if you will. So that was, that was a fun one. Unexpected.
I think another one that it's shouldn't be unexpected, but if there, if there's anybody who's watching who's like, okay, how can I convince my institution to get on board? Energy savings.
Mm-hmm. Uh, so worked with, uh, institution in Texas. It gets hot there during the summer, and so they, uh, looked at how their buildings, uh, were being used and, uh, they said, okay, we're realizing that roughly from like 9:30 PM to 6:30 AM we could increase the temperature and likely realize, you know, energy [00:11:00] savings, utility cost savings.
And so they pilot that with, I think it was five to seven buildings this past summer, and it exceeded any expectation they had in terms of the financial savings. And that was just, changing set points. It wasn't this, you don't have to have highly automated systems to do it. It was taking data and I have a hunch, I have a theory that this will work, and sure enough it did.
And so I think that is, we're gonna see more of that next year. And 'cause it's just, it's so, it's low hanging fruit, but that low hanging fruit can, the return on investment from being better stewards of your resources, but also, um, helping to fund, uh, the future in funding the technology.
So that one was just, uh, I was a little blown, blown away, and I, I think it'll just only continue.
[00:11:51] Veena Vadgama: Yeah. And I think what you point to there is we love working with the facility teams, right? Because it's these little wins. That [00:12:00] come back in such a big way. I mean, yes, we do love the stories where we help with capital expenditure, savings, and understanding lease agreements and understanding, you know, build or not build.
But when we work with the facilities teams about improving how the students feel in the space, whether it's temperature or bathrooms. Those are massive wins and massive cost savings and students are happier at the end of the day for those adjustments. So that's, those are great stories. I appreciate you sharing them.
Alyson, thank you so much for the time today. I hope you have an excellent holiday season and I can't wait to talk to you more in 2026 about, you know, what's next and what's new and what's different. We've seen every month we come up with these new ideas and it's really fun to have the conversation.
So thank you.
[00:12:46] Alyson Goff: Yes, thank you. And it, it's 2026, I think is gonna be a great year and excited to see what comes next.