By optimizing space, Carolina aims to save resources, foster innovation and support its long-term goals.
As the world transitions to a more hybrid workforce, so too has Carolina. The increasing number of staff working at home part time or full time since the onset of the pandemic prompted Vice Chancellor for Finance and Operations Nate Knuffman to reexamine how administrative office space is being used at the University. This resulted in Finance and Operations partnering with Operational Excellence (OE) to launch a series of projects focused on improving space management.
“When you think about the University, the biggest cost drivers are people and space,” said Knuffman. “We lacked data about how space was being used, a governance structure for making decisions about space, and clearly defined expectations to encourage space optimization, especially as we consider the growing needs of campus. We wanted to tackle those areas in a data-driven process that engages the campus.”
Project Background
In fall 2022, the team launched the Space Governance Project, guided by a charter with three objectives:
- Create a dashboard to better understand space use.
- Create a space governance structure.
- Create a space request process.
The group created a dashboard in summer 2023, with a color-coded map showing how spaces are used by pairing reported percent onsite data with space assignment. Later that year, project organizers added the space governance process, which clarifies who makes space allocation decisions. This past spring, the space request process was piloted.
Georgia McRae, senior transformation manager with Operational Excellence, said that while the dashboard that showed percent on-site worked well when examining one building, it was not as helpful in efficiently finding opportunities to better utilize space.“We needed to figure out ways to better understand how space is used on campus so we can identify low-utilization spaces and opportunities for potential colocation with other groups,” she said.
Phase Two
This led to Phase Two of the project, Space Optimization, which began this past summer. A cross-campus design team came together to determine what data to capture and how to make sure that data is up to date. The team determined that they could get the best understanding of space use by examining three metrics:
- Space Planning and Occupancy Tracking System (SPOTS) Assignments
- Data that shows the number of workstations assigned to a school, unit or department and the number of workstations assigned to employees.
- Percent Workstation Utilization
- The percent workstation utilization based on departments’ percentage of employees reported off-site that is collected through HR and the assigned workstations through SPOTS
- Wireless Access Point Traffic
- The average number of devices connected to each WAP over a 9- and 12-month period, which can be aggregated into a floor-by-floor count.
Data Matters
Through triangulating these three metrics, the project team is using a data-driven approach to review and understand available occupancy data. In addition, they are creating definitions for low, medium and high space utilization, as well as a process for units to respond with a narrative to explain their unique conditions. By spring 2025, the team will share utilization reports with campus leaders that may lead to opportunities to collaborate on potential ways to repurpose underutilized spaces and better support the space request process.
The new dashboard will aggregate the data, with no reporting on individual-level data. Spaces with fewer than five workstations are not being tracked so that no information will be identifiable on the individual level. Instead, floor-by-floor usage of space helps project leaders understand how space is being used at a higher level.McRae adds that the team understands metrics will not be a perfect window into true utilization, noting that space decisions will not be based solely on the metrics. Rather, the hope is that the data will point staff in the right direction to have conversations to ensure space is being used to its highest and best purpose.
Cross-Campus Collaboration
Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Andy Johns, a member of the design team, has been at the University for just over 26 years. He welcomes the opportunity to make better use of space. He shares the goal of freeing up significant dollars that can be invested in growing and supporting Carolina’s strategic initiatives.
“I want to do all that I can to improve the way we operate and improve our overall sustainability,” he said. “Folks who are part of the university community have an obligation to steward our resources as effectively as we can.”
Long before this project began, Johns began a push within Research to give up space that was not being used effectively.
“I had a vested interest in finding opportunities to reduce our overall space footprint, because it was obvious that we were sitting on too much space,” he said “I knew that there was a desire to do this more broadly, and I was happy to be a leader, with the idea that eventually the rest of the University would be considering it as well.”
Leaders in Higher Education
Knuffman notes that Carolina’s process is on the leading edge as higher education begins to grapple with remote and hybrid work competing with new space demands.
“I’m proud of our work to support our strategic priorities in a smart and data-driven way, with Chancellor Lee Roberts prioritizing this approach to growth,” he said. “We’ve made significant progress and are now thinking about policy incentives and other ways to improve our utilization across campus.”
He appreciates the partnership of OE, the efforts of the design team, and the engagement of campus leaders via the Deans Space Committee.
“A number of people in schools and in units across campus have dedicated a lot of time into this process and deserve a ton of credit for that investment,” he said. “We wouldn’t be as successful without them.”