Campus Space Study

The university continues to have new demands for space and a tool currently doesn’t exist to measure the real-time density and occupancy of spaces. This type of data will help inform decision making related to adding or improving space on campus to enhance our ability to deliver high-quality undergraduate and graduate education and other mission-critical student services.

The goal of the study is to provide insights in order to optimize use of our current spaces, respond to requests for additional space, and plan for future updates or expansion of spaces.

The data will also help inform the university’s sustainability goals in alignment with its commitment to Laudato Sí and care for our common home. Having accurate occupancy data helps USD reduce its carbon footprint and utility consumption. It also informs how we deploy building maintenance technicians and custodial staff in an effort to improve service and create the best possible experience for building occupants across campus.

While some of the recommendations of the Campus Space Study are administrative in nature, while others require further discussion and contemplation with campus stakeholders. As such, the work on campus space practices will continue this academic year and be coordinated by a Working Group.

The Co-chairs of the Space Committee, Rondi Stein, Assistant VP for Academic Administration, and Mary Whelan, Executive Director for University Design, the Assistant Vice President for Facilities Management and Ky Snyder, Vice President for Operations.

There will be meetings with multiple stakeholder groups over the course of the fall and spring semesters. Those stakeholders' groups will include, but not be limited to, the Space Committee, various Department Chairs from each school, Schedulers, Building Managers, EMS users, the Provost's Office, Deans, ITS, Human Resources, Facilities and others as the need arises.

The ability to monitor campus space usage from one fall semester to the next, especially with a larger first-year class, is expected to provide further insight into the study's recommendations. The data from Occupace will also provide our campus community with real time information on study space availability at Copley Library, mail/print center wait times and food service occupancy at the SLP, Tu Mercardo, Aroma's, Bert's Bistro and La Paloma via the Waitz app. We encourage you to download the app and utilize this resource.

USD mapped the campus utilizing both scheduling documentation and real-time density and occupancy reports. Scheduling documents include but are not limited to class schedules, anticipated section enrollments (including the number of students scheduled to be in specific classes), event management system (EMS) reports and other hard data.

USD partnered with Occuspace and Smith Group to conduct this study. Real time density and occupancy reports are generated by sensors (provided by our partner, Occuspace) that are placed in multiple zones and connected to WiFi to determine the occupancy and length of stay in grouped spaces. Spaces being measured include classrooms, conference spaces, grouped or shared office spaces, community spaces and specialty spaces. No individual offices are measured. It’s important that sensors are not touched or moved during the measurement period.

Occuspace has worked with other universities, including UC San Diego, Vanderbilt and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Andre Hutchinson
Steering Committee Co-Chair
Assistant Vice President Facilities Management

Mary Whelan
Co-Chair Space Committee, Steering Committee Co-Chair
Executive Director of University Design and Collections

Briana Burton ’26
Architecture Student

Cyndi Casillas
Budget and Administrative Manager, University Operations

Marie Davis
Assistant Vice President, Budget and Planning

Tammy Dwyer
Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences

Gordon Hoople
Associate Professor, Integrated Engineering, Shiley Marcos School of Engineering

Sean Horrigan
Director of University Mobility and Scheduling

Jeff Hugger
Director of Operations and Events, Vice President and Provost

Nancy Kuelbs
Scheduler, Dean’s Office, College of Arts and Sciences

Tina Mabe
Director, Network and Infrastructure Services

Alejandra Malvaez
Technology and Applications Analyst, University Scheduling

Merrill Marker
Senior Director Student Affairs Facilities

Bob Muth
Vice Dean and Professor of Law

Kristin Scialabba
Vice Provost of Strategic Communication and Innovation, Vice President and Provost

Elizabeth Silva
University Registrar

Ky Snyder
Vice President of University Operations

Rondi Stein
Co-Chair Space Committee
Assistant Vice President for Academic Administration

Jillian Tullis
Associate Dean, Professor, Communication, College of Arts and Sciences

At this point most sensors have been deployed by Occuspace employees and calibrated across campus. Some adjustments may be required. Thank you in advance for not moving, unplugging or handling sensors. Sensors have been added to the Student Life Pavillion and Tu Mercado by request.

Calibration of the sensors does require a physical count of occupants in our spaces to ensure that the sensors are reading areas correctly. We are aware of some instances where Occuspace employees accidentally entered instructional or meeting spaces while sessions were in progress. Please be assured that Occuspace has reviewed these instances and is working closely with our USD facilities and building staff to minimize disruption to classes, research, meetings or other work as they finalize calibration efforts.

No individual person or office space will be measured. Maintaining personal privacy is a top priority. Occuspace sensors are privacy-friendly and do not collect or store any personally identifiable information. Occuspace is General Data Protection Regulation and California Consumer Privacy Act compliant. This firm was interviewed by USD ITS and deemed the most effective to provide the best possible data and ensure privacy. Additionaly, no sound is received by the sensors.

The data will not be used for any purposes other than space management and planning. Furthermore, the data will not be used to infer individuals' identities or to track attendance. USD will not provide the information to third parties.

Additionally, information will be collected based on zones and areas and the focus will not be on individual office usage. Information on Occuspace’s privacy policy can be found here.

Occuspace sensors measure occupancy by passively scanning for transmittable devices (mobile phones and/or computers) in spaces. The sensors do not collect identifiable information on occupants in the spaces. Sensors do not have video or audio recording capabilities.

Although sensor(s) may be placed in individual offices, rest assured we are not monitoring anyone's individual offices. All of the occupancy data is aggregated and reported for collective zones. For example, there could be occupancy sensors installed in multiple offices, conference rooms, etc. throughout a building but these are aligned to 'read' broader areas of the entire floor and report the data back as a zone. Be assured that the Occuspace technology is completely privacy safe.

Right now USD doesn’t collect data on space utilization, so this study provides insights into how our spaces are utilized. Collecting this data is only one datapoint in reviewing how we utilize our space (along with university/college/unit priorities and the needs of our academic programs).

Collecting this data can help improve the experience on campus by:

• Improving sustainability by optimizing heating and cooling required in different spaces.
• Better deploying staff resources, like facilities and housekeeping services, based on the level of use in different spaces on campus (including increasing staffing for higher traffic areas that may require more frequent maintenance or cleaning).
• More efficient scheduling and assigning of spaces by understanding use patterns across campus.
• USD could also provide real time occupancy data for commonly used spaces (like study or dining spaces) to help campus community members know where space might be available. See an example of this here.

Any questions can be sent to vicepresidentforoperations@sandiego.edu. You can also reach out to members of the Campus Space Study working group listed on the website.