Wright State University (WSU) is one of 14 public universities in Ohio. Founded in 1964, WSU started as a joint campus between Ohio State University and Miami of Ohio. The university is named for the Wright brothers and hosts approximately 11,000 students in 23 academic buildings that encompass 3 million square feet of space. WSU operates its Lake Campus branch about 90 miles north in Celina, OH.
At one time, we had 18,000 students and are now 2/3 of that, which has created large pockets of vacant space. We’re undergoing an academic reorganization, so knowing what spaces we can consolidate and be able to track is immensely valuable as we develop new space plans.
TACKLING A REPORTING NIGHTMARE
“Wright State University is required to submit a large number of reports to the state, and that reporting was historically split between two departments,” said Robert Thompson, University Architect. “Two years ago, Facilities took on all reporting and realized the existing process was disconnected.”
To gather needed information, each university department was sent a 30-page survey about space use, physical assets, and other facility related information. Department representatives answered surveys early on but stopped putting extra effort into collecting accurate data when their changes from years before weren’t captured in the school’s database.
“The situation became where departments weren’t really looking at what they were sending in. Their time investment was to rubber stamp the surveys through,” Thompson said. “Data over time became increasingly inaccurate. We needed to streamline the process, and that required investing more time to ensure our data stays current and accurate.”
Facilities Facts
Buildings
Square Feet
Students
Degree Programs
We’ve got a lot of balls in the air and a small team to juggle them all. Archibus is allowing us to automate how we collect and organize space data to support space planning as Wright State University moves into the next phase of growth.
Thompson and team are leveraging the Archibus Space Inventory module to help validate and organize information gathered in past surveys. The goal is to create a more robust and accurate database that allows for more active management of space. “We’ve been working on it for two years and aren’t quite done…but we’ve made significant progress,” he said.
Next up is maximizing the Archibus Enterprise Move Management module. Current scenario plans are done by hand and Thompson wants to use Archibus to assign employees to appropriate spaces. His team is connecting with Human Resources databases to automatically validate employee space assignments, uncover space
conflicts, and highlight which employees are unassigned to a workplace despite showing as
active in the system.
Wright State recently started using the Archibus Health & Safety module for tracking COVID-19 cases. Though not a formal tool as of yet, the school is able to add COVID reports to the module and assign locations of reported cases.
Archibus Applications
- Space Inventory
- Enterprise Move Management
- Personnel & Occupancy
- Assets
- Health & Safety
Challenges
- Reduce time burdens on the five-person facilities department
- Improve reporting traditionally done by two departments
- Manage the reduction of seven colleges to four
- Maximize vacant space due to lower enrollment
Results
- Eliminated 30-page annual space survey per
department - Validated existing space data (two years of progress and counting)
- Consolidated vacant space in support of academic reorganization
- Improved accuracy and timeliness of State of Ohio required reporting