Driving Smart Campus Operations with GIS: How the Campus FM Technology Association Elevates Esri-Powered Facilities Management across Higher Education
Higher education is undergoing a significant operational shift. Facilities organizations are being asked to do more - optimize space, modernize maintenance workflows, enhance safety, meet sustainability targets, and improve the campus experience - while navigating constrained budgets and sprawling, complex portfolios. The Campus FM Technology Association (CFTA) sits at the center of this transformation. CFTA connects campus practitioners, technologists, and industry partners to advance the effective use of technology in campus facilities and infrastructure management. For Esri users, CFTA offers a uniquely practical community to align GIS with core campus systems – turning spatial data into operational impact.
Campus FM Technology Association Map of Member Institutions and Business Partners
Why GIS Is the Backbone of Smart Campus Operations
Location is the organizing principle of a campus. Buildings, utilities, rooms, assets, occupants, and activities all exist in place and time. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provide an intuitive, shared language across facilities, IT, planning, public safety, and sustainability - helping teams see patterns, coordinate actions, and measure outcomes. With ArcGIS Indoors, campuses can build authoritative indoor maps with levels, units, pathways, and points of interest; integrate them with maintenance and space systems; and deliver wayfinding and situational awareness via web and mobile apps. Paired with ArcGIS Enterprise, ArcGIS Online, Field Maps, Workforce, and Experience Builder, higher education institutions can streamline data collection, dispatching, and visualization workflows that connect field crews, space planners, and decision-makers.
Esri offers GIS tools and resources to higher education institutions through its Education Licensing Program, which provides affordable access to the complete ArcGIS system for teaching, research, and campus administration. Technical support, software updates, and access to self-paced e-Learning lessons are also included. To learn more about these resources, CFTA recommends Esri’s Smart Campus Operations, Campus Operations Blog, ArcGIS for Campus Operations, and the Smart Campus Operations LinkedIn Group
CFTA’s community brings these capabilities to life with implementation experience, peer knowledge, vendor insights, and standards discussions that help campuses bridge the gap between “cool map” and “operational change.”
Space Management: From Floor Plans to Strategic Utilization
Modern space management goes beyond tracking square footage - it is about aligning physical environments with academic, research, and student-life missions. Many campuses maintain floor plans in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) or Building Information Modeling (BIM) while housing assignments, departments, and space use codes live in Facilities Management Information System (FMIS) or Integrated Workorder Management System (IWMS) platforms. GIS provides the spatial data model and integration fabric to unify these systems.
- ArcGIS Indoors for authoritative interiors: Indoors establishes levels, units, use types, and pathways as a common spatial schema, enabling consistent mapping across buildings and campuses.
- Visual utilization & planning: With Indoors maps, Feature Layers, and Dashboards, planners can visualize occupancy trends, swing space opportunities, departmental footprints, and other institutional data.
- Scenario planning & communication: Create shared web maps with overlays (e.g., renovation phases, decant plans, accessibility routes) to communicate change clearly to stakeholders.
- Integration: Use georeferenced unit IDs to join GIS layers with space inventory in an IWMS - keeping counts, assignments, and square footage synchronized while maintaining a spatial “single source of truth.”
University of Rhode Island Digital Twin of Sponsored Research Activities
Work Order & Maintenance: Spatially Prioritized, Field-Ready
Maintenance teams are most effective when their work is spatially organized - seeing where assets are, what tasks are nearby, and how to navigate complex interiors. Integrating GIS with a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) or IWMS adds context that improves response time, first-time fix rates, and crew safety.
- Asset mapping & indoor wayfinding: Store asset locations in GIS and expose room-level maps to technicians. Indoors and mobile mapping eliminate “where is it?” delays.
- Spatial dispatching: Use ArcGIS Workforce to assign work by proximity and priority, and Field Maps to update asset conditions in the field with photos, barcodes/QR scans, and offline editing.
- Indoors + CMMS integration: Link WO records to locations via unit IDs or asset layer IDs. Mobile technicians can open the right room and the closest stairwell from the work order.
- Analytics & dashboards: Operations dashboards reveal hot spots - rooms with repeat tickets, buildings with deferred maintenance, zones prone to HVAC alarms - driving targeted interventions.
Document Management: Bringing Drawings and Records into Spatial Context
Campus FM organizations manage vast libraries of drawings, operations and maintenance manuals, warranties, compliance records, and renovation documents. Too often, these live in separate repositories, disconnected from the questions users ask every day (e.g., “What’s the latest floor plan for this wing?”).
- Spatial document hubs: Attach document links to features - rooms, assets, utilities - so anyone viewing the map can open the latest drawing or manual in one click.
- Version control & governance: Track authoritative drawings (CAD, PDF, BIM sheets) and tie them to building and floor features, preventing outdated references.
- Search & retrieval: Use Experience Builder or Instant Apps to build campus-facing portals that let users search by building, floor, room, system, or project.
- Turnover packages: Integrate project closeout with GIS updates - new spaces and assets appear in maps with correct IDs, with closeout documents linked to the correct features.
BIM + GIS: Bridging Design Intent with Operational Reality
BIM captures detailed geometry and attributes during design and construction. Operational teams need the right level of detail (LOD) to sustain assets, not just design models. GIS helps translate BIM into maintainable, navigable, campus-scale data.
- From BIM/CAD to Indoors: Convert Revit/CAD floor plans into Indoors units and levels with repeatable extract, transform, and load (ETL) patterns (often automated via FME or ArcGIS Data Interoperability).
- LOD tuning: Choose the operational granularity - rooms, zones, major equipment - avoiding “model overload” while preserving essential attributes.
- 3D campus context: Publish BIM-derived layers alongside terrain, utilities, and exteriors for holistic situational awareness in 2D/3D web scenes.
- Lifecycle alignment: Use room and asset IDs consistently from design through handover into CMMS/IWMS and GIS, enabling smooth data continuity.
BIM Model in ArcGIS Pro from Esri MOOC: Transform AEC Projects with GIS and BIM
Safety, Accessibility, and Wayfinding: User-Centered Maps for Everyone
Smart campus maps don’t just serve planners - they serve people. When indoor maps and campus pathways incorporate accessibility attributes, emergency routes, and real-time conditions, the campus becomes more navigable and safer.
- Accessible routing: Model elevators, ramps, door widths, and restricted areas; provide indoor navigation that respects mobility needs.
- Emergency response maps: Pre-plan evacuation routes, staging areas, fired department connection locations, shut-off valves, and automated external Defibrillators (AED); share them with public safety via secure web apps.
- Events & temporary conditions: Overlay construction closures or event routes to guide the community, reducing confusion and risk.
- Campus experience: Deliver building directories, points of interest, and schedule-aware routing via web and mobile apps that leverage Indoors data.
University of Rhode Island Interactive Campus Web Map
Sustainability & Utilities: Turning Data into Action
Energy efficiency and carbon reduction depend on context: where equipment is, how spaces are used, and how systems are connected. GIS brings sustainability into operational view.
- Utility network mapping: Maintain authoritative maps of electric, chilled water, steam, fiber, and other networks; understand dependencies and outage impacts.
- Energy analytics in place: Spatially analyze occupancy, schedules, and HVAC alarms to prioritize retro-commissioning or sensor coverage.
- Capital planning: Map condition indices, risk, and criticality to plan investments across facilities and systems.
Governance, Data Quality, and Change Management
Technology succeeds when data is trustworthy and teams adopt the tools. CFTA emphasizes governance as a cornerstone of smart campus operations.
- Authoritative sources & stewardship: Define which system holds the source of truth for spaces, assets, utilities, and documents; appoint data stewards.
- IDs & standards: Use stable, human-meaningful identifiers for buildings, floors, rooms, and assets—supporting integrations among GIS, IWMS, CMMS, and BIM.
- Repeatable ETL: Automate CAD/BIM-to-Indoors conversions and CMMS-to-GIS updates with quality checks and exception handling.
- Training & adoption: Roll out maps and apps with role-based views; build quick guides for technicians, planners, and leadership; incorporate feedback loops.
The Esri Stack in Action: A Practical Reference from CFTA
- ArcGIS Indoors: Authoritative interior maps, space data, routing, and wayfinding.
- ArcGIS Enterprise/Online: Secure sharing of services, maps, scenes, and apps.
- Field Maps: Mobile asset inspections, redlines, photos, and offline editing.
- Workforce: Spatial dispatching and crew coordination.
- Dashboards & Experience Builder: Operational and executive views with KPIs, trends, and filters.
- Data Interoperability/FME: ETL pipelines between CAD/BIM/CMMS/IWMS and GIS.
Join the Movement: CFTA Membership for Campus Members and Business Partners
If you’re passionate about advancing campus operations through technology, CFTA membership is your gateway to community, collaboration, and real-world solutions.
Campus Members
Gain access to peer networks, implementation experience, webinars, and real-world applications across space management, maintenance, document governance, BIM/GIS pipelines, and accessibility mapping. Learn how peers operationalize ArcGIS Indoors, connect GIS to CMMS/IWMS, and drive adoption with clear governance. Whether you’re just starting with indoor maps or scaling enterprise integrations, CFTA helps you get farther, faster.
Business Partners
Engage directly with campus decision-makers, share solution roadmaps, and align offerings with campus priorities. CFTA provides a forum to demonstrate value - showing how your products integrate with Esri workflows, improve data quality, reduce friction in handover, and enhance operational outcomes. Partners benefit from candid feedback and long-term relationships that lead to successful deployments.
Together, we can build smarter, safer, and more sustainable campuses.
Ready to connect? Learn more and join today at cfta.org!
You can also interact with our growing community on LinkedIn or consider attending the CFTA Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN, on August 4 -6, 2026!
Want to learn how CFTA Campus Members and Business Partners are using ArcGIS to solve FM challenges throughout Higher Education? Check out the following Campus Operations Blog posts.
Enterprise GIS as a Tool for Supporting a Campus Arboretum
A Bullish Opportunity: A GIS Roadmap for Facilities Management
Austin Community College District Enhances Campus Navigation with ArcGIS Indoors Viewer
The University of Arizona’s Path to Enhanced User Experience Through a Custom GIS Routing Tool
Deploying GIS Across Campus to Improve Public Safety at the University of Rhode Island
Building a Smarter Campus: Brown University’s Journey to a Campus-Wide GIS