The University of Texas Teams Up with Austin Community College to Upgrade Campus Map using GIS Interns
By Sue Stewart, Assistant Director for Campus Geospatial Assets at the University of Texas at Austin and Sean Moran, GIS Professor and ACC Inc Manager at Austin Community College
You only get one chance to make a good first impression - and a university’s online map can make or break how GIS is valued on campus. An easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and informative map not only enhances the campus experience for visitors, students, faculty, and staff, it inspires our leaders to reimagine how GIS can improve university operations. The University of Texas at Austin (UT) teamed up with Austin Community College (ACC) to upgrade the online interactive UT Campus Map.
What’s Old is New
As members of Generation X, we remember navigating campus as a college freshmen or a visitor with a printed map in hand. It was our spatial key to locating our classrooms, the library, parking…really unlocking the entire campus.
The University of Texas at Austin Campus Map from 1975
Fast forward 30 years and you’ll still find college freshmen and visitors navigating campus with a map in hand - but now it’s via interactive map on their mobile phones. The interactive campus map is more than just a navigational tool. The University uses GIS and the campus map to inventory, manage, and analyze assets. How will an event impact traffic patterns? Where are the closest utilities to a proposed building? Does campus lighting have an inverse spatial relationship with crime? These are examples of spatial questions and resulting initiatives supported by the campus map. The more intuitive, accessible, and informative the campus map, the more leaders can envision GIS supporting their needs.
The University of Texas at Austin Campus Map Today (2025)
Team Work Makes the Dream Work
As Assistant Director for Campus Geospatial Assets, I’m responsible for UT’s GIS services and campus map. I knew it was time to upgrade our map but I have limited staffing and funds. I contacted ACC GIS Professor Sean Moran and partnered with ACC’s Incubator for Professional Skills (ACC Inc) to hire GIS interns to help reimagine our interactive map using ArcGIS Experience Builder.
ACC Inc interns created the amenities point layer which is based on peer institution research, internal needs, and their own student-centric point of view. The result includes every campus destination (e.g. buildings, parking, elevators, food establishments, event locations, etc.) along with a standardized set of attribute values to provide information and support queries. They were also empowered to suggest additional improvements like using Arcade to improve the look and feel of the standard map popups.
Pop-Up Comparison: Traditional (left) and Arcade Enhanced Version (right)
Using skilled low-cost ACC Inc GIS interns allowed UT staff to focus on their day-to-day operations while ACC GIS interns focused on developing the new interactive map experience. Once the cartographic underlays and ArcGIS Experience Builder interactive map were drafted, it was much easier for me to review and refine the data layers, their symbolic presentation, and the new user interface with campus leadership and brand, marketing, and communications. It’s a win-win relationship. ACC GIS students get paid to acquire demonstrated professional experience and UT Campus Operations can expand our GIS footprint without breaking the bank.
ACC Inc GIS Intern Brian Cruz working on UT campus map at ACC workstation
The Power of a Great Map
The result is our new online interactive UT Campus Map! The campus map and the updated cartography creates a visual hierarchy that emphasizes operational layers over basemap layers and aligns with other campus products. The application includes a simplified search tool for easily locating campus amenities and the intuitive interface is branded with UT’s university seal, longhorn logo, and distinctive burnt orange color. The combined campus map, application, and interface are all delivered via ArcGIS Experience Builder using responsive web design - ensuring a standardized and user-friendly experience that dynamically adapts the interface to a user's phone, tablet, or computer.
Handheld Comparison: Instant App (left) and Experience Builder (right)
Soon after the new online interactive UT Campus Map went live, I was in a meeting about using GIS to increase project visibility and enhance coordination and the new map was mentioned. A meeting attendee shared that a student in hospice wanted to attend graduation. She visited the student and used the new UT Campus Map app to turn on convocation locations, disabled parking spots, and accessible entrances to easily plan where an ambulance could deliver the student to graduation! Lots of grown folks were tearing up.
We’ve made a lot of progress, but we have a long way to go. Future improvements include parking, a routable multi-modal transportation network, and additional layers - but it all starts with our new UT Campus Map.
If you have any additional questions feel free to leave a comment or email me at sue.stewart@austin.utexas.edu for UT GIS or Sean Moran at smoran@austincc.edu for ACC GIS and ACC Inc.
