5 Ways Skedda Solves Higher Ed’s Space Management Crisis

Higher education is facing a number of challenges in 2025. Enrollment numbers are down, budget cuts are underway, public confidence is waning—all while operations and facilities teams juggle the needs of campus faculty. According to The Hechinger Report, enrollment is predicted to decline by 15% in the next four years, with multi-million-dollar cuts at the institutional level (Aramark).

These issues demand strategic responses from facilities, operations, and administrators. Universities are increasingly seeking tech solutions to:

• Optimize the utilization of underused spaces
• Eliminate redundant cost expenditures
• Increase transparency and flexibility in space management

In this special lesson of Patrick’s Product Picks, specifically designed for higher education leaders, we share key product features tailored to the needs of universities.

Prefer this content in video format? Watch the webinar on-demand.

Campus Space Management Needs to Adapt

Efficiency is the name of the game in modern campus space management. Facilities and Operations managers have an opportunity to lead from the front and rethink what it means to manage space in 2025 and beyond. Some common issues they face include:

• More faculty than space: Conflicts over high-demand spaces and non-compliance with policies
• Fragmented systems: Limited wayfinding and visibility, and missing utilization data
• Lack of flexibility: Permanently assigned spaces are underutilized, and lack of self-service

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See the Top 5 Challenges Space Management Tech Solves for Universities.

Universities have limited space to build out. Thus, facilities teams, administrators, and faculty are focusing on ‘building-in’ and innovating with flexible workspaces. According to the Campus Facilities Inventory Report, 77% of institutions are extremely likely to create more flexible administrative workspace, and 60% are extremely likely to create more flexible faculty workspace. 

With top initiatives like tracking utilization, introducing transparency, and boosting connectivity, here’s how Skedda caters to the needs of higher education institutions through its tailored applications.

1. Use Space Efficiently with Accurate Data

Universities often lack the necessary insights to optimize their space use effectively, leading to wasted resources and underutilized facilities. Skedda provides detailed insights into how spaces are used, enabling universities to make data-driven decisions about their spaces according to actual demand. Having this information helps to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve the workplace experience.

Skedda’s Insights Dashboard provides universities with comprehensive data on space utilization rates, identifying underused areas that could be repurposed or downsized. You can view all the utilization data across your entire venue, and then examine it granularly. For example, you may want to learn more about how faculty desks are utilized by the operations team. You can filter all this down in Skedda’s Insights Dashboard using User Tags and Space Attributes.

You can also analyze usage trends over time to anticipate future needs or identify patterns in space demand, which assists in strategic planning and helps avoid unnecessary expansions or constructions. For example, you find that most TAs hold their office hours off-site, rather than in the allocated classrooms. This now opens up additional space for use in other purposes, such as study sessions or group meetings.

Note: The Insights Dashboard defaults to the longest opening hours in your Hours of Availability. It’s more than likely in a university setting that you’ll have different spaces and resources that have different opening hours. For example, your desks might be available from 9 am to 5 pm, but your sports facility is available from 6 am to midnight. You can toggle the criteria in the Insights Dashboard to filter out exactly what you’re looking for. 

2. Tailor Access for Faculty, Students, or Staff

There’s a diverse group of people who use space on university campuses—faculty, staff, students, visitors, and more. Universities often struggle to provide the correct level of access among these various stakeholders, which can lead to conflicts and inefficient use of space. Skedda’s tailored access helps ensure that faculty, students, and staff have the right booking privileges, streamlining operations and reducing administrative burden.

You can create distinct roles for different user groups through the use of User Tags. Each user group can have customized permissions and restrictions to tailor their access. Additionally, you can configure specific time frames, blackout dates, or priority access based on user roles. For instance, faculty might have priority access to lecture halls, while students may have restricted access times or days.

See how Columbia and Cornell College use Skedda to help their staff and students easily reserve dedicated space for meetings, events, and classes.

‍To set up role-based permissions and booking restrictions: Go to Settings → Conditions → Tags

Pro Tip: Students can view all their classrooms in one place by navigating to their List View and clicking ‘My Bookings’. There, students can use Space Tags as a filter to see only bookings associated with a specific classroom booking.

💡 Admin Tip: We recommend entering all the semester’s bookings before the semester begins. You can import data in bulk from another software using a CSV or Excel file. 

3. Streamline Bookings for Shared Spaces

Universities often have shared spaces, such as student hubs, libraries, reading rooms, study areas, and more. These highly trafficked spaces typically have dozens of desks that students need to be able to book on the spot. Skedda’s real-time booking capabilities, paired with QR code check-ins, make this possible.

QR codes offer a quick and contactless way for users to book and/or check in to their booked spaces. This system helps enforce compliance with booking policies and ensures that spaces are being used by those who reserved them. Users can see real-time availability and make instant bookings or changes via their devices. This reduces the likelihood of double bookings and enhances user satisfaction.

To print out QR codes: Go to Settings → Spaces and Attributes → Generate QR Codes

After you print out these QR codes, simply stick them to any bookable desk in shared areas.

See how the University of East London uses Skedda to connect students and faculty through hot desking.

Additionally, you can set customized rules to allow only individuals with specific roles or access to book certain spaces. To do that, set up a check-in rule that can be determined by Space or by User Tag.

To set up Space Tags: Go to Settings → Spaces and Attributes

To set up User Tags: Go to Settings → Conditions → Tags

💡 Admin Tip: On the Users page, you can see a comprehensive list of all the tags that have been created. You can also create new tags and assign them to users here.

🔮 Future Sneak Peek: For Microsoft and Google users with single sign-on, you can pull this data from your IDP. Very soon, you will be able to refresh what appears in your IDP in Skedda. For example, if someone were to move from HR to operations, and you updated this in your IDP, it would then update in Skedda.

4. Integrate with Existing Systems

Universities often find themselves juggling multiple systems for identity and access management, which can lead to outdated or incorrect user lists. Skedda integrates seamlessly with popular systems such as Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace, which many universities already use.

This integration simplifies user management and streamlines data import processes. This saves time and resources. User profiles and permissions are automatically updated, thus eliminating the need for manual updating. This reduces redundancy in administrative work, particularly in user management, and helps minimize manual entry and errors.

Learn more about Skedda’s integration with Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace.

5. Manage University Resources Easily

Managing diverse resources and ensuring compliance with space and equipment usage can be complex. Skedda's flexibility enables the management of various resources, from classrooms to lab equipment, using customized tagging and rule-based access. By tagging resources with detailed attributes—such as seating capacity, technological equipment, or accessibility features—users can easily find spaces that meet their specific needs.

You can also set it so that users must meet specific prerequisites (e.g., training certifications or faculty approvals) before they can reserve specific equipment. This feature is particularly useful in laboratories where safety is a top priority, ensuring that only qualified personnel have access to specific resources.

To set up conditions for booking resources: Go to Settings → Conditions → Tags

Tip: If you have specific resources that you want to have a definite time frame on, you can create rules for that as well. And if you need to include specific questions for certain bookings, you can make them using custom fields.

💡 Admin Tip: You can import users’ roles and access to equipment in bulk using a CSV or Excel sheet. This means that if you already have access and permissions set up in one software, you can quickly transfer that information over to Skedda.

🔮 Future Sneak Peek: Very soon, Skedda will have SCIM and will automatically update with your IDP. That means you can update access information in Google or Microsoft, and that would automatically update in Skedda.

Managing Campus Space Efficiently

In an era where universities face declining enrollments and significant budget constraints, the need for strategic and innovative space management has never been more critical. As such, they are rapidly adopting modern technology to optimize their existing facilities.

Skedda is tailored to meet the nuanced demands of higher education institutions. Whether you’re dealing with scheduling complexities, mixed-use facilities, or compiling detailed utilization data for strategic planning, Skedda offers a versatile solution.

For a more personalized discussion about how Skedda can address your institution’s unique needs, get in touch with our team. We’re here to ensure your space management strategy is as efficient and effective as possible.