2018 ASHS Annual Conference

The University of Arizona Campus Arboretum is the oldest, continually maintained public green space in Arizona. As the Land Grant School in Arizona since 1891, the University of Arizona addresses practical state and global needs through research and education. For more than 120 years, university faculty have used the campus grounds as a proving grounds for the testing and introduction of arid adapted trees which have been introduced for use as agricultural commodities or urban ornamentals. As a result, the campus displays both tremendous botanical diversity and holds important historic and cultural significance. In 2002, the University of Arizona main campus was designated an Arboretum. The Campus Arboretum serves as a living laboratory promoting stewardship and conservation of urban trees through research, education and outreach.

Integration of the arboretum into main campus necessitates cross-cutting collaborations and communication in sharing grounds management that effectively protects landscape resources and collections standards while also improving operational efficiency. To this end, The Campus Arboretum partnered with Facilities Management to develop and implement a customized digital asset management system that tracks and shares landscape maintenance records between their respective organizations. In so doing, we created a system that formally integrates the university units who share grounds oversight. Further, we were able to leverage and combine previous investments to create a customized database and mobile application that facilitates communication, recording keeping and record sharing.

For Grounds Services, this database system will provide decision support, optimize use of personnel and resources, and ultimately improve maintenance efficiency. For the Campus Arboretum, the system will improve accuracy of our records, inform collections development, management policies, and training needs for grounds workers and allow direct creation of service requests to the grounds staff. Both units will benefit as resultant plant health improvements enhance the value of the collection and a landscape that models institutional expertise in science-based landscape practices.