Leading with Heart: A Creative Force at Ducks Village

With nearly two decades of property management experience and a deep-rooted passion for student living (especially in Eugene), the new General Manager of Ducks Village brings a unique blend of energy, optimism, and creativity to the community. Having once lived just across the street, Traci Knights brings positive vibes as she returns to the neighborhood to create memorable experiences for today’s residents.

Tell us a little bit about your current role and how long you’ve been with the company.

I am currently the General Manager at Ducks Village — a 650-bed, 230-unit student housing community in Eugene, Oregon. It’s been really fun since starting here in January because I actually lived at the property across the street when I was attending the University of Oregon and now I’m back in the local area. It brings back some of my core memories from college.

What first attracted you to work for Campus Advantage?

I worked in student housing before and then was away for a period. I realized while I was gone that student housing really matches my energy. I was raised a Ducks fan, so being part of the student life is who I am. I’m very optimistic and positive, so I love interacting with our residents and turning those frowns upside down — my mission is to redeem landlords. This is often the first experience some of these students have as renters, and it’s nice to set that bar of what they should expect.

What is your professional background?

I’ve been in property management for 19 years — my first seven were in conventional housing. I worked for a company that was later acquired by Greystar and then was offered to work on a startup portfolio in the campus area. For about six years I worked with The Hive overseeing 105 units spread across 11 properties in the area. During the pandemic, the portfolio was purchased and changed hands, and I was able to stay on, achieving a 35-40% resident retention rate. After that, I went to work for a luxury apartment downtown and it was absolutely lovely, but I really missed the students and the electric environment around campus.

What does a typical day look like in your role?

I start each day catching up on emails and making sure I get those down to a manageable queue and that no emergencies came through overnight. After that, I like to walk the property and make sure everything looks good before I meet with our Maintenance Supervisor to make sure her team is doing OK. My office is physically a little removed from the rest of the staff, so I like to have check-ins with my Community Assistants throughout the day and pop over to see how other people are doing.

We have our all-staff meeting on Mondays, so everyone comes in and we all get dinner together and try to incorporate some kind of fun activity. I can’t say enough good things about the team we have here, and we were even able to achieve a 47% renewal rate this year, which was amazing. A lot of my job is triage with any issues that may come up, but thanks to the people here, we have a good handle on how to address anything as a team.

What three words best describe you (inside or outside of work)?

Optimistic – My fiancé always calls me incessantly optimistic. I’ll find that silver lining somewhere, and I’ve been conditioned to look for the positive.

Creative – I create art, I’m a singer, a puppeteer. I worked on a YouTube channel for half a decade. I do community theater around town and stay busy on the creative front.

Motivated – If you can’t stay motivated in this industry, you’re either a lifer or you’ll be gone pretty quickly. I’ve been able to absorb the hard times, take in what’s useful, and let the rest run like water off a duck’s back.

How would you describe the Campus Advantage culture?

I’ve been very pleasantly surprised at how supportive Campus Advantage is. I’ve come from some larger companies that felt a little too competitive and centered on people climbing over each other. With Campus Advantage, I’ve found that someone is totally willing to help out any time I have a question. Pam and Gretchen, the VP and regional over my portfolio, are really great with stepping in and helping when I need it. It’s really been great to feel that support — if you’re not in a place where you want to be or if you don’t have backup, it can really weigh you down.

What is one of your favorite moments with Campus Advantage so far?

Eight days into my role here I flew to Austin for the annual FOCUS Conference, which was great. There was a lot of recognition for our team, and we had such great success — it was really fun to experience that. The team building stuff was great, but getting to know the people on a personal level was really nice. You get to know people and hear about their experiences as well, which then makes it even easier to approach one another when questions arise. It was such a great experience, and people around me could tell I got the love of my job back.

Thinking about your most successful peers and teammates, what characteristics do they share?

Drive and organization. I’m working on the organization part myself; it’s a weakness, but having an organized team around me both on site and remotely has helped me a lot. It’s a sink-or-swim thing with this many beds where you must figure it out quickly.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I love to sing; I used to sing the national anthem for university athletic events. I’ve sung at the arena for basketball games and the Prefontaine Classic. I also really love acting and puppets — I was a huge fan of Jim Henson. I played Kate Monster in Avenue Q. I met my fiancé in theater, so it’s a special place for both of us.

If your life had a soundtrack, name some songs that would be on it?

“As the World Falls Down” by David Bowie from Labyrinth

“Your Wildest Dreams” by The Moody Blues

“One Thing Right” by Marshmello and Kane Brown