Campus computers and laptops are configured to automatically back up any files found in your
Desktop,
Documents, and
Pictures folders.
ArcGIS doesn't yet support automated cloud backup for its project files, which can sometimes cause unintended errors and data loss. To avoid this, it's recommended that users create new "working" folders for ArcGIS projects
outside of these backup locations. This will produce local-only files directly on your hard drive.
Where to Make New Project Folders
The best location for these new folders is inside the folder found at C:\Users\[your username]. In this location, you should have full rights to create/modify files, while still protecting them for privacy purposes under your login. So for example, the full folder path for someone with the username "USERNAME" for a new folder called "Test" would be
C:\Users\USERNAME\Test
Something important to keep in mind for these project files is that they will only exist locally on your computer; You'll need to manually back them up to avoid losing your work if there's ever hardware failure or your device needs to be otherwise replaced or re-imaged.
Choosing Custom Project Folder Locations in ArcGIS
You can find more info on the steps for setting the project folder location for ArcGIS in the support article linked below (via esri):
https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/get-started/general-options.htm