Effective Measures to Improve Space Use and Cost.
Presented by Paul Ritchie at the Utilisation of Space Across Campus through the Use of ICT workshop at the University of Birmingham on 24th August 2011.
(Explainable) Data-Centric AI: what are you explaininhg, and to whom?
Effective Measures to Improve Space Use and Cost
1. Effective measures to improve space use and cost Paul RitchieTimetabling ManagerLeeds Metropolitan University
2. What does it mean? Why improve space use? Student perception Timetabling more effectively Use of audit
3. Timetabling - the estate perspective Space is second highest cost after salaries 2.5% building costs should be spent on maintenance each year Quality Suitable
4. Key challenges Proportion of spaces used for teaching Learning experience Student perception and retention Multi purpose space- different users Students will use space they see as effective learning spaces- despite our labels
5. The learning experience 1 Formal Planned use of space More than teaching events On /off site Room layout and capacity The pedagogic day/ week Student led timetabling
6. The learning experience 2 Informal Where and when? Technology and support Auditable Off site Virtual Space use and support Independent learning Many things to many people
7. The estate perspective Space type -flexibility Business/professional Term time and out of hours Cost/space charging 13% more effective space use www.smg.ac.uk
8. The affordable estate Consistent studies show utilisation* of sector to be poor Term time only use Adequate room sizes for groups- doesn’t mean students will turn up *frequency x occupancy
9. Drivers for change Blended learning Meeting new initiatives Time and place Infrastructure/ management requirements Seeing learning for and by others Performance Transparent outcomes Definitions and expectations of learning contracts
10. Creating the learning landscape Experience of job market and employablity Relevant learning Time to work and earn Planning and managing staff resources
11. Timetabling Student centred Effective space use Deal with all data Analysis of timetable Detail, detail , detail Understanding costs
12. Space Charging? Charge for space booked No cross charging Some surcharge for space booked and not used Central timetabling reduces the Estate by 17% *smg
13. Audit All weeks Know what is booked and what we use Tell people Better learning experience for students Google calendars Text messages to students Planning for better estate management and for space to meet needs Type F, O or U
14. Audit Clear reporting Regular Timely Management information What should staff do about this? Whole students experience- open days to graduation
15. Audit Audit drives review of space by detailed space type and location Volume of equipment Clarity on new / changing provision Impact of space on use- quality, convenience Options to be better
16. More effective options Heat and light by timetable Building security Learning community is better for students- collocate 24 x 7 buildings- right support in one location
17. Questions ‘If you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange them, then each of us will have two ideas’ George Bernard Shaw 1925
Editor's Notes
There are Four key questions to address today...1. Why do we need to focus on improving space use – what are the key challenges and issues?2. What do our student want or expect from us? We’ll look at the learning experience and drivers for change 3. How can we timetable more effectively? We’ll highlight some of the developments we are undertaking at Leedsmet to improve the student experience as well as tackling efficient space use 4. And finally, we’ll look at how space audits and other tools we are using at Leedsmet can help to identify issues and make improvements
So, the first key question...Why improve space use?1. From an estate perspective – we know that space is our second highest cost to the University after salaries. There are huge costs implications associated with buildings from capital to revenue.2. We estimate to keep space at a high quality you would need to spend 2.5% of turnover on maintenance of buildings per year3. We need our space to be of a high quality and fit for purpose in a customer environment
The Key Challenges from a student point of view1. Overall, the proportion of actual space used for teaching and learning is usually small % of the total University estate (roughly 15%).2. Yet the learning experience is constantly evolving and expectations increasing3. As well as attracting students we need to retain them4. We need to strike a balance between expectation and reality. For example, Multi-purpose – can be more effective than rooms with one sole use but you could still have a high investment and not use space effectively5. We need to better understand what our students require from a learning environment. For example : we might put more emphasis on the name of a space ie. the ART STUDIO but students don’t care about labels if the equipment is in there to use. This might help change our mind set slightly.
Building on from the student experience ...There are two different types of learning experiences:The formal more traditional process where everything is planned around a fixed set of parameters is much easier to timetable and plan for.Lecture runs for an hour every Tuesday at 10am for the full semester. Capacity required 100. Simple!
Learning ExperienceThe second learning experience is less formal and there is an emerging trend for teaching to be a moving feast; where requests for space is more dynamic and could be tailored or changed from one week to the next. This is much harder to plan and manage and can mean many things to many peopleThere could be a mixed blend of the two types of learning : 80/20, 40/60 etcOne of our main challenges is to consider how we can tackle the informal learning experienceNeed to create space and time to deliver and support this effectively.
Some of our issues from an Estate perspective are as follows:1. Is our space flexible enough to cope with different experiences? 2. Do we project a business/professional image to potential clients beyond the traditional customer base?3. What do we do outside of term time and out of hours? – can we easily identify and consolidate bookings into less space during off-peak periods4. Should we charge for space interally? 4. Is this the best way to get people to understand our true space costs?5. According to Space Management Group (SMG); if you charge for space it usually results in a 13% smaller space footprint.
When you factor in all the costs and issues...What we are saying is we need an affordable estateA lot of academics I come across believe we don’t have enough space but poor utilisation figures tell a different story2. We currently teach for approx 24 weeks of the year – you can draw parallels with football grounds that are only filled for only 20 dates in a calendar year. What do we do to maximise the costs for the rest of the year?3. We might have the most perfect sized spaces but other factors, beyond our immediate control, such as student attendance will drive down our occupancy figures
Drivers for changeI’ve listed some of the drivers for change.We’ve already touch on blended learning when we look at the informal learning experienceThe challenge is to find space within existing envelope to provide anything new – we can’t afford real newBe slicker with what we have gotTrend to make teaching more visible and reflective of the business (ie. rose bowl) – not behind closed doors.
Student expectations will change with increased fees and new government initiativesThis raises more challenges for creating the perfect learning environmentWe need to consider how we create spaces for some of these new key experiences... Employability, relevant learning and building in time to allow students to work and earn are going to be key themes over the next few yearsWe need to change attitudes and behaviours to tackle these issues and focus on planning and managing staff resources
Student expectations and challengesSo what are we doing about it at Leeds Met?In 2011 Leedsmet embarked on a timetabling project to automate the timetabling process for first timeKey objectives were the student experience and making effective use of spaceWe are looking at reporting and management information to inform the planning and management of our resourcesDetail is crucial – data quality paramount – rubbish in, rubbish outData collection processes improved - Data quality improvedProved our systems can cope - First run successful, lots to build on an improve (address human elements – staff and student expectations)Effective Timetabling can help us better understand our space costs
Timetabling – How much?Should we charge for space use? Financial incentives can work but we shouldn’t be seen as just moving money around – this could send out the wrong message and discourage buy-in3. You could have penalties for booking space and non use – however, we are working on raising awareness through our audit reporting.4. According to Space Management Group those institutions that timetable centrally end up with a smaller estates as a result4. We are looking to develop a more centralised approach at Leedsmet.
AUDITOne of our most effective measures for using space effectivelyAt leedsmet we audit extensively and produce regular reports for faculties and senior managementWe present clear and un-emotive dataHelping people to improve and ensure students are at heart of timetableMention on-line timetables plus Google & Text messaging servicesData benefits – Frequency or occupancy or utilisation? We are focusing on tackling frequency (bookings against non use) as a priority over utilisation although we do monitor all three.
AUDITFocus on benefits on student experience and managing staff in landscape of new fees and understanding of course costsWeekly reports to facultiesAnnual report for senior managersPromote Staff ownership and understandingComprehensive view – looking at the whole student cycle from beginning to end
AUDITUse it for space development, improvement and suitabilityAssess costs of upgrade/maintenance FOCUS on : How can we improve?Is 30% utilisation acceptable?
Other measures and options to investigate:1. JISC funded project to manage estate more effectively and reduce utility cost and carbon by linking timetable to energy control systems.1. The overall objective of this project is to use data derived from the CMIS timetabling system as input into the Building Energy Mgt System (BEMS) to allow the climate control elements of BEMS to be more closely related to room utilisation.1. We are currently looking at dataflow protocols to allow data transfer between the two systems2. Building security – lots of buildings open late at night means more pressure on ensuring security of staff and students (look to consolidate into fewer buildings)3. Community – Collocating students and not having one or two students isolated helps create a sense of a learning community and a better learning environment, 4. Look at use of 24/7 spaces (ie. libraries to meet some additional needs) The idea of library plus…
QuestionsFinally, in the spirit of sharing our experiences to help enrich our understanding I leave you with a quote from George Bernard Shaw and invite any questions from the floor?
