Education space at Cambridge Better facilities, better access, better experiences

1. Education space at CambridgeBetter facilities, better access, better experiences 22 November, 2017 Professor Graham Virgo, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education

2. Overview • Education space at Cambridge – a vision • Current challenges • Work underway • Programme Board for Education • Next steps

3. 1. Education space at Cambridge – a vision

4. 1. Education space at Cambridge – a vision High quality education spaces • Help attract the brightest students, create positive experiences • Support new approaches to learning and discovery • Encourage better and more efficient use of space

5. 2. Current challenges

6. 2. Current challenges Resources • Capital investment is rising – £144.5m spent on estate development in 2015/16 • Demand for capital investment is very high – at least £3bn costed in to the University’s capital plan • We must make more efficient use of existing assets, including education space • Cambridge has the lowest teaching space utilisation rate in the UK HE sector

7. 2. Current challenges Operational • Our lecture theatres could accommodate the whole undergraduate body simultaneously, but • There is a continual challenge in distributing teaching and examination activities across the estate, especially since postgraduate students need to be accommodated too • Redevelopment and refurbishment responds to academic needs but adds to pressures on available space • We lack the scheduling data and modelling tools to ensure our estate supports current and future educational requirements

8. 2. Current challenges Design and condition • 76 per cent of students say the quality of campus facilities is an important factor in choosing where to study* • But there are many low-quality spaces across the University – from whole sites to internal facilities e.g. Sidgwick site lecture block • These spaces do not inspire or encourage the kinds of interactions we need to maintain our global competitiveness * Higher Education Design Quality Forum Research, 2013

9. 2. Current challenges User experiences • Many Faculties and Departments struggle to access spaces needed for teaching, learning and examinations • Some graduate students do not have dedicated work spaces • The University does not have a single system for discovering and booking rooms across the estate

10. 3. Work underway

11. 3. Work underway Across Schools and institutions • Significant work led by Schools, and across Faculties and Departments • For example, re-imagining research and teaching infrastructure across sites (Biological Sciences, Arts and Humanities/Humanities and Social Sciences) • Detailed research into users’ experiences of study environments (Futurelib at the UL)

12. 4. The Programme Board for Education Space Remit • Promote, and facilitate progress towards, the University’s vision for education space • Report progress to the General Board • Capture data to model academic needs with the management and development of the estate • Now oversees work of the Room Booking Project Board

13. 4. The Programme Board for Education Space Remit continued • Produce performance specifications for improving the quality of education space • Prepare improvement plans where appropriate • Develop guidance for using teaching space more efficiently • Develop compelling, user-focused systems to manage room-booking and scheduling across the University • Encourage a culture of sharing educational spaces

14. 5. Next steps and further information Academic year 2017/18 • Develop a comprehensive understanding of education (numbers, aspirations, constraints) across all Schools • Design/test scheduling and modelling tool to match educational needs with available space • Produce/test a set of minimum standards for education space • Raise awareness, communicate, seek feedback across Schools (programme of administrator meetings set up)

15. 5. Next steps and further information www.educationspace.cam.ac.uk