Learning and Teaching Committee
Subject:
Spaces to Support the Student Experience
Origin:
Director of Media Services
This paper is the outcome of
two meetings held to discuss the spaces needed to support the student
experience. The meetings addressed formal and informal learning spaces and
touched on spaces to support the arts. Sports facilities were excluded from the
discussions and a wider scale consideration needs to include these facilities.
The meetings were convened
and chaired by Anne Mumford (Director of Media Services and a member of
Learning and Teaching Committee) and involved: Andrew Burgess (Estates
Services), Sophie Driscoll (LSU), David Fulford (Estates Services), Sabrina
Johnson (LSU), Mary Morley (University Library), Jennifer Nutkins (Academic
Registry), Phil Richards (IT Services), Nick Slater (Arts Centre), Simone
Stevens (Estates Services),
This paper is an input into the
Learning and Teaching Committee and to the “Student Experience”
strand of the Strategic Plan implementation.
The Student Experience
There is concern that,
despite the recent success in the league tables, our comparator institutions
are leaping ahead in terms of provision of facilities for use by students in
formal and informal situations (developments at Sheffield,
There is a concern from the
students that the University does not fully appreciate, and does not take
sufficiently seriously, the nature of the facilities required to meet the needs
of students. This is particularly the case for extra-curricular activities. There
is a clear inconsistency in the way that facilities are made available,
charging policies implemented and in booking procedures across facilities
managed in different ways.
Concerns are also raised in
the student body by rumours circulating of building developments and facilities
coming out of use with no replacements. Discussions showed that many of these
rumours had no basis in fact. It was agreed that there was a need for LSU to be
briefed as ideas developed and that the current mechanisms did not fill
that remit.
While there is nothing
critically wrong at this stage, facilities and procedures are becoming less fit
for purpose (size, equipment, location, opening hours). The current situation
needs addressing if the many ambitious statements regarding facilities and the
student experience are to be realised.
Spaces for Formal Learning
There is a gap between the
current stock of teaching rooms and the requirements. This specifically relates
to:
- the number of rooms required of a capacity
greater than 250;
- the relative location of teaching rooms and
departments;
- the very recent requirement for large flat floor
rooms (we only have one room that can accommodate over 50 students);
- the requirement to have a more flexible provision
of space than our current systems enable – e.g. varying provision
from week to week;
- the need for technology-rich spaces – most
of the pool facilities at Loughborough are fairly basic and, given current
resourcing (capital and revenue) it is difficult to roll out technologies
which may be found to be successful in smaller scale supported
environments as in the Engineering CETL.
A key part of the solution is
believed to be making better use of the stock we have by using a central
timetabling system. Once the University prioritises this for purchase as a
corporate system it will take 18-24 months to acquire and implement. There is a
concern that making this decision now would not
be timely due to the pressures on administrative staff (also getting
used to LUSI, Agresso) who would need to be involved in the specification and
implementation. Assuming a decision to procure is not made until the 2009/10
budget year, this means it will be 2011 before the University implements such a
system. In the meantime it may be possible to look at making some improvements
to the current room bookings system to give a web view of the availability and
a booking system for occasional bookings.
Additional spaces might be
available at
If we are to maximise the use
of our facilities then initial briefs for refurbishments and new buildings need
to include the multi-purpose nature of the use. There is some poor experience
of multi-purpose use of facilities, but part of this comes down to spending
insufficient on making the facilities easily changed between uses and then
resourcing the changes between use (examples being the EHB (shared use lecture
room and sport) and Cope Auditorium (shared use lecture room and performance
space)).
Informal Learning Spaces
The campus facilities (apart
from the sports facilities) are predominantly available term time only 9-5,
Monday-Friday. Facilities (apart from the Library) which are available for
longer hours are available with no staffing for security and some have
inadequate or no toilet facilities. The Library is available 24/7 prior to
exams.
Our competitors are making technology-rich
student learning facilities available 24/7/365. Although undergraduates mostly
want term-time access out of hours, mature students and postgraduate students
have different requirements. Predictability of opening hours is seen as a good
thing. Focusing on a more limited set of facilities which have longer and
predictable opening hours as well as appropriate security, cleaning and toilet
facilities could help offset the cost of extending opening times.
There does however need to be
a better understanding of the demand (volume, use of software, technologies
required).
The spaces available need to
be marketed. Information provided at the meetings showed that there is often
mis-information about availability of facilities.
Students want to book some
facilities for group study and although these may exist around campus having a
common booking system would be good.
Student Societies and the Arts
The Societies do make
significant use of pool teaching rooms in an evening and at weekends. However,
it is clear that there is insufficient space for the societies to meet and for
them to safely store the equipment required. Some activities cannot take place
due to the lack of space and facilities available and some new societies which
have been proposed have had to be declined due to lack of space.
A review of requirements and
space available has now started and LSU are liaising with Estates on this. As
part of this review, the
There is a need to establish
some principles about the responsibilities of LSU and the University with
respect to the requirements and to any charges which may be made.
There is a need to look at
the requirements of faith-based societies and groups.
An arts strategy is being
developed which this discussion links to.
Actions from the Meetings
A review to be undertaken of
the need for extended facilities for informal learning (type of facility,
location, software, opening times).
Action: Anne Mumford, Mary Morley, Phil Richards, Sophie
Driscoll.
Discussion to take place
regarding what we mean my multi-purpose spaces, what we can get out of spaces,
how flexible can they be, what does this mean in terms of the design brief, the
cost (capital and revenue).
Action: Anne Mumford, Andrew Burgess, David Fulford.
Estates to brief the LSU
Executive at their cross-over time between Executives regarding developments on
campus.
Action: Andrew Burgess, David
Fulford.
Review the spaces and
facilities required for student societies.
Action: Sabrina Johnson, Simone Stevens.
Review of charging systems
for student use of space and establish some basic principles. This may have
impact on budgets.
Action: Anne Mumford, Sophie Driscoll and then budget
review.
Gap analysis to be undertaken
of teaching space available now and the current and expected future
requirements.
Action: Anne Mumford, Learning and Teaching Committee, Andrew
Burgess
Coordination of the marketing
of spaces which are available to ensure students understand the options and
investigation of a common booking system.
Action: Anne Mumford, Mary Morley, Phil Richards, Sophie
Driscoll.
Investigate central
timetabling system and establish acceptable timescales for procurement and
implementation. If delayed to investigate improved room bookings facilities.
Action: Anne Mumford, Phil Richards.
There is a link between this
work and that of groups looking at Arts Facilities and facilities to support
the range of Faiths on campus.
Action: Jennifer Nutkins, Nick Slater, Sabrina Johnson.
Dr Anne Mumford