Contents 1Introduction to the project 4
Improving utilisation rates by pooling teaching rooms
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- 1.35Cultural issues
- 1.36Summary
1.34Improving utilisation rates by pooling teaching roomsThe extent to which utilisation rates have been changed by central timetabling varies. At University B for instance, where a large amount of space is pooled, new courses are being timetabled into previously unused afternoon sessions. Space for very large lectures is scarce, forcing them to run as late as 6 p.m., outside the normal teaching day. The amount of lecture rooms available has been reduced and the number of students has increased. Despite all these factors, utilisation rates have reduced from c.26% in 1996/7 to c.23% in 2000/1. The explanation is low student attendance and over-provision of space, especially lecture theatres, many in historic buildings where they cannot be subdivided. Low student attendance rates can have a significant affect on utilisation rates. For example:
The utilisation rate will be lower if the room is unused for some hours during the week. One university used its utilisation survey to compare the student numbers registered for each module with attendance. It found that average attendance across all areas of teaching activity was less than 50% and “for some classes the attendance level is around 25% of the registered class size.” This problem is experienced elsewhere and results in apparently low utilisation rates. At universities C and D there is very substantial surplus space available after the pooled rooms have been timetabled. In order to raise utilisation, some rooms would need to be withdrawn from use, and could be made available for other purposes. There are however limitations on this strategy: the unfitness of purpose-built lecture rooms for alternative use, the fact that many are in historic buildings and the need to maintain a geographic spread of space to allow for staff and students to move from class to class without undue travelling. Analysis of utilisation should reveal any imbalances between room provision and the types needed for effective use. Even where a substantial surplus of space means that pooling teaching rooms has little short-term effect on utilisation rates, space managers at the HEIs sampled found the hard data produced enabled them to demonstrate definitively when there was spare capacity, so avoiding new building. 1.35Cultural issuesThose HEIs with experience of pooling a substantial proportion of teaching rooms perceive one of its main benefits to be educating room users about the availability of space, so reducing pressure for new space to be created. However, although several space managers believe their HEI to be ‘space rich’ they are aware that the academic staff think otherwise, believing themselves under pressure to teach in places and at times which are sub-optimal. Staff concerns are not necessarily for their own convenience but also to do with student preferences. The issue is not space efficiency alone, it needs to be balanced with effectiveness. In view of average attendance below 50% reported at University B and elsewhere, staff’s eagerness to make class times and locations attractive to students is understandable. The issue of making timetables ‘student centred’ was raised at most of the HEIs and is addressed on the Missouri University website. These constraints are to do with student and teaching staff expectations and are culturally defined. Expectations at University A with a 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. teaching day are quite different from those at University C, with its 9 to 5 day and hour-long lunchtime. Expectations cannot however be changed without an impact on students’ experiences and on staff. Significantly changing a university’s culture may affect its ability to market itself to students and attract and retain staff. Spare capacity is also necessary to accommodate one-off class changes necessitated by staff absences at conferences and meetings. These increase in frequency as pressure grows to make more research proposals. Cultural change, such as increasing afternoon lecture room use, can be brought about gradually by reducing the number of rooms available, but relies on first taking a large proportion of rooms into the central system. 1.36Summary
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