The last decade witnessed a substantial public investment in the higher education estate, which in turn has delivered significant returns.
Sir Ian Diamond’s report on Efficiency, Effectiveness and Value for Money shows how universities are making improvements in space efficiency across a range of measures. Analysis commissioned by AUDE and UUK estimates that over the last 10 years, efficiency gains from better use of space total £886 million.
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Posts
North east universities to benefit from £750m construction agreement
Collaborative procurement on construction for universities in the north east of England has been made easier with a £750m framework agreement, the first of its scale in the UK. Greg Barnes, who worked on the agreement for the North Eastern Universities Procurement Consortium (NEUPC), describes its benefits and lessons learned while putting it together.
How collaboration between procurement and estates is delivering value for money
With universities spending billions on estates, the relationship between estates and procurement services is key. Three members of the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium have described how their institutions are building closer relationships between these two departments, which are delivering savings and better value for money.- Making campus safety more efficient
A government code regulating CCTV stimulated Aston University to take a fresh look at their surveillance technology. Mark Sutton explains how complying with the surveillance commissioner's code has resulted in efficiencies and savings. - How one university is tackling under-utilised teaching spaces
Single discipline teaching labs can often be under used: typically for just 24 weeks per year. Ian Tidmarsh explains how new larger teaching labs at the University of Birmingham aim to provide more flexibility, higher utilisation and thus deliver better value for money. - UK university income grows by £2bn in one year, AUDE report reveals
UK Universities' response to the efficiency agenda and their own income generating projects have helped them increase their income to a record £30bn. - Demonstrating HE Efficiency and Effectiveness
This report focuses on how universities continue to deliver value for money in a climate where income is reducing in real terms and competition is increasing, while finding recurrent savings which will enable them to make necessary investments. It includes examples from universities across the UK where universities are saving money through efficient estate management. - Five strategies universities are using to keep estate costs down
In the past few years the university sector has grown, yet property costs have remained stable despite substantial upward pressures, according to statistics by AUDE. In its report, AUDE highlights some of the ways that institutions are successfully keeping their estate costs down. - Developing efficient and sustainable buildings
A sustainable building is usually an efficient one and when new build and refurbishment projects are designed with future decades in mind, they can save money in running costs, maintenance and redevelopment. With this in mind, the University of Edinburgh is developing guidance on how building and redevelopment projects should be conducted as Andrew Arnott explains. - Beacons of learning – micro-location technology on campus
The growing use of smartphones is making micro-location technology more attractive and delegates at this week's ALT Annual Conference 2016 will learn about how it could be used in universities. Ahead of the presentation, Sheffield Hallam University's Ian Glover describes a study he has jointly carried out into the use of 'bluetooth beacons' in higher education. - The UK Higher Education Learning Space Toolkit: a SCHOMS, AUDE and UCISA collaboration
This toolkit has been produced by three higher education organisations to help their members share best practice and work more effectively when creating learning spaces. It is intended to serve both as a practical guide and as a source of inspiration in the design of spaces that delight and motivate students, as well as meet their functional needs. - New classrooms for a new curriculum
As classrooms become more connected through students' use of their own devices in lectures and seminars, universities are responding in exciting ways. Gunter Saunders and Federica Oradini describe how the University of Westminster is embracing these changes by transforming their classrooms. - A fresh approach to financing campus redevelopment
The University of Hertfordshire’s 2020 Estates Vision signals the university’s development objectives for the future, including enhancing the student experience. The university’s director of estates Andrew May explains the project and how it was financed through a combination of pioneering off balance sheet unwrapped bonds. - Identifying opportunities to deliver value from university estates
As the funding environment for universities gets tougher, managing estates in a way that is both efficient and can contribute an income will be vital. At an event this week, Loughborough University’s Andrew Burgess will explore some of the strategies to identify commercial opportunities higher education estates can provide. - Universities challenged to make the most of their space
Every element of space in universities needs to be challenged, an expert in designing spaces for learning told Jisc Digifest on Wednesday. In his keynote speech to the event in Birmingham, University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s professor of practice Andrew Harrison said that across the sector, expensive facilities are being minimised. - Universities reinvesting estates savings in capital projects, says AUDE
Universities estates costs have remained stable over the past five years despite increasing pressures, the Association of University Directors of Estate’s (AUDE) annual report reveals. - Assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of porters and cleaners
Benchmarking is increasingly used in the quest for efficiency and most universities have used the Procurement Maturity Assessment, developed by SUMS Consulting and the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortia. SUMS has now developed another maturity model that allows easy self assessment and indicates a way forward and has applied it to portering and cleaning services. - Delivering value from the education estate
At today's Higher and Further Education show Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr, director of estates and campus services at the University of Roehampton and Sian Kilner director of Kilner Planning will be highlighting research into how the higher education estate is delivering value. Here are some relevant posts that they have contributed. - Innovative spaces and pedagogies for enhanced teaching and learningThe rise in tuition fees over recent years has made delivering value to students increasingly important, placing renewed spotlight on the quality of teaching and learning spaces within higher education. A recent forum event, hosted by FaulknerBrowns Architects, explored how innovative teaching and learning spaces could support radical new pedagogies.
- AUDE updates its toolkit for sustainable estatesAn updated version of the Model of Estates Costs has been published by AUDE, which feeds into its toolkit providing guidance for a sustainable estate. The toolkit, which is backed by a number of higher education funders, was put together to improve the tools available to institutions for the management of space in the sector.
- Balancing the heart and the head: maintaining UEA’s iconic buildings
The University of East Anglia is taking a low-cost approach to its efficiency and effectiveness programme, which is being delivered by a small team. Ian Powling meets four members of this team to discover their progress in realising the programme - Do you speak laboratory?
The S-Lab: Supporting World Class Science programme aims to improve laboratory efficiency and effectiveness in all dimensions, including scientific value, resource efficiency and staff well-being. S-Lab director Peter James discusses the crucial role of estates and facilities in supporting these objectives. - Survey shows facilities a key factor in students’ choice of universityResearch released by AUDE shows that facilities are key for two thirds of UK students when choosing university, with the library being cited as the most used university facility. Some 85% of the 2,000 surveyed say they are learning, socialising and living in clean and well maintained university buildings.
- Summer on the campus
University campuses are no longer deserted during July and August. Rosie Niven looks at how estates managers are making their assets pay for themselves during the long summer holiday. - Building maintenance identified as candidate for HEFCE funding
There is a clear role for HEFCE capital funding in supporting building maintenance, a report by the funding body for England suggests. The report reviewing HEFCE capital expenditure identifies maintenance as a suitable candidate for funding with history showing substantial expenditure being required to redress historic underinvestment in Higher Education maintenance in the early 2000s. - School’s in for summer: working university assets hard between semesters
As universities gear up for the summer, University Business's Tallulah Speed looks at how institutions are putting their assets to good use during the downtime by hosting conferences, gala dinners and even weddings. - Championing change in Sunderland’s new science complex
When the University of Sunderland refurbished its science complex, the ambitions for the project was to transform the faculty’s culture. The university’s head of estates, Iain Garfield, explains how engaging “change champions” was key to the project’s success. - How to build sustainability resilience into university business
A guide to building economic, social and environmental sustainability into all university operations has been launched by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges. The aim of the guide is to demonstrate the business benefits for universities in making sustainability resilience, innovation and opportunity a top table issue. - Six ways that universities are getting more value from their estates
A report by AUDE shows how universities are making efficiency gains, while working to deliver increased value from their estates for the benefit of student and staff plus the wider community. Rosie Niven sums up some of the strategies universities are using to deliver these efficiencies. - How the hub concept is taking hold in universitiesWith boundaries becoming blurred between disciplines, flexible space, exemplified by the concept of a multi-functional hub, is becoming common in many institutions, writes Damon Jones in Universities Business.
- Could the common room be coming back?
The common room has been phased out of some Higher Education institutions in the name of efficiency. But writing in Wonkhe, Paul Greatrix observes that the need to encourage more collaboration may see its return. - The higher education estate – hard investment choices for universities
The quality of a university’s facilities influences my choice of institution, say a majority of students. But Andrew May warns that capital funding cuts are leaving universities with hard choices about their future investments in estates. - Carbon reduction and energy efficiency in the HE estate
Growing awareness of the need for energy efficiency is prompting households to look for ways to reduce consumption and universities are no different. Sue Holmes describes what higher education institutions are doing to work towards carbon reduction and energy efficiency. - The higher education estate: delivering effective space use
Research into space efficiency in higher education suggests that universities have successfully adapted buildings to accommodate current patterns of working. Sian Kilner, who helped to carry out the research, says space management will become even more vital as cash to invest in redeveloping universities reduces. - The higher education estate – investing in qualityResearch for the efficiency review shows that University buildings are in better condition and more fit for purpose, compared with the previous decade. But as Sian Kilner explains, effective estate management will be vital for meeting the challenges to come.
- The higher education estate – delivering increased value for moneyIn the second blogpost on estate management, Sian Kilner describes the findings of her research into value for money trends including how universities are offsetting higher operating and maintenance costs by diversifying their property income base.
- The role and value of the HE estate
A well-managed estate can help a university to improve student and staff satisfaction, generate an income and reduce overheads. In the first of our blogposts focusing on estate management, Dr Ghazwa Alwani-Starr explains how universities are maximising the value from their portfolios. - RESULTS: territorial or communal – which tribe are you?
The Times Higher Education recently quoted a report by a Dutch University, which claimed that universities could reduce estate footprint by 25% if staff become less “territorial” and shared teaching and office space with colleagues in other departments. - Less selfishness could mean more space efficiency, report arguesUniversities could reduce estate footprint by 25% if staff become less “territorial” and share their teaching and office space with colleagues in other departments, says a report by a Dutch university quoted in the Times Higher.
- Estate management and efficiencies in higher educationWe continue this week's series in which we re-share selected posts on how universities are advancing efficiency and effectiveness. Today we highlight estate management.
- Report reveals more efficient use of higher education estatesUniversities are becoming more efficient at using their estates, having achieved a reduction in space and property costs, a report by AUDE on the sector's 26 million m2 property portfolio reveals. The report suggests a list of indicators to measure the performance of the entire HE estate.
- Efficient estate management: five lessons from local authorities in the west MidlandsSince early 2010 local authorities in the West Midlands have taken steps to save more than £170 million using their property portfolio more efficiently. Here are five measures that these councils are taking to make sure that their estates are being used efficiently.
