Discover and share good practice for smarter working universities

Collaborative teaching laboratory at the University of Birmingham

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.

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.
WonkHE

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.
Teaching Laboratory in the University of Sunderland's science complex

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.
Image provided by Teesside University

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.

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.

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.
Architect blueprint

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.
toy wooden house on some grass

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.

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.