Through planning and design, Ayers Saint Gross helps institutions align their physical environment with their mission and vision. Our clients are making significant changes to the configuration and operations of their campuses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, we sent a survey to individuals in the academic, administrative, facilities, and student life departments of higher educational institutions across the United States about how back-to-campus strategy might impact forward-looking decisions about campus development. We received 71 responses from 53 institutions and are thankful to every participant for their insights.
How is COVID-19 Impacting the Physical Campus? THE FIRST FEW MONTHS // JULY 2020
Key Themes
1 COVID-19 is accelerating classroom and workplace shifts that were already underway. Near-term investments in these areas can pay off in the long run.
2
3
Social distancing can inhibit experiential learning, community building, and research. View these as temporary shifts and prioritize operational changes.
Reopening impacts each campus and its community members differently. Focus on the unique institutional mission, and consider all perspectives when planning.
All campuses can reflect on resiliency in light of the insights outlined on the following pages. What is it that makes your institution distinctive? What aspects of this crisis threaten your ability to deliver on that offering? What creative opportunities exist to minimize those disruptions? How can you position yourself to be more resilient in the future? These are questions that may not be answerable immediately, but they are critical. We hope this summary provides a window into the experience of planning for the future of college and university campuses in this uncertain time. 1
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COVID-19 is accelerating classroom and workplace shifts that were already underway. Near-term investments in these areas can pay off in the long run. Lecture Halls
Workplace
Online operations suggest that lecture courses are not
Our survey participants expect this crisis to create long-term
essential in-person activities. Our survey participants indicate
workplace shifts. A lasting shift in where work happens offers
that COVID-19 can accelerate a shift away from needing large
future efficiencies. Embracing remote work and investing
lecture spaces. Investments that allow online lecture courses
in the technologies that support it are near-term actions that
to be delivered successfully this fall could create a long-term
can drive long-term gains.
shift that frees up space for more essential in-person activities. • Nearly three quarters of responding institutions believe all or most lecture courses could effectively remain online in the fall 2020 semester. • Less than one fifth said shifting lecture-based content online had been one of their biggest challenges.
Large lecture halls require substantial investments of space and
• Most participants evaluate faculty and staff working remotely during social distancing as either good or excellent.
Think their team’s remote work is going well
72% Anticipate more online office hours this fall
increases in digital meetings and partial work-from-home schedules for faculty and staff. • One fifth see more full-time work-from-home schedules going forward. Partial work-from-home models introduce new options for focused work that may not necessarily
programs, the efficacy of lecture-based teaching has been
require an on-campus private office. • Most feel that all or most faculty office hours can
new spaces: a single 4,000 NASF, 260-seat lecture hall could
effectively remain online this fall. Facilitating office hours
open up space for four 25-seat active learning classrooms and an
in person has historically been a driver of private faculty
additional 800 NASF of informal study or maker space.
office assignments.
Ayers Saint Gross—2020 // How is COVID-19 Impacting the Physical Campus?
72%
• Over half of participating institutions see long-term
money. While their use varies across institutions and degree questioned for many years. Repurposing them can add dynamic
The Future of the Workplace Environment
53% See long-term increase in digital meetings
To capitalize on these opportunities, institutions need to find ways to reduce private office space. Office space is typically 25-30% of non-residential space on a university campus, and even slight shifts can transform the workplace experience and alter the demand for on-campus space. 2
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Social distancing can inhibit experiential learning, community building, and research. View these as temporary shifts and prioritize operational changes.
Campus Reopening As/if you plan to re-open your campus, which do you think will be the most important spaces to open first? Which will require the most physical change to reopen? Spaces ordered by FICM Code
Teaching and Research Laboratories
Residence Halls and Dining
The experience of shifting to a fully online campus brought
After a mass move off campus, students have missed out on
into clear focus which in-person activities are of highest
the opportunity to live independently and interact with others.
value. The experience students have in teaching labs and
Unfortunately, for some students, leaving campus also means
studios are valued highly. For research-intensive institutions,
losing a safe place to live and the support and resources they
research laboratories are equally important and difficult to
need to thrive. Dining venues provide an essential service,
operate remotely.
but distancing erodes their role in community building.
• Nearly three quarters of responding institutions indicated
• Nearly half of participating institutions said residence
that ensuring student access to lab and studio content was a top three challenge in shifting to an online campus. • Across the board, teaching labs and studios are one of the most important spaces for institutions to open first. Nearly
halls were a top three space to open first. • Dining spaces were most frequently selected as requiring the most physical change to reopen. • Half of participating institutions with on-campus housing felt
all said that some or no labs and studio courses would
residence halls can be made more resilient against threats
remain online this fall.
like COVID-19 through capacity and/or operational change.
• Research-intensive institutions report similar focus on
• Some respondents wondered how changes in residence
research laboratories: over a third left these labs open,
hall capacity might impact neighboring communities
and nearly half say research activity has been a top
as students would shift off campus.
three challenge of shifting online.
Housing plays a foundational role in experiential learning,
Hands-on learning and specialized research have
community building, and advancing justice, equity, diversity,
transformational impacts on students and society that
and inclusion. Dining facilities are a primary venue for
cannot always be replicated virtually.
out-of-classroom collaboration and relationship-building. As the public health risk abates, we see great value in reprioritizing the student experience to support interactions.
Ayers Saint Gross—2020 // How is COVID-19 Impacting the Physical Campus?
Classroom (Lecture-Based) Classroom (Active Learning) Teaching Labs & Studios Research Labs Office Space Library Collaboration + Study Space Athletics Recreation Large Auditorium + Performance Space Dining Student Services Space Support + Facilities Space Student Health Care + Counseling Facilities Residential Facilities Campus Open Space Other 0
10
20
30
40
50
Percent Responding
Most important spaces to reopen first
Spaces that will require the most physical change to reopen
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Reopening impacts each campus and its community members differently. Focus on the unique institutional mission, and consider all perspectives when planning. Community
Finances
Unique Value
Campus planners are concerned about
Finances are a near- and long-term
Where possible, institutions are aligning
their community and the experiences
concern for institutions potentially facing
near-term changes with their long-term
they are missing. These losses are
decreased enrollment, shock waves
vision, or they are making strategic,
especially significant for students,
from the overall economic decline, and
short-term operational changes. However,
faculty, and staff who depend on the
increased expenses as they implement
distancing protocols are more challenging
campus as a place to live and/or work
social distancing, intensive cleaning
for some institutions than others,
and for access to resources and services.
practices, and the infrastructure to
particularly when in-person experiences
support remote operations.
are part of their unique character.
• Over half of respondents think the
• Over a quarter of institutions who
• Most survey respondents added specific comments that students are missing out on interaction by not
financial impacts will be challenging
participated in our survey think this
being on campus.
and require cuts in other areas of
crisis could change fundamental tenets
their budgets, and an additional fifth
of their strategic plan, making it even
about the personal interactions they
are very concerned that financial
more difficult to navigate reopening
themselves are missing, even when
implications might threaten operations.
and prioritize investments.
• They also expressed concerns
they feel that work-from-home has been effective.
• Only 11% of respondents feel
impact on fully residential campuses.
can be identified to address COVID-19.
Having all students live together on
challenges and concerns related
Further underscoring anxiety and
campus is a distinctive offering that
to staff well-being and productivity.
uncertainty, an equal number chose
fuels experiential learning. Moving
not to answer this question at all.
some students off campus significantly
The physical campus environment helps
undermines their model.
build community between all stakeholders.
For institutions making cuts to fund
Planning and decision-making should
COVID-19 response, prioritizing investments
incorporate and value as diverse a range
with long-term value can lessen the pain.
of perspectives as possible.
How concerned are you about having adequate financial resources to address the impact of COVID-19 on facilities?* *unweighted
3% 11%
11%
55% 20%
• This particular crisis has had an acute
confident that financial resources
• Several comments referenced
Finances
Maintaining a focus on core strengths and distinctive offerings is especially important
55%
20%
11%
11% No response
Feel it will be challenging and cuts will need to be made elsewhere
Feel confident that resources can be identified
Are very concerned that the financial implications might threaten operations
3% Other
in times of uncertainty and fuels resiliency in overcoming challenges.
Ayers Saint Gross—2020 // How is COVID-19 Impacting the Physical Campus?
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CONCLUSION
Ayers Saint Gross Team
We see throughout the responses the uncertainty associated with COVID-19 and its
Ayers Saint Gross is an employee-owned design firm focused on mission-driven institutions.
ramifications over multiple time horizons: fall 2020, the months until a vaccine is developed, and over the next decade or more. Today, campus planners long for data to inform reopening. What are best practices? What metrics should be used? How will this work? These are just some of the questions we all have for each other. Decisions with serious implications are being made simultaneously by institutions across the country, and this fall we will all learn the result. Precedent study is a common planning practice that is largely unavailable at this time. As campuses open their facilities and adjust their operations based on what works most effectively, precedents, case studies, and best practices will emerge. We plan to continue this research effort because we see a deeply rooted desire to inform decisions with lessons learned from others’ experiences. We invite you to engage in continued dialogue through future research and by contacting us directly. Methodology Ayers Saint Gross has a longstanding commitment to gathering and sharing research with our college and university clients. This survey was born out of a desire to help our clients by gathering insights about how COVID-19 will impact college and university campuses. In June 2020 we sent a survey to individuals in the academic, administrative, facilities, and student life departments of higher educational institutions across the United States who have a relationship with Ayers Saint Gross. 71 responses were received from 53 institutions. 58% of institutions from which we received responses were public 4-year, 8% were public 2-year, and 34% were private. 57% had a Carnegie Classification of doctoral university with high or very high research activity. Unless noted or described in text as “respondents,” data was weighted by institution. The weighting methodology averaged responses received from the same institution to measure equally against
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Jack Black is a principal, leading planning and architecture for higher education based in the Western region. He connects design opportunities to an institution’s strategic vision. jblack@asg-architects.com Sally Chinnis is an associate principal in the planning practice focused on campus strategies. She brings distinctive stories about mission and place together with analytics. schinnis@asg-architects.com Luanne Greene is the President of Ayers Saint Gross. Her collaborative vision for the firm centers on elevating design, integrating data, reducing carbon, and advancing equity. lgreene@asg-architects.com Katy Hunchar is the Director of Marketing and Business Development. She imagines new ways that we can shape the future of planning and design. khunchar@asg-architects.com Dori Landry is the Director of Client Relations. She makes connections throughout our collective network of relationships. dlandry@asg-architects.com Kevin Petersen is a principal, leading planning and architecture for higher education in the United States and internationally. He focuses on near-term investments that drive long-term value creation. kpetersen@asg-architects.com Laura Wheaton is an associate in the planning team with extensive experience in engagement, including surveys. lwheaton@asg-architects.com
those from other institutions. For more details, please see: https://bit.ly/2Dkz37w
Ayers Saint Gross—2020 // How is COVID-19 Impacting the Physical Campus?
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