SMG 25/06/12
Paper 3.3
The University of Edinburgh
Space Management Group [SMG]
25 June 2012
Shared Academic Timetabling Project – Business School paper
Brief description of the paper
The Business School is requesting that its teaching rooms are exempted from the general provision in the new Shared Academic Timetabling Policy (para 3.7)
Action requested
SMG to note for discussion and decision
Resource implications
Does the paper have resource implications? Yes
If ‘Yes’, in which section(s) of the paper are they described? Throughout
Risk Assessment
Does the paper include a risk analysis? No
If ‘Yes’, in which section(s) of the paper is it set out?
Equality and Diversity
Does the paper have equality and diversity implications? No
If ‘Yes’, in which section(s) of the paper are they described?
Freedom of information
Can this paper be included in open business? Yes
Any other relevant information
Originator of the paper
Ann Hunter, Head of Administration, Business School; 18th May, 2012
University of Edinburgh Business School
Teaching Rooms
Request:
The Business School is requesting that its teaching rooms are exempted from the general provision in the new Shared Academic Timetabling Policy (para 3.7), adopted by the Curriculum & Student Progression Committee at the meeting on 25/11/11, which states that –
Spare capacity in School managed rooms is made available to requests from other
Schools. Such requests continue to be managed by the Schools themselves via
School Timetabling Coordinators. Normally it is expected that where spare capacity
exists, requests from other schools will be accommodated. Where requests are
granted, it is the responsibility of the requesting School to provide any AV and IT
support required by its users.
It should be noted that the Business School had previously raised concerns in writing about this aspect of the draft policy when it was circulated for comment, and indicated that it would be seeking to be exempted from the ‘normally it is expected..’ requirement.
Current situation:
The Business School has 8 teaching rooms and 1 teaching lab in its new building at 29 Buccleuch Place. In designing and delivering this new building, it was agreed that these rooms would be managed through EBIS, but reserved exclusively for teaching Business School PGT programme courses. The School controls bookings of the rooms via EBIS, and they are not available on the central booking system. It is requested that these rooms continue to be used for Business School PGT programme teaching only.
Please note: Frank Gribben, CHSS Registrar, convened the Strategic Project Board for the new building, and has confirmed that the case which is made below for restricting the teaching in the Business School rooms to premium fee Business School PGT courses is consistent with the Board’s views on the refurbishment and development of the building, and its intended utilisation.
Rationale for exemption: there are a number of interlinked reasons why this request is being made, and these are summarised below:
· Market forces: Business Schools operate in a very competitive, ratings driven market, particularly at the PGT (MBA & MSc) level. Indices such as the global Financial Times MBA ranking are widely used as a proxy for judging the quality of a Business School. The University of Edinburgh Business School has been consistently in the top 100 of this ranking, and moved up 5 places this year, to 83rd in the world. (19th in Europe, 10th in UK). In order to maintain and improve on this ranking the School must recruit top quality students, and provide an excellent student experience. This is critical to the economy of the School.
· Student expectations: With respect to postgraduate teaching, the School’s strategy is to develop high quality, premium fee MBA and MSc programmes, with internationally diverse cohorts of around 65-70 students. MBA students currently pay fees of £24K plus, and typical MSc fees are around £17K. With fees at this level, the students expect a high quality academic experience backed up by extensive non academic support services in the School – such as specialist careers, student project, corporate relations staff. In addition, and pertinent to this request, there is a strong student expectation of high quality, dedicated teaching and learning facilities.
· Building design: The School worked closely with the architects in designing the new Business School. The primary objectives were to bring all staff and PhD students together in one building, and to design teaching spaces which would meet the specific needs of students on the School’s premium PGT programmes portfolio. This influenced the number and capacity of the rooms, the provision and location of syndicate rooms, the provision of a Business library, and of computing study rooms.
· Building security and capacity: The design of the new Business School also recognised the wider implications flowing from the strategic decision that only Business School PGT courses would be taught in the building. In addition to the teaching, the Business School PGT students would also have 24/7 access to the building, in order to use the range of facilities, including syndicate rooms, library, computing labs. These factors meant that systems were designed to ensure that access to the building would be controlled. Only Business School PGT students have swipe access to the building, and monitoring of building users is assisted by the requirement that the students display their student cards at all times, their programme of study being identified by the colour of the lanyard. The Business School PGT students – numbering in excess of 450 – are generally present in the building throughout the day, not just for lectures. After factoring in the additional students expected on the School’s new programmes, the building will be operating at the maximum capacity which is commensurate with a premium student experience.
· Access control: as previously indicated, the access to the building is restricted. Managing access control is critical for the School, as the nature of the environment within which it operates must reflect its position as a leading international Business School, which effectively means near-corporate level facilities. This is not only for the benefit of the School’s premium-fee PGT students, but also because of the corporate users. It would be inappropriate for the building to be an open access public building, and in such a scenario would be impossible to maintain the building to the required high standard.
· Financial system: The University has formally agreed to a separate resourcing model for the Business School, the underlying principle being that gross income flows directly to the School, and charges are made for support group and central services according to agreed cost drivers, and surplus is retained and re-invested by the School. (approved by University Court, May 2010) Under this system the School has a high level of financial information and is aware of the size of its contribution to Estates and Buildings costs. Fundamental to this is an expectation that the School will, insofar as possible, use its building to generate income and thus contribute to the cost of operating the building. The School therefore encourages appropriate use of its facilities, eg for corporate events, conference, and applies commercial charges, similar to those levied by Edinburgh First.
· Space utilisation: The Business School is currently launching 3 new premium MSc programmes, which means that in the next academic year we will be delivering 11 MSc programmes, and the MBA programme, within the building. Space utilisation is already high and will be further increased in 2012/13. An argument might be made that this would reduce the likelihood of receiving accommodation requests from other Schools to such a low level as to make the request for exemption from this aspect of the policy unnecessary. However the School considers that there are principles at stake which means that it is essential that the case for exemption is recognised and formally agreed.
Ann Hunter
Head of Administration, Business School
March 2012
Updated May 2012
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