UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Standing Group Responsible for the Maintenance and Refurbishment of
Centrally Timetabled Rooms
Notes from the meeting of the Group on Wednesday 19November 2014
Present:Dr J Gardner (Chair), Mr J Buckingham, Ms R Burdick, Mr D Gibbons, Mrs E Morrison, Mr J Owen, Mr H Rowles, Mr C Singleton.
Apologies:Mrs V Hill, Ms L Holland, Mr P Jones, Mr D Mace.
26/14-15Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 20October 2014 be approved, subject to the following amendments:
(a)Reference to H3.05 not H2.46 in minute 19(c)/14-15;
(b)Correction of the Lead Technical Specialist’s title to Service Owner throughout.
27/14-15Matters Arising
(a)Campus Walkaround (minute 19(c)/14-15 referred)
REPORTED: (by the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Officer)
That she had sent a request to the Chair for approval of the cost of new chairs for H3.05.
(b)Warwick Arts Centre Cinema Refurbishment (minute 19(d)/14-15 referred)
REPORTED:
(i)That the Interior Design, Furniture & Equipment Managerhad spoken to Howard Potts and agreed that they would inspect the furniture at the end of term to allow adjustments for the room now being used for teaching;
(ii)That the Space Management Assistanthad checked the AV services website and confirmed that the cinema was now listed with the correct information.
(c)Induction Loop Problems in Ramphal Lecture Theatre (minute 19(g)/14-15 referred)
REPORTED:
(i)That Conferences would continue to use the Ramphal building and manage the demand for hearing loops by directing customers to use the back of the lecture theatre noting that they would use their own IR system or hire one if necessary;
(ii)That Conferences had decided not to fund the installation of any additional system, noting that the current system needed to be maintained until a refurbishment took place;
(by the Service Owner)
(iii)That the IR system and Induction Loop would not work together;
(iv)That the IR system was not ideal for large groups as it required a large number of pendants;
(v)That L3, L4 and L5 all had a full Induction loop system installed under the carpet;
(vi)That there was not a high student demand for the Induction loop system;
RESOLVED:
That the Interior Design, Furniture and Equipment Officer would check when the carpet in Ramphal Lecture Theatre was last replaced and estimate when it would need to be replaced again.
(d)A0.23 Wash-up Meeting (minute 24/14-15 referred)
REPORTED:
That a wash-up meeting had been arranged for Thursday 18 December.
(e)Plans for refurbishment of CTTRs in 2014-2015 (minute 19(e)/14-15referred)
REPORTED:
(i)That the Chair and Service Owner had met with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Planning and Resources) and the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) to discuss budget priorities;
(ii)That £200k had been allocated from the CIF2 budget for replacement of AV in CTTRs in 2014-15, noting that this was additional to the £500k CTTR refurbishment budget for 2014-15;
(iii)That some analysis of the departmental usage patterns of teaching rooms had been carried out and shared with the Service Owner to inform plans;
(by the Service Owner)
(iv)That there was a backlog of old AV which needed replacement;
(v)That he wanted to look at a mixture of projector replacements and room refurbishment to maximise the impact of the availablebudget;
(vi)That the spare kit for PA systems could be pooled with Conferences outside of term time to allow more flexibility;
(vii)That some of the older projectors could be moved to lower usage rooms rather than replacing all equipment over a certain age, which would save some costs;
(viii)That there was a separate funding stream for the Lecture Capture System;
(ix)That he was seeking to negotiate a 5-year warranty and 5-year lamp deal for the replacement projectors, noting the need for significant expenditure on AV replacement again in five years.
CONSIDERED:
A profile of CTTR room usage for 2014/15, as set out in paper CTTR.5/14-15, noting that this was tabled at the meeting.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair and the Service Owner would meet to discuss AV priorities and circulate the outcome by email before the next meeting of the Group.
28/14-15AV Provision for Sound Systems in Small Rooms
REPORTED:
(a)That Warwick Conferences had received requests from clients for sound systems in CTTR rooms with capacities lower than 100;
(b)That Conferences would like PA systems to be taken into considered when rooms are refurbished, noting that they would continue to manage PA system requests on a case by case basis using their standalone systems when necessary.
(by the General Commercial Manager)
(c)That the preference for the type of sound system varied depending on the booking but that in general a lectern microphone was suitable for most small rooms but ideally with the option of a lapel microphone;
(by the Service Owner)
(d)That any room above a capacity of 30 already had a PA system installed, noting that all of Ramphal now had PA systems, with the exception of R2.41 and R3.41, and that there were significant gaps in provision for Social Sciences;
CONSIDERED:
A profile of PA systems available in CTTRs, as set out in paper CTTR.4/14-15, noting that this was tabled at the meeting;
RESOLVED:
That the profile of PA systems in CTTRs, as set out in paper CTTR.4/14-15, be noted.
29/14-15Chair’s Business
(a)New projector lamps to replenish stock of replacement lamps
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of £6,228.67incl. VAT from the Refurb Group budget on new data projector lamps to replenish stock of replacement lamps.
(b)Replacement blinds for S1.66, Social Sciences
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of £213.32 plus VAT from the Refurb Group budget on replacement blinds for S1.66.
(c)Replacement blinds for H0.03, Humanities
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of £359 plus VAT from the Refurb Group budget on replacement blinds for H0.03.
(d)Replacement blinds for H0.44, Humanities
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of £495 plus VAT from the Refurb Group budget on replacement blinds for H0.44.
(e)Repairs to blinds in S0.28, Social Sciences
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken action on behalf of the Group to approve spend of £65 plus VAT from the Refurb Group budget on repairs to blinds in S0.28.
30/14-152014-15 Refurb Group Budget
CONSIDERED:
A summary of the current budget position for the present academic year (CTTR.2/14-15(revised1).
RESOLVED:
(a)That the Service Owner would liaise with the Space Management Assistant to confirm the costs of a new visualiser for PS1.28;
(b)That the Estates Project Manager would liaise with the Space Management Assistant to confirm the final budget for the refurbishment of A0.23.
31/14-15New Teaching and Learning Building
REPORTED: (minute 22/14-15 referred)
(e)That at its last meeting the Group resolved the following:
(i)That the Chair arrange for the plans for the new Teaching and Learning Building to be shared;
(ii)That the Chair arrange a meeting to discuss room capacities and furniture for the new Teaching and Learning Building specifically with the Senior Project Manager.
(by the Chair)
(a)That concerns had been raised by members of the Refurb Group regarding the New Teaching and Learning Building, specifically in relation to room shapes, DDA compliance and furniture layout;
(bythe General Commercial Manager)
(b)That from a Conferences perspective he would expect a room divider to be fully soundproof and that there was no direct route into all three parts of the divided room;
(c)That the ground floor of a building required more flexibility than the first floor in terms of furniture and room set-up;
(d)That Conferences sell a lecture theatre based on the number of seminar rooms available as well and that if furniture were to be stored in a single room this would reduce the appeal of the space;
(by the Estates Senior Project Manager)
(e)That the divider was not to separate the space into different rooms but to be used as a flexible teaching device to allow large groups to separate into smaller units during a class;
(f)That they were considering using the void space below the lecture theatre on the first floor to store furniture from rooms rather than storing it between the rooms;
(g)That the furniture being considered for the rooms would allow a large amount of flexibility as it should be convenient to rearrange;
(h)That the design team would consider the drawings prepared by the Conferences Senior Duty Manager;
(by the Service Owner)
(i)That the divider was being used to create configurable teaching spaces and that the cost to actually divide the room would be a lot greater;
(j)That storing furniture underneath the lecture theatre may not be practical due to reduced clearance and it may be better to just use a room;
(k)Ideally an entrance to a room would be at the back to minimise disruption from late arrivals and furniture should be arranged to reflect this.
CONSIDERED:
An oral report from the Estates Senior Project Manager.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair would ascertain which departments LIB1 and LIB2 to establish what their requirements were and if the ability to split into smaller groups would be desirable.
32/14-15Proposed Alterations to H0.52 (minute 23/14-15 referred)
REPORTED: (by the General Commercial Manager)
(a)That the Open University booking would be going ahead in the summer;
(b)That a date had not yet been arranged for the alterations to take place but that it was anticipated that it would be during vacation.
33/14-15Dates of Future Meetings
RESOLVED:
That the next meeting of the Group was on Monday 26January 2015.
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