March 2020

Overall RAG Commentary and Path to Green:

Although we now have no access to the campus, we did manage to have a team of 18 students helping us with room surveys, application testing and service shape through focus groups through the month before lockdown.  This work will provide the team with sufficient data to make progress through this phase.

Progress within the last month: 

Hiring a team of 18 students to support our work.  Students were hired on an ad-hoc basis and we can conform that they will be paid as normal in the April payroll run.

The team completed the recruitment of a Supervisor for the service on a 2-year fixed term contract.  Delia joins us from the School of Education.

Teaching Space Survey Application development, testing and use by our team of students.  This application will form the development/workflow basis for our Teaching Spaces Checklist Application which will be used when the service begins in earnest.

The students managed to complete surveys for one third of the centrally managed rooms before restrictions came into place.  Early analysis of the data from our student led room surveys within the project team and the Steering Group has provided a clear path forward within current lockdown restrictions.  This will help us to identify pockets of work to be managed by estates which can be done as a single work package and numerous ‘quick wins’ where common issues within teaching spaces have arisen.  For example, around whiteboards, clocks in rooms and feeding into the signage work being done by Estates.

Upcoming activities for the forthcoming month:

Further analysis of the data we have and dissemination of the data into work packages that can be actioned when we have access to the campus.

Begin to build the ‘checklist’ that will be developed into the teaching space application to be used by our student helpers.