At What Cost Classrooms? At What Cost Classrooms? The Experience of One Institution…The Experience of One Institution…

Rick PetersonDirector of Information Technology

College of Arts & SciencesChair, Classroom Design & Advisory Committee

UNC-Chapel Hillrick_peterson@unc.edu

Goals for this sessionGoals for this session Provide UNC-CH classroom specific background and share

our particular experiences (esp. related to costs to support multimedia classrooms) (30 minutes)

– Overview of UNC-CH classroom environment– Broad classroom metrics– Specific “costs” for building/supporting classrooms– Challenges / next steps for UNC-CH– Resources

Discuss broader implications, challenge assumptions, learn from your experience(s) – (60 minutes)

FOR MORE INFO...

Presentation available on-line at

http://cdac.unc.edu/docs/classroomcosts.ppt

UNC-CH General InfoUNC-CH General Info

Only public university to award degrees in the 18th century.

– (…we have some OLD buildings)

Composed of 16 Schools & Colleges– Academic Affairs (A&S, Journalism, Business, Law,

Education, Info & Library Science, Social Work, etc…)– Health Affairs (Medicine, Public Health, Nursing,

Pharmacy, Dentistry, etc…)

– (…we are in general HIGHLY DECENTRALIZED)

UNC-CH General Info (cont.)UNC-CH General Info (cont.)

Approx. 26,000 students, 16,000 undergraduates

– (…we are pretty big)

Health Affairs and professional Academic Affairs schools (predominantly) schedule their own classrooms – professional schools mostly “do their own

thing” re: classrooms

UNC-CH General Info (cont.)UNC-CH General Info (cont.)

Only (?) large, research intensive public university with undergraduate student laptop requirement – all 4 undergraduate classes will have laptops this coming Fall

State Bond $$ providing approx. $500 million in capital funding through 2009/10– $36M allocated where needed to whole building

renovations– $14M allocated where needed to individual classroom

renovations

UNC-CH Classroom EnvironmentUNC-CH Classroom Environment

191 “general purpose” classrooms (centrally scheduled by Registrar) in 28 buildings predominantly in the “poorer” Academic Affairsschools

92 “non-general purpose” classrooms (dept./school scheduled, 37 geographically remote) in Academic Affairs(62 in Health Affairs)

Fiscal, Technical & Administrative “ownership” of classrooms an “issue”

Provost’s Classroom CommitteeProvost’s Classroom Committee

Classroom Design and Advisory Committee (CDAC) formed in Fall 2000 at the Provost level to:– “…oversee classroom design and assure that

active learning needs are considered and incorporated into the construction of new classrooms and the renovation of old ones.”

FOR MORE INFO...

http://cdac.unc.edu

What the CDAC has doneWhat the CDAC has done

Contracted out and facilitated classroom/lab utilization and ‘mix’ analyses

Brought everyone together “in one room” twice a month to discuss

Built nascent website to coalesce distributed information

Advocated for classrooms

Metrics we have found usefulMetrics we have found useful

Eva Klein & Associates’ “Space Factor”– Assignable Square Footage (ASF)

• Target: 18 ASF per station

– Weekly Room Hours (WRH)• Target: 35 hours/week

– Student Station Occupancy (SSO)• Target: 65%

FOR MORE INFO...

Follow the ‘UNC Story’ link at http://www.evakleinassociates.com/

Determining Classroom ProductivityDetermining Classroom Productivity

Space Factor = ASF / (WRH * SSO)Using targets:

– Target Space Factor = 18 / (35 * .65)– Target Space Factor = .79, or just .8

Lower is Better (more productive classrooms)

You can try this at home, if you have the data/time/need

Our “standard” ASF targetsOur “standard” ASF targets

17-20 ASF for traditional classrooms, lowering to 15 ASF for large fixed seat lecture halls

30-35 ASF for computer classroomsNOTE: We are now adding 20% to the

first target above to accommodate larger desks/tables for student laptops

Classroom CostsClassroom Costs

Will Focus on:– Traditional (non multimedia capable)

classrooms (chalkboard and overhead/slide projector)

– Multimedia capable classrooms (LCD projection device, touch panel control system, appropriate lighting, VCR, DVD, laptop connection, ring-down phone, wireless capability, etc.

– NOTE: Computer and Teleconference classroom costs NOT represented in these numbers – some costs of course overlap.

Classroom “Costs”Classroom “Costs” Capital (One-time)

– Construction– “A/V” equipment – lighting, multimedia technology, control

systems– Overbuilding?

Operating (Ongoing)– Traditional Classrooms– Multimedia Classrooms – two components

• Maintenance• Equipment Lifecycling

Human– Personnel– Learning (soft? costs)

Capital CostsCapital Costs

Full Building Renovation– Two ‘identical’ buildings (4 floors, 27K gross sq. ft.,

17K ASF, built 1922-1924). • $6.7 million (16 multimedia classrooms) • $4.5 million (5 multimedia classrooms)

Classroom “A/V” budgets – lighting, multimedia, controls

– $15,000 to $180,000 based on level of technology and seat count

– Facilities “ballpark” of $1,000/seat• (does NOT include furniture, or per seat hard Internet

connections/power)

Capital Costs (cont.)Capital Costs (cont.)

Cost of OVERBUILDING classrooms– $250/sq. foot * 950 sq. feet (50 station

tablet arm chair classroom) = $237,500 + “A/V” costs.

– Can go a long way towards funding other needs (laboratories, office space, e.g.)

Capital Costs (cont.)Capital Costs (cont.)

Question: Can we use capital funding to “just” significantly upgrade existing classrooms (assumes building infrastructure not in need of significant upgrade)?

$50K per 50 seat classroom in this case gets us a ‘fresh” classroom – new paint, furniture, MINIMUM multimedia.

Operating Costs – Traditional Operating Costs – Traditional ClassroomsClassroomsTraditional (not multimedia capable)

classrooms maintenance costs– Chalk/markers, clock batteries, erasers,

overhead/slide projector bulbs, cleaning, depreciation.

– Example: $8/bulb * 20/year = $160/year– Cost/yr/classroom = $150/yr - $300/yr

Operating Costs – Multimedia Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms - MaintenanceClassrooms - MaintenanceMaintenance Costs

– Bulbs (LCD projector, document camera, overhead, slide), “hotline” phone, Chalk/markers, batteries, cleaning, depreciation

– Example: $400/LCD bulb * 2/year = $800/year

Operating Costs – Multimedia Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms - Maintenance (cont.)Classrooms - Maintenance (cont.)Overall: 5% of initial room system

cost/year– A $50K room will have approx. $2,500 in

yearly maintenance costs– We are averaging 4% per year per

classroom

Operating Costs – Multimedia Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms – Equipment LifecyclingClassrooms – Equipment LifecyclingEquipment Lifecycling Cost

Estimates– 25% of equipment replaced every 3

years– 25% of equipment replaced every 5

years– 50% of equipment replaced every 10

years

Operating Costs – Multimedia Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms – Equipment LifecyclingClassrooms – Equipment LifecyclingA $50K room will have approx.

$9,150 in yearly lifecycle costs Overall: 18% of initial room cost /

year– We project UNC-CH costs varying year

to year from 9%-14% per year per classroom

Human CostsHuman Costs

Personnel to support traditional classrooms– Roughly 1 FTE checks each of 100

classrooms for 25 minutes each week (.01 FTE/classroom)

Human CostsHuman Costs

Multimedia Classrooms– Roughly 1 FTE checks each of 20

multimedia classrooms for 2 hours each week (.05 FTE/classroom)

• Niemayer* recommends .15 FTE/classroom, .5 FTE/computer classroom

* Hard Facts on Classroom Design, The ScareCrow Press, 2003, Daniel Niemeyer

Add ‘em all UP and you get…Add ‘em all UP and you get…

Method 1 (top-down):– Multiply your initial classroom costs by the

percentages given for maintenance and lifecycling and personnel and you get a yearly cost/classroom

Method 2 (bottom up):– Take the per item costs for maintenance and

lifecycling and personnel by type of multimedia room and get a yearly total to maintain a particular type of classroom

UNC-CH’s numbers using Method 2UNC-CH’s numbers using Method 2

2000-2001 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05

Total Multimedia Classrooms 52 72 95 117 132

Total Traditional Classrooms 133 113 90 68 33

Lifecycle All Classrooms $466,940 $550,254 $698,367 $789,688 $862,614

Maintenance All Classrooms $185,943 $221,610 $270,034 $305,358 $333,686

Perm. Personnel Costs $119,026 $199,780 $269,668 $351,034 $421,727

Temp. Personnel Costs $163,490 $175,324 $187,566 $199,967 $211,217

Total Classroom Support Budget $935,399 $1,146,968 $1,425,635 $1,646,047 $1,829,244

UNC-CH’s numbers using Method 2UNC-CH’s numbers using Method 2

04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09

Total Multimedia Classrooms 132 144 151 161 162

Total Traditional Classrooms 33 41 34 24 23

Lifecycle All Classrooms $862,614 $918,187 $966,909 $1,012,488 $1,017,045

Maintenance All Classrooms $333,686 $356,003 $372,397 $390,870 $392,717

Perm. Personnel Costs $421,727 $485,067 $535,497 $599,237 $632,437

Temp. Personnel Costs $211,217 $221,688 $230,998 $241,283 $249,116

Total Classroom Support Budget $1,829,244 $1,980,945 $2,105,801 $2,243,878 $2,291,315

A More Readable SummaryA More Readable Summary

Fiscal Year 00/01 Projected Budget– $935,399 for 52 multimedia classrooms

Fiscal Year 04/05 Projected Budget– $1,829,244 for 132 multimedia

classrooms

A More Readable SummaryA More Readable Summary

Fiscal Year 08/09 Projected Budget– $2,291,315 for 162 multimedia classrooms

• Approx. .56% of Provost Office’s State Funding

$1,355,916 in NEW operating funding would support 110 new multimedia capable classrooms

• Approx. .33% of Provost Office’s State Funding

UNC-CH Challenges / Next StepsUNC-CH Challenges / Next Steps

Budgeting: How do we identify new operating funding to support bond capital spending, esp. in hard fiscal times?

Oversight: How can the CDAC effectively oversee the creation of great classrooms?

Collaboration / Coordination: How can central IT, Facilities, and faculty work together more effectively?

UNC Challenges / Next StepsUNC Challenges / Next Steps

We are losing 10%-30% of our seat count when renovating old classroom space due to infrastructure and laptop support issues

We are continuing to make every classroom we renovate or create multimedia capable

Recently completed a Faculty Classroom Survey to gauge interest/support

Resources/LinksResources/Links

Ways to inform yourself about classrooms– Hard Facts on Smart Classroom Design,

Daniel Niemeyer, ISBN #0-8108-4359-5– http://www.classrooms.com– http://hotline.unc.edu (shows exact

equipment in UNC-CH classrooms)– “Make Yourself Uncomfortable,” 3/7/03

Chronicle of Higher Ed cover story

Some Questions for Discussion?Some Questions for Discussion?

Are the added costs required to support multimedia capable classrooms “worth it?” (45% of our faculty say that they can’t COUNT on getting a multimedia classroom – their #1 constraint in using classroom technology)

Should institutions, if large, designate a staff person to oversee classrooms?

Should all classrooms be “multimedia capable?”

Questions (cont.)Questions (cont.)

Why do we need overhead projectors and slide projectors when we have document cameras and digital libraries?

Who “owns” the classrooms?Do we overbuild classrooms to

accommodate more “prime time” sections?

Questions (cont.)Questions (cont.)

How do we project the impact (e.g., quality of learning environment) of renovating old buildings , making classrooms laptop friendly, aiming for lower class sizes, and increasing enrollment?

Oh, by the way, how can we design multimedia classrooms to better support active learning? (we just designed a new flexible, ADA-compliant, podium standard)

Thank You!Thank You!

Presentation Available on-line at:

http://cdac.unc.edu/docs/classroomcosts.ppt