The End of Dead End Offices

By Elizabeth Meek posted on Wed, 2009-12-02 11:15 , 1383 reads, 2 comments

Colleges and Universities are examining their real estate portfolios that have grown exponentially over the last ten years.  Harvard University built 3.2 million square feet of new space between 1980 and 2000, then added an additional 6.2 million square feet at a cost of $4.3 billion from 2000 through 2008. Ohio State University now has a total of 18.7 million square feet in its portfolio on the main campus in Columbus, Ohio.  Even smaller private colleges and public community colleges have a significant amount of square feet of real estate.

 

While 6-8% of these buildings are actual classrooms, a whopping 20-23% is private offices for faculty and staff.  The older the school, the more pronounced this is. Institutions grow organically, found space is claimed by faculty, and temporary space becomes permanent.

 

The private office has been a powerful lure for academics for their research, writing, meeting with students and status. Yet the cost of giving faculty space for their books and papers is significant.  This cost is seen in the need to revitalize and maintain older buildings and the cost to build new academic buildings. For new buildings this ranges from $285 to $500 per square foot.

 

In an age of discussion about open doors and multi-disciplinary collaboration, many faculty are squirreled away in dead-end enclaves with narrow corridors and closed doors.

 

The corporate world has embraced new thinking about working environments.   The work is said to happen in the "white space" – meaning anything from transparent enclosed offices to open collaborative spaces to the Starbucks downstairs. Even law firms now understand that large private offices aren't fiscally prudent nor are they conducive to creative problem solving.

 

 

What are the opportunities for innovation in housing full-time faculty as well as adjuncts?  If we look to the corporate world for inspiration, we learn that the goals around offices are really the same:

-          Lower real estate costs

-          Lower construction costs

-          Future moves to be "box moves" with minimal renovations i.e. flexible, slightly generic layouts

-          Increased collaboration

-          Greater visibility

-          Departmental identity/branding

 

Just as there has been no "paperless office" there will always be books in faculty offices.  However, the attachment to books is proving to be generational.  Older faculty with miles of books are now actually accessing journals on-line.

Younger faculty are reading journals and books on line.  The office laden with overflowing bookshelves may be disappearing to allow more flexible planning and construction standards.

 

Colleges and universities that capture excess office space and convert it to student space stand to save significant capital and operating dollars. If they can take dead-end faculty spaces and transform them into lively, collaborative spaces at the same time they can become a magnet for innovative educators and happy, engaged students.