Note: we publish Learning Landscapes updates for the University’s Student Experience Committee, Education Committee and Graduate Committee as blog posts instead of traditional committee papers. We aim to publish the updates one week before each meeting, to give students and staff an opportunity to post comments and questions beforehand or afterwards. Please share your comments using the form at the bottom of this post.
The Joseph Banks Laboratories and Minster House
The new home for Life Sciences, Pharmacy and Chemistry will open this September. The buildings will provide over 6,000 square metres of new teaching, learning and research space and will transform the learning and research experience for students in these three Schools. The seminar, meeting and social learning spaces in the JBL will also be available to all University students. [more]
More bookable spaces
The new room booking system has been expanded by ICT Services. Students can now book over 200 learning and meeting spaces quickly and easily, with instant confirmation, at http://arba.lincoln.ac.uk/roombooking. Please tell your fellow students!
An inspiring, high-quality campus
A new research report by the Higher Education Design Quality Forum has praised our campus. Estates Matter underlines the importance of university estates for student satisfaction and application decisions, with 76% of students saying that campus facilities are either quite or very important in deciding where to study.
Lincoln’s estate is highlighted in the research alongside those of Cambridge, Nottingham, Loughborough and the Russell Group:
“The highest score +25% in the ‘inspiring‘ category is given by students at Russell Group universities. However this is closely followed by the students in the newest universities such as Lincoln … This pattern was repeated when students were asked to rate the overall design and quality of their estate with the highest scores in the ‘excellent’ categories coming from students in the newest universities and Russell Group.”
…
“Over a third of students said they had rejected a university due to the quality of their buildings, facilities or physical environment, highlighting the importance of the built environment in higher education. Those students who cited this most prominently were those studying in the East Midlands which contains universities with high quality estates such as Cambridge, Lincoln, Nottingham and Loughborough.”
This is great news, especially considering how much potential we still see for further improvements to the campus and surroundings.
The Atrium – we want your feedback
We are evaluating last summer’s improvements to the Atrium (new learning lounges on every floor, new third floor seminar rooms, quieter flooring and acoustic panels in the Atrium, new coffee bar and tills, draught lobbies, enlarged and upgraded Jackson Lecture Theatre). Please tell us what impact these changes have had on your campus experience using the comments form below, or tweet us @LincolnEstates. Thank you for your feedback – it helps us to plan adjustments and new projects.
Landscaping improvements
We have installed new lighting, cycle hoops and litter bins on the southeast quadrant of the campus. We are also planning many further landscaping improvements, including more secure cycle storage and improvements to the University’s public spaces and waterfronts, as we continue to implement the University’s Campus Masterplan.
Improved wayfinding
We are improving campus signage and will be updating the David Chiddick Building’s signs in March. Further signage improvements will follow during 2014.
We have also published an updated campus map which includes our newest buildings. [link]
Energy efficiency
We are continuously improving the energy efficiency of your campus. Our refurbishment of Courts 6 – 12 last summer has resulted in a 15% reduction in their electricity consumption. This follows the refurbishment of Courts 13 – 17 in 2012, which reduced their electricity consumption by 23%. Electricity consumption on the whole campus has reduced by 8% since 2007/08, despite the addition of the new AAD Building, Engineering Hub, Enterprise@Lincoln and the Library extension.
Student Village improvements
We’re planning to refurbish Courts 1 – 5 this summer, following the refurbishment of Courts 6 – 17 in 2012 and 2013. The Student Village refurbishment programme will be completed in Summer 2015 when the bathrooms in Courts 13 – 17 will be upgraded.
The Gateway approved
The City Council has granted planning permission for the Gateway, a new 458-bedroom student accommodation development next to the Tritton Road roundabout. This is great news for students, placing more purpose-built accommodation within a stone’s throw of the campus.
Further projects
We are developing many further campus improvement projects for consideration by the University’s Senior Management Team. Students and staff can view the full list of current and proposed projects on the Projects page on the Portal (University account required).
The Estates Support Desk – your first point of contact for estates issues
The new Estates Support Desk handled over 2,000 requests from students and staff in January and February. If you experience an issue on campus, please contact the Estates Support Desk:
Twitter: @LincolnEstates
Email: estatessupport@lincoln.ac.uk
Online via the Portal
Phone: 01522 886 777
Keep in touch
Please share this update with your friends and colleagues. For further updates, follow @LincolnEstates on Twitter and visit the Learning Landscapes website. You can also subscribe to receive Learning Landscapes updates by email using the form on the right-hand side of the Learning Landscapes home page.