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The Cost of Multimedia Classrooms: A Case Study at UNC-Chapel Hill

In this session, Rick Peterson, Director of Information Technology at UNC-Chapel Hill, shares the institution's experiences and challenges in building and supporting multimedia classrooms, with a focus on the associated costs. The presentation also discusses the broader implications and offers resources for further exploration.

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The Cost of Multimedia Classrooms: A Case Study at UNC-Chapel Hill

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  1. At What Cost Classrooms? The Experience of One Institution… Rick Peterson Director of Information Technology College of Arts & SciencesChair, Classroom Design & Advisory Committee UNC-Chapel Hill rick_peterson@unc.edu

  2. Goals 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 athttp://cdac.unc.edu/docs/classroomcosts.ppt

  3. UNC-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)

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. UNC-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”

  7. Provost’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

  8. What 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

  9. Metrics 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/

  10. Determining 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

  11. Our “standard” ASF targets • 17-20 ASF for traditional classrooms, lowering to 15 ASF for large fixed seat lecture halls • 30-35 ASF for computer classrooms • NOTE: We are now adding 20% to the first target above to accommodate larger desks/tables for student laptops

  12. Classroom 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.

  13. 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)

  14. Capital 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)

  15. 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.)

  16. 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.

  17. Operating Costs – Traditional Classrooms • Traditional (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

  18. Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms - Maintenance • Maintenance Costs • Bulbs (LCD projector, document camera, overhead, slide), “hotline” phone, Chalk/markers, batteries, cleaning, depreciation • Example: $400/LCD bulb * 2/year = $800/year

  19. Operating Costs – Multimedia 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

  20. Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms – Equipment Lifecycling • Equipment Lifecycling Cost Estimates • 25% of equipment replaced every 3 years • 25% of equipment replaced every 5 years • 50% of equipment replaced every 10 years

  21. Operating Costs – Multimedia Classrooms – Equipment Lifecycling • A $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

  22. Human Costs • Personnel to support traditional classrooms • Roughly 1 FTE checks each of 100 classrooms for 25 minutes each week (.01 FTE/classroom)

  23. Human 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

  24. 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

  25. UNC-CH’s numbers using Method 2

  26. UNC-CH’s numbers using Method 2

  27. A 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

  28. A 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

  29. UNC-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?

  30. UNC 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

  31. Resources/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

  32. 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?”

  33. 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?

  34. 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)

  35. Thank You! • Presentation Available on-line at: http://cdac.unc.edu/docs/classroomcosts.ppt

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