Improving the utilisation of University teaching space

There is a perception that teaching space in universities is a rather scarce resource. However, some studies have revealed that in many institutions it is actually chronically under-used. Often, rooms are occupied only half the time, and even when in use they are often only half full. This is usually measured by the “utilisation” which is basically the percentage of available ’seat-hours’ that are employed. In real institutions, this utilisation can often takes values as low as 20-40%. One consequence of such low utilisation is that space managers are under pressure to make a more efficient use of the available teaching space. However, better management is hampered because there does not appear to be a good understanding within space management (near-term planning) of why this happens. Nor, a good basis within space planning (long-term planning) of how best to accommodate the expected low utilisations. This motivates our two main goals: (i) To understand the factors that drive down utilisations, (ii) To set up methods to provide better space planning. Here, we provide quantitative evidence that constraints arising from timetabling and location requirements easily have the potential to explain the low utilisations seen in reality. Furthermore, on considering the decision question “Can this given set of courses all be allocated in the available teaching space?” we find that the answer depends on the associated utilisation in a way that exhibits threshold behaviour: There is a sharp division between regions in which the answer is “almost always yes” and those of “almost always no”. Our work suggests that progress in space management and planning will arise from an integrated approach; combining purely space issues with restrictions representing an aggregated or abstracted version of key constraints such as timetabling or location, and

Crossing borders: Space and identity in the essay by Angelina Muñiz

In this study, we establish a relation between the representation of space in Muñiz’s essays and the construction of the essayist’s complex identity which combines Spanish, Jewish and Mexican traits. We concentrate on Angelina Muñiz’s essays Las raíces y las ramas (1993) and El canto del peregrino (1999). Methodologically, we rely on Maingueneau’s concept of ‘scenography’, according to which the text stages its own situation of enunciation. Our starting point is the triple Spanish-Jewish-Mexican identity of the essayist. Our research question is about how the essayist deals with the space corresponding to respectively the Spanish and Mexican part of her identity. Secondly, we analyse the representation in the essays of a space corresponding to her Jewish roots. We find that Muñiz’s vision of space is not static; the essayist’s vision on space is dynamic, open, free and characterized by a constant free movement across national borders. Similar to the concept of space of the ‘diaspora’, her vision is constructed without the limitations imposed by national borderlines or geographical distances.