ON CAMPUS
campusreview.com.au
QUT’s digital sphere. Photo: Supplied
The digital and the human
How universities are remodelling for
the next generation of students.
By Robin Sweasey
A
dazzling spectacle confronts visitors stepping into the atrium
at QUT’s brand new Peter Coaldrake Education Precinct at
its Kelvin Grove campus: a five-metre diameter digital sphere,
suspended from the ceiling and displaying fully digital content that
interacts with a large digital HD screen on the adjacent stairwell wall.
The sphere is symbolic of the transformation that many universities
are undergoing in Australia as they seek to attract students and
prestigious research grants, as well as increase their rankings in global
tertiary tables. Universities are no longer just centres of teaching
and research, but public campuses with a diverse mix of facilities in
constant dialogue with industry and the broader community.
Tertiary institutions are remodelling themselves for the new
generation of digital adults. It is now common that students will work
from at least three devices: a mobile phone, a tablet and a laptop. This
is giving rise to new methods of flexible learning and collaboration,
replacing traditional lecturer-centric teaching methods.
The traditional lecture theatre, while not completely disappearing,
is becoming far less common. In its place, flat interactive learning
spaces with multiple projection screens are becoming the norm.
Students are able to participate by “throwing” digital content from
their devices onto mobile screens. Campuses are also introducing
smart cameras that follow lecturers around, livestreaming their
presentations to national and international audiences.
Universities are also being confronted by the deteriorating state
of mental health of this digitally driven and social media-consumed
generation. Recent years have seen a marked rise in the stress and
anxiety levels of young people, with the isolating effect of technology
impacting increasing numbers of students in negative ways.
To combat this, campus masterplans are seeking to create urban
precincts that enable a fully human-centric experience, by creating
spaces that maximise social interaction and a sense of overall physical
and mental wellbeing. Campuses are becoming destinations in
their own right, with retail outlets, heritage precincts, coffee shops,
theatres and restaurants opening up to the broader community as
well as students and staff. They are simply enjoyable places at which
to spend time.
Transforming universities into ‘cities within cities’ is a complex
undertaking. Live campuses are restrictive environments in which
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to undertake major redevelopments, with more stakeholders and
industry partners to consult with than ever before.
Ambitious transformation projects can risk spiralling out of control
if not matched with an agile and proactive project management
approach. This is because the complexity and duration of the
undertaking inherently involves uncertainty: not everything can be
known at the outset, particularly when redevelopment programs can
require more than four years to deliver. A program needs rigorous
governance, but should be given the breathing space to flex and shift
as circumstances change. Traditional procurement models are often
not sufficiently flexible to adequately absorb this uncertainty. This is
because they tend not to allow the input at an early enough stage of
all the parties that are best placed to accommodate or mitigate risks.
By contrast, non-traditional procurement methods that allow
the early involvement of experienced contractors, managed within
a collaborative and high-performing project culture, allow more
sophisticated risk-sharing between clients, suppliers, consultants and
contractors. This approach puts clients in the driving seat. They have
increased ability to control the scope and quality of the program,
with a better understanding of real-time market pricing and within a
collaborative program framework. The benefits can be felt from the
beginning as subcontractors and suppliers are involved in the earlier
design phases.
Involving the construction supply chain early can mitigate against
costly errors and quality issues that may have to be rectified later.
This is particularly important when deciding on the technical
infrastructure: technology evolves so fast that in 4–5 years – a typical
length for a complex transformation project – the technological
solution achieved at the end of a project may not even have existed
at the start.
Balancing fluidity with the demands of the delivery schedule
and budget is essential to a sophisticated and agile management
approach. Indeed, a key aspect of managing stakeholder
expectations is in ensuring that the project governance body
understands from the outset that time and cost contingency
provisions should be adjustable as the risk profile of the project
evolves, and successfully delivered against these moving targets.
This is not an easy task: at the early stages of a large program
there is a risk that expectations are somewhat ‘black and white’.
This is because, owing to the unpredictable nature of the work, the
complexity and challenges are not immediately apparent. Indeed,
problems don’t often emerge until some way into the program.
An important factor in successful project delivery is in holding and
managing stakeholder expectations. To do this, program managers
need to have highly developed and subtle communications skills,
continuing the dialogue with the governance body so that significant
changes and impacts can be absorbed without negatively impacting
their perception of the project’s success.
Take the sphere in the atrium at QUT. The university knew it wanted
a signature digital installation from the outset, but did not fully resolve
the solution until after the project started construction. The program,
combined with a collaborative mindset across the project team,
allowed it to do this with minimal complication and ultimately no
impact on the construction critical path.
Tertiary education clients understand very well how they must
adapt to be more flexible, agile and responsive to technology. Their
campus strategies must be the same. ■
Robin Sweasey, director project management and national
education sector lead at Turner & Townsend.