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Education Dive Opinion
What's Next: 3 ways college campuses will look different this fall
Spaced out classes, better ventilation and new social cues will guide those starting the academic year in person.
Hallie Busta
July 21, 2020
Editor's note: In this column, we're looking ahead at how the
coronavirus pandemic could affect higher ed in the long term. Have an
idea or question you'd like us to look into? Let us know. Read more of
our coverage of how the coronavirus is impacting higher ed.
While the higher ed sector weighs the feasibility and practicality of
reopening campuses this fall, many schools plan to bring at least some
students back. And there has been little argument that those doing so
will need to change how spaces are used.
That depends on several factors. Among them is the degree to which
students will be living and learning on campus, which varies widely
across the sector. According to one count of more than 1,200 colleges,
just over half are planning for in-person instruction this fall. Nearly
a third expect to have a mix of on-campus and online instruction. Some
schools plan to limit in-person instruction to courses requiring
hands-on learning, and many are opening dorms to students whose best
housing option is on campus.
But design and engineering experts who advise colleges believe their
approaches to preventing the virus from spreading within their
community will vary not only based on how people are using the campus
but also on the age of the infrastructure, the outdoor climate and the
array of spaces at officials' disposal.
In many cases, the changes come at a considerable expense. The Wall
Street Journal reported last month that universities are spending
hundreds of thousands of dollars to upgrade their ventilation systems,
make doorways hands-free and install plexiglass barriers throughout
campus, among other fixes.
"It's going to be an experiment this fall. It's going to be a test to
see which solution worked better than the others," said Jessica
Figenholtz, the higher education practice leader at Perkins and Will's
Chicago office.
Classrooms will spread out
Social distancing in the classroom will require having either fewer
students in the same space or the same number of students in a larger
space.
"You can begin to look around the campus and say, 'OK, how many
classrooms really do they have that they are going to be able to use to
manage this?' And it drops pretty significantly," said Dean Rodeheaver,
senior campus planner at Credo, which consults on campus planning.
The firm is recommending schools allow at least 40 square feet of space
per student. Other models call for having a third of people in a space
as usual.
Deploying non-classroom spaces is one solution. Those include areas
already designed for people to gather, such as auditoriums, theaters
and recital halls, as well as amphitheaters. Lobbies that can
accommodate crowds before a performance or other function could also be
used, said Steve Morley, director of campus planning at Credo. In those
cases, temporary partitions can help reduce distractions.
In general, areas with open floor plans that can accommodate moveable
furniture are ideal. Spaces that won't adapt easily include tiered or
raised lecture halls with fixed furniture, said Paul Leef, vice
president of campus strategy and analytics at SmithGroup. Gymnasiums
and multipurpose rooms can also present a challenge with regard to
acoustics and the need to bring in technology.
Even still, there is only so much extra space to use for classes. And
colleges might also need to extend the time between classes or stagger
start times to reduce crowding in the halls and to give cleaning crews
time to sanitize areas. One option is to extend the duration of the
school day and even the week, such as adding classes on Saturday, but
that could lead to long days.
"Getting the fit right has been, I think, a real challenge," Leef said.
New norms and cues will guide behavior
To help prevent the spread of the virus in less-prescriptive spaces,
such as common areas, Figenholtz said colleges could remove furniture
and tape off pieces that cannot be moved. Swapping out door knobs for
hands-free options could also help, she said, noting that many of the
changes needed to indicate people should act differently are low-tech.
"A lot of what we're talking about is behavior change, and changing
people's habits," said Credo's Rodeheaver. "How do you change people's
habits? It's not by giving them information, it's by giving them
different environmental cues."
For the Community College of Allegheny County, in Pennsylvania, that
features a combination of tactics, which include wayfinding signage and
notices indicating which classroom furniture cannot be used, said J.B.
Messer, the college's vice president and chief facilities officer.
Arrows taped onto the floor showing which way to enter and exit spaces
could also help de-densify buildings, Figenholtz said, though she notes
that class times will have to be reconfigured to limit the number of
people in the building.
Clear wayfinding to and through testing and temperature checkpoints to
avoid cross contamination is also important. A common entry point to a
building could also be a testing point, Morley said.
In dorms, students living in higher densities may be required to
quarantine together if someone gets sick. Lower-density housing may
include dedicated space for infected individuals to isolate.
Creating smaller communities within the campus could also help assist
in testing and contact tracing, Leef said. Planning experts suggested
students who are living together could jointly participate in
co-curricular activities.
But managing who students and employees interact with, and where and
how, will be a new challenge for schools, and recent research and
reporting suggest it may be impossible. Prior to the pandemic, Credo
was recommending colleges create space for people to linger before and
after class.
"Everything we've been about has been to try to create pause," Rodeheaver said. "Now we're undoing that to create movement."
Indoor air quality will be a focus
Because the coronavirus spreads in part through respiratory droplets
and other small particles in the air — such as when someone coughs or
sneezes — ventilation has become a focus.
Changes can include bringing more outside air into a space — the most
common recommendation — and increasing the filtration level in HVAC
systems. The addition of ultraviolet or HEPA air cleaning devices is
another option for spaces with HVAC systems that cannot add more
outside air or that lack mechanical ventilation. These can be installed
in the HVAC system, or placed in the room.
Opening a window can help, too, but even with a box fan it may not be
practical as the lone solution, said Cindy Cogil, director of
engineering at SmithGroup. The potential for extreme temperatures,
humidity, pollen, noise and pollution make that tactic incompatible
with classroom needs.
Humidity is another consideration. Levels of 40% to 60% are considered
ideal for preventing the spread of viruses, which tends to happen more
easily at lower levels. Conventional air conditioning helps control
humidity in warmer months, but the winter can pose a challenge as
outdoor humidity levels drop out of that range in parts of the country.
Adding humidifiers is an option for some buildings.
But Patrick Dempsey, a mechanical engineer at CannonDesign, notes that
increasing humidity levels in an older structure with a leaky building
envelope can lead to moisture accumulation and issues maintaining the
desired humidity.
Not all spaces require changes, notes Teresa Rainey, director of
engineering at EYP, pointing out that laboratories usually have higher
levels of outside air and filtration. "It may be just a matter of
verifying the system is operating as designed," she said.
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, an industry group, offers more information about air quality
for colleges amid the pandemic, as does the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Rainey and Dempsey recommend schools tell their campuses about changes
made regarding air quality. That could include notices on their
websites, in emails and through signage at building entrances or in
classrooms. But Cogil cautions against "hyping" mechanical
modifications. And new research shows the virus could spread through
air-handling units, meaning better ventilation isn't a singular panacea.
Rather, ventilation is one tactic in a bigger virus-prevention toolkit
that also includes mask-wearing and social distancing, Cogil and Rainey
point out.
While the sector will learn more about the effectiveness of virus
prevention strategies in the next few months as campuses reopen, Cogil
added, "I can assure you that most of us in the HVAC industry would
prefer to answer these questions by way of science and simulation."
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