Centrally managed education space - Resources and Guidance
What is centrally managed education space?
Centrally managed education space refers to a collection of seminar rooms and lecture theatres across the main teaching campuses that are allocated and managed by a centralised team and do not belong to an individual department. Centrally managed education space is shared and used by multiple departments across the University, with priority for teaching and examinations, and is heavily relied upon by cohorts that do not have departmental teaching space. The Programme Board for Education Space (PBES) is responsible for overseeing the development and improvement of central education space.
Centrally managed education space - specification and improvement
Since 2021, more than 50% of centrally managed education spaces have been refurbished to a high standard as part of major works projects. Recent case studies include the Sidgwick Lecture Block, Cockcroft and Titan Rooms refurbishments. Centrally managed space was among the highest rated in a recent audit of teaching space specification across the University. There is an ongoing programme of works to continue to improve the appearance, comfort, capabilities and environmental performance of central space. Nearly all central venues offer lecture capture facilities and upgraded AV (audio visual) systems.
Centrally managed education space policy
Centrally managed education spaces are in high demand and at busy periods are at or near full capacity. Requests to access central education space continue to increase, leading to significant pressure during periods of peak demand. The Programme Board for Education Space is focused on delivering additional space to alleviate this. One purpose of the Central Education Space Policy is to manage expectations in order to reflect constraints, but wherever possible requests are accommodated. It may not always be possible to guarantee central education space at the requested time for the following:
- New course/module/cohort requests, either for newly introduced courses/modules, or existing courses/modules not previously accommodated in central education space.
- Previously accommodated courses/module cohorts where the cohort size has grown greater than the previous venue/s allocated to it.
- Long duration sessions (more than 2 hours)Multiple simultaneous cohorts (where accommodation for many sessions has been requested at the same time and day)
However, where space is not available at the requested time, advice will be provided on possible alternative timings that can be offered. For the full central education space policy, please see here.
Schedule of central education spaces and room capabilities
The following document provides information on which rooms are centrally managed and the capabilities they offer: Centrally Managed Room Sizes and Capabilities [Raven password required]
Lecture Capture
The majority of centrally managed education spaces provide lecture capture facilities to support teaching and learning activities using Panopto https://help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/teaching-and-learning/lecture-capture , an online video recording and hosting system, which integrates with Moodle https://www.student-systems.admin.cam.ac.uk/moodle
For centrally managed education spaces, the Education Space team carry out scheduling of lecture capture to record in the required venue at the time requested. If lecture capture is required for a session taking place in a centrally managed venue, please contact: studentregistryroombookings@admin.cam.ac.uk to submit a lecture capture request. Further support is provided by the UIS Lecture Capture team.
Further information, including detailed guidance on Panopto, can be found via the UIS Lecture Capture webpages: https://help.uis.cam.ac.uk/service/teaching-and-learning/lecture-capture/how-use-panopto-lecture-capture-and-educational-videos
How to request use of central education space
Day-to-day (ad hoc) booking requests, non-term time & out of hours requests, plus all non-teaching related requests (events, meetings etc.) are handled via Booker, the University’s room booking system: Book a room | IT Help and Support (cam.ac.uk)
For enquiries relating to advance requests for space during term time for teaching activities only, please contact: studentregistryroombookings@admin.cam.ac.uk