Campus Facilities That Need Booking system like ecobook.

8 Types of Facilities In A University Campus That Need A Booking System

Universities have a lot of facilities and equipment under their management. They are not limited to just universities. Modern-day schools and institutions such as polytechnics, technical education, and private educational institutions have a variety of resources that are reserved and used daily.

These resources vary in terms of the type of usage, the amenities each facility provides, the control and restrictions that each facility has, and the overall management of associated services. Here, we discuss 8 types of facilities in a university campus that can benefit from having a booking system like ecobook.

 

Here is a list of the spaces available on a typical modern university campus.

 

1. Classrooms

classroom in a university that requires a classroom booking system like ecobook

Classrooms are by far the most common facility found in universities. They are heavily used and contain a high level of usage. Classroom usage patterns follow the typical class sessions conducted within them. These class sessions have fixed periods and follow a standard weekly routine that is reflected in the timetable.

Typically, the sessions are predefined before the start of the terms and in most cases do not change. While reserving the classrooms is the easier part, the challenge is coming up with the roster and schedule. This is usually done in a separate piece of software that helps produce a roster based on inputs provided by the teachers and administrators of the institution. A lot of work goes into planning and organizing the classes and mapping the teacher’s schedule with these classes.

These software tools, while complex in their algorithms are built to schedule staff and rooms. However, they do not perform any booking of spaces. Also, they are not accessible to everyone to be able to view the final schedule. To make the schedule available to everyone, the typical administrator performs a manual translation of these schedules by booking the spaces in a booking system or a school calendaring system. This is a time-consuming process and gets complex quickly if there are changes to the roster or schedule.

With ecobook, the customer uses the APIs to populate the bookings from the timetabling system. By performing an automated sync, the process is much faster and eliminates errors. Read more about Advantages of using ecobook as a classroom booking system.

 

2. Meeting Rooms

People Discussing In Meeting Room

Meeting rooms are used like any other organization where teachers and management come together to discuss. While not as many as classrooms, meeting rooms play an important role in operations even in schools and universities. While most meeting rooms may be open for any of the staff to book, some may be reserved for senior management.

A level of oversight needs to be brought into these spaces. Typically, a receptionist or a personal assistant to the senior management may be involved in overseeing the kind of booking requests that are made. In some cases, meeting rooms may be restricted to certain building occupiers or departments.

ecobook provides the administrator to group staff and students and assigns rights to each group based on the access permissions. With permissions set, access to the meeting rooms are controlled automatically. Another level of control is to setup approval groups that help room owners review and approve incoming booking requests.

Meeting rooms can be augmented with digital tablets that provide information on the meetings scheduled in the room and its availability. This can also benefit classrooms and lecture theatres. Read more about tablets in the article What is a Meeting Room Display Tablet and Why Do You Need One?

 

3. Auditoriums & Multi-purpose Halls

Auditoriums in university using facilities booking system like ecobook

Auditoriums are spaces to host large events such as graduation ceremonies, campus-wide events, VIP events, and so on. These large events also require additional resources such as projectors, laptops, and audio-visual equipment with manpower services required to set up the auditorium before the event. In many cases, auditoriums are also opened to the public and private sector on a pay-per-use basis. Organizations can pay for the usage of these facilities.

Auditoriums are usually managed by the events management team that oversees the bookings. These spaces have a different set of rules compared to normal meeting rooms. For example, the duration of the events held may be typically longer than normal meeting rooms.

Also, the lead time for booking these venues will be much longer. For example, auditoriums need to be reserved at least 2 weeks in advance and must be at least 2 to 4 hours long to make it worthwhile to engage the services of the manpower to set up and tear down the associated resources requested.

 

4. Labs & Workshops

Labs in university using a lab booking system like ecobook.

Lab reservations require tighter control over who has access to the space and the equipment inside. The equipment housed inside the labs are expensive assets such as laptops, computers, equipment, etc, or dangerous items such as chemicals and tools that can cause bodily harm.

These need to be carefully monitored and controlled. Labs typically are owned by Lab Assistants or Supervisors and they oversee the requests and decide on authorizing access. Also, Labs have limited periods of occupation and specific timings and also subject to specific groups of users such as students taking up a module or course that requires access to these facilities.

In ecobook, labs and workshops are treated the same as meeting rooms except that it is open to specific users and there is an approval process for all bookings.

 

5. Maker Spaces

Workshop management system for universities like ecobook

 

Maker spaces are somewhat similar to labs but comprise different types of equipment. These can be 3D printers, laser cutters, workbenches, etc.  These are individually booked by students and staff compared to Labs which are booked in full for training or practicals. Maker spaces allow students and staff to work on university or personal projects.

Sometimes, even private enterprises utilize these spaces to create prototypes. For such spaces, the facility by itself is not important. However, the equipment within the facilities needs to be bookable by the individuals. Therefore, special business rules apply to such facilities such as hourly quotas, restrictions on usage, and perhaps even payment or credits.

Usage of these equipment requires that the individual have prior knowledge of how to operate them and in most cases need to pass a safety test before being let to use them.  Many of the equipment also have consumables that need to be used to operate them.

In ecobook, the equipment can be considered bookable resources that can be booked similarly to that of meeting rooms and desks. In addition to that, the resource booking module allows users to add additional resources such as consumables to their booking.

 

6. Incubation Centres

University campus incubation centre using facilities booking system like ecobook

With the growth in the number of startups across the globe, modern universities have set up incubation centers that allow early-stage startups to bootstrap. These startups are usually focused on their students, staff, and sometimes even alumni from the university.

These incubation centers provide mentorship, training, industry exposure, and even financial assistance to these startups before they become viable businesses. Incubation centers also provide these startups with low-cost spaces such as desks, meeting rooms, and breakout areas that can help them in the early stages.

In such spaces, facilities are shared across different startups and therefore privacy is of critical importance when sharing meeting rooms. A community manager usually oversees their facilities and they have control over the access and rules of usage.

ecobook’s privacy settings allow the administrator to set visibility levels for each facility and group to ensure that meeting information is not divulged to everyone.

 

7. Library Spaces

Library areas in university campus using library booking system like ecobook.

The modern library in a university is not only a place of books and silent reading. Many libraries host different types of spaces such as group work spaces, silent study pods, breakout areas, and media rooms. These are managed by the library and have special business rules such as quotas, approvals, minimum occupancy requirements, and so on.

Due to their high demand, booking of these facilities is open to certain restricted members or representatives. Quotas are also in place to ensure fair usage for everyone. Rooms such as group discussion areas need to be controlled by smart door access solutions that allow one-time entry during the booking. Read more about the Benefits Of Using A Room Booking System For Libraries.

 

8. Sports Facilities

Sports facilities in university campus using ecobook sports facility booking system.

Sports facilities are some of the most popular facilities that are booked by students. This includes indoor and outdoor facilities such as badminton courts, tennis courts, track & field as well as the gymnasium. With a booking system, such facilities can be brought under control and even reserved in blocks in advance by the administrator for events that take place.

ecobook’s campus edition provides advanced rules such as quotas, minimum and maximum booking durations, and access rights to help provide equal opportunity access to all persons interested in these facilities. Facilities owners can also block book these facilities for events such as competitions and major events.

 

Concluding

The sheer variety of spaces requires that universities implement modern space booking and management systems that can provide complete control and oversight over the usage of these spaces.

With a booking system in place, educational institutions such as schools, polytechnics, universities, and private institutions can help improve the productivity of the facility administrators while maximizing the usage of the facilities.

Read more about how smart universities adopt new technologies to enter a new era of university experience – Smart Universities: Pioneering a New Era of Campus Innovation .

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