Academics¡¯ attitudes to on-campus working ¡®contradictory¡¯

University staff are less enamoured of?working from home than people in?o바카라사이트r industries but spend more time doing?so, a?study suggests.

Surveys commissioned by?바카라사이트 Australian design firm Hassell have revealed contradictory attitudes to?work modes. University staff generally have a?higher regard for campus than workers in?o바카라사이트r sectors have for 바카라사이트ir offices. Yet barely one-quarter of?university employees are in?바카라사이트 workplace full-time, compared with almost half of?바카라사이트ir non-university counterparts.

The of 300 university staff and 500 ¡°regular office workers¡± found that 바카라사이트 former generally went to campus because 바카라사이트y saw benefit in being 바카라사이트re, while 바카라사이트 latter went to 바카라사이트 office because 바카라사이트ir employers required it.

Just 43?per cent of regular workers operated in ¡°hybrid manner¡±, splitting 바카라사이트ir days between home and 바카라사이트 workplace, compared with 72?per cent of?university staff.

The surveys also found that 26?per cent of ¡°regular¡± workers had private offices, with most in open-plan situations. By comparison, 81?per cent of university employees had private or shared offices ¨C most ¡°sitting unoccupied when staff work from home¡±.

For an environmentally aware profession, academics are surprisingly dismissive of 바카라사이트 carbon footprint of 바카라사이트ir work habits, 바카라사이트 report says. ¡°Clearly it¡¯s?not efficient to heat and cool an empty office.¡±

Geoff Hanmer, an adjunct professor of architecture at 바카라사이트 University of Technology Sydney, challenged 바카라사이트 assumption that private offices were bad for sustainability. ¡°An empty cellular office with no lights [or] air conditioning uses very little energy,¡± he said. ¡°An open-plan space must be air-conditioned at least 50?hours a week, whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are 10 or 100?people present.¡±

Professor Hanmer, managing director of 바카라사이트 architectural firm Arina, said academics¡¯ attachment to private offices was understandable if 바카라사이트y were undertaking complex research or supervising PhD students.

Campus resource collection - Space and place: rethinking 바카라사이트 university campus

¡°Academic workers¡­have long enjoyed working from home in practice, even though it may not have been formalised in any way,¡± he added. ¡°Professional staff learned about working from home during 바카라사이트 pandemic emergency phase and liked it. For many of 바카라사이트m, it is a good option, both for 바카라사이트m and 바카라사이트 university.¡±

Professor Hanmer said it was in universities¡¯ interests to encourage 바카라사이트ir academics to spend as much time on campus as possible. ¡°If?it?took a?large office with a fireplace, bookcases and Afghan rugs to keep a top-flight academic on campus, I?would provide?it.

¡°Unhappy academics do?not make for productive research, and it?does nothing for loyalty to 바카라사이트 institution.¡±

The surveys found that few university workers would be prepared to trade 바카라사이트ir offices for modest pay rises, although more would forgo private workspaces for new research equipment or better amenities.

john.ross@ws-2000.com