As education moves forward and campuses reopen, what will these spaces look like in a post-COVID environment?

The future of campus life in a post-COVID world


As education moves forward and campuses reopen, what will these spaces look like in a post-COVID environment?

This fall, universities were faced with the prospect of bringing students back to campus or committing to remote learning through the remainder of 2020. In some cases, schools that reopened had to quickly close due to coronavirus outbreaks. In remote situations, technology and logistics challenges made for a bumpy experience for educators and students alike.

Looking ahead to 2021 and the eventual widespread return to campuses, universities are developing plans to implement enhanced social distancing practices and manage access to all campus spaces.

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Access control, managing the flow of people, and space utilization of residence halls, academic buildings, and other common areas are top issues administrators, facility managers and faculty are facing. Altering class schedules, limiting the maximum capacity of lecture halls and smaller rooms, and increasing automated access are major issues that require considerable coordination and planning.

However, the core challenge is to create the right plan for each campus while working within increasingly restricted budgets and a short window of time for implementation. This is, of course, easier said than done.

Despite the challenges, there are a few simple strategies campuses can follow to safely open and remain that way.

Leverage and expand existing access control as part of the solution

Campus access control plays a significant role in space management to meet growing social distancing protocols. It can support reopening efforts by regulating traffic flows, and controlling, or limiting, the use of certain spaces.

Campuses can use their existing access control infrastructure in creative ways to improve a building’s safety and create a healthier environment for faculty, staff, and students. This includes innovative ways to repurpose classroom space, manage hallway use, minimize touchpoints, and enable social distancing. Universities can easily expand their access control footprint using wireless technology to significantly reduce installation time and material costs while meeting goals for security and operational efficiency.

Prior to the pandemic, some universities integrated their existing access control systems with new scheduling tools. This new process gave more automatic control for students and faculty to reserve space for various activities and gave administrative staff the time to work on more pressing issues. When the pandemic hit, these universities discovered additional utility from the new scheduling system. Administrative staff could meticulously manage the physical access to each room on campus, and eventually, completely halt the ability for any reservations to ensure the safety of all faculty and students.

In addition to access control, educators should evaluate egress points to efficiently manage traffic flow (in non-emergency scenarios) and effectively support social distancing guidelines. Once mapped, traffic can be managed through existing access control systems by locking certain entries and redirecting traffic using wayfinding signage.

Managing access, limiting touch: Complementary goals

Access control solutions have been central to increasing security at schools, especially as part of lockdown strategies and active shooter response plans. This sparked an evolution for schools to begin investing more funds into security technology. On the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, campuses will require a similar long-term commitment to successfully address the threat of this virus and future health safety risks.

A prominent way to approach and maintain a safe campus environment is through frictionless access control. This concept has been around for a while, but it is certainly having a moment now. A frictionless access control experience makes it is easier to permit access to an area without interfering with the user experience, makes it more functional in reducing touchpoints and enables social distancing. Three types of technology and solutions are gaining importance in the enablement of a frictionless access control experience including mobile applications, touchless solutions, and wireless technologies.

Mobile and remote applications enable distance learning from kindergarten through higher education. The technology has grown in importance and utilization during the pandemic and will likely continue well beyond – particularly for credentials. Mobile access is now desired more than ever for door openings – both for convenience and as a means of reducing touchpoints.

Limiting touchpoints throughout campus is a key tactic for creating a safe environment that allows colleges and universities to hold classes. With one common touchpoint being the doors and door hardware to different classrooms and buildings across campuses, touchless solutions can reduce the risk of virus transmission. For example, hands-free arm and foot pulls can be affixed to existing doors as a simple, cost-effective solution to reduce touch. Fully automated, touchless doorways can also provide complete safety and convenience, enabling the opening and closing of doors without touching or grasping hardware.

Expanding an existing access control system on campus may seem like a daunting and expensive project. However, new technology can make a renovation project much more approachable. For example, wireless access control solutions can be used to expand existing access control systems easily and cost-effectively with little to no construction or infrastructure updates.

Reimaging available space

As we look at the future of university environments and how to manage disparate campuses, it is clear that access control has a significant role to play in enabling more flexible and diverse use of spaces. Now with the pandemic, smaller in-person gatherings are expected for the foreseeable future, but more space is needed to allow for social distancing, so how do universities account for these opposing forces?

Location services technologies have gained traction and have a lot of potential to help manage germ spread. For example, platforms like BluVision – a seamless end-to-end IoT ecosystem – will be incredibly valuable in supporting contact tracing efforts and enforcing social distancing. LuxerOne, a leader in package management & locker solutions, is also helping schools keep their workforce and students safe with contactless solutions for mailrooms and package centers.

Universities are facing unprecedented pressure to eliminate physical and biological risks in schools – and the solutions they implement can offer long-term value. The safety and security of students and staff should remain an utmost priority – but so should wellbeing. Planning for a safe campus environment should recognize the need to balance health and wellness with safety and security.

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