Unis need smart tech to reopen campuses

Many university students are demanding partial refunds of their tuition fees due to campus restrictions which have led to some students being confined to distanced learning in university halls over COVID concerns. 

Lecture halls, libraries and labs need to be safe for use, giving students the university experience they’ve paid for. Procedures need to be more than words on a noticeboard and in email. Universities should consider adopting smart technology which is already helping organisations return to work safely by: 

• Keeping a digital record of how each desk and room is being used and by who.
• Devising up-to-date deep cleaning rosters as attendance changes on a daily basis.
• Reallocating workspace availability including desks, corridors, lifts and kitchens as the needs of the organisation changes

Office management expert Steve Vatidis, Executive Chairman at Smartway2, understands the challenges universities face to keep students safe across campuses and has proven expertise in this area, having helped Coca-Cola, the NHS and the Screen Actors Guild of America create COVID-safe environments. 

Arrange a time to speak with Steve this week about how universities can reopen safely and effectively without confining students to distanced learning in halls. Please also find a comment from Steve for immediate use, below: 

Steve Vatidis, Executive Chairman of SmartWay2 commented:

“Educational institutions realise they need to manage a new and complex set of ‘Return to university’’ issues. Even those who want to do it, are not equipped to cope with so much change. 

This is irrespective of daily changing trends – it becomes imperative to address choice for students to make them feel in control. Even prior to recent Government announcements, universities faced a hard task persuading nervous students to return to a safe environment. 

Students are quite rightly now demanding unprecedented levels of autonomy in where and when they study. Such flexibility, which is vital to economic recovery, can only be provided with smart deskspace management”