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This paper aims to assess the level of occupants’ satisfaction, comparing older and newer on-campus accommodation buildings in Sydney, Australia, aiming to identify their comfort factors deficiencies in terms of design and construction solutions/strategies (e.g. spatial arrangements, materials, thermal comfort).

A post occupancy evaluation survey was used to assess the occupant satisfaction with three on-campus accommodation buildings in The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney. One of the selected buildings is an older building opened for occupation in 1996, and the other two are more recent on campus accommodations buildings. The survey included 11 post occupancy evaluation elements identified through literature review which were categorised into three dimensions: technical, functional and behavioural.

The results show that the satisfaction levels with thermal and acoustic comfort were below standards for both older and newer buildings. In addition, the older building used in this study was rated low in terms of: indoor air quality, lighting, maintenance and management, vertical transportation facility, room layout and furniture quality, building layout and aesthetics and level of privacy. Such factors related to both functional and behavioural dimensions were of greater satisfaction in newer buildings.

Findings suggest the high priority of strategies that address and improve the thermal and acoustic comfort of older and newer on-campus accommodation buildings if the intention is to enhance students’ satisfaction, especially considering the impact that these facilities have on students’ performance. Thermal performance in different seasons and adaptive thermal comfort activities should be considered in the design of new on-campus accommodation buildings and the retrofit of existing old buildings.

On-campus accommodation is an important facility that supports student learning outcomes and helps students adapt in a new learning environment. A post occupancy evaluation study to assess the adequacy of this facility is still lacking because previous studies have generally focussed on class rooms and work spaces in the education sector. This research compares the user satisfaction of older and newer on-campus accommodation buildings in Australia, to highlight deficiencies and areas for improvement in the design of existing and future buildings.

Based on the main studies presented in the literature, this work aims to examine the level of student satisfaction towards the on-campus accommodation service provided by an Italian university. Notably, the objectives of the study are twofold: (1) to examine the mediating role of student satisfaction on the relationship between university on-campus accommodation service quality and word-of-mouth and (2) to determine whether there is any significant difference in students' satisfaction towards on-campus accommodation in terms of gender and the halls of residence.

The study is based on the results of a survey carried out through an online questionnaire by 381 students living on campus at the University of Urbino.

The findings revealed that the quality perceived by university students in relation to individual services had a positive impact on their general satisfaction towards the halls of residence experience.

The study presents some limitations such as lack of temporal comparisons, a focus on specific service quality items and the fact that it refers to a single Italian university.

The findings of this study will help the management of public universities to improve the quality of services in their halls of residence for the satisfaction of their students.

To the authors' knowledge, there have been no previous studies about on-campus accommodation service quality conducted in Italy. The study contributes to enrich the service quality literature, confirming both that the sum of the quality of individual elements is not as the overall satisfaction and the outcome intention of positive WOM depends not only on service quality attributes, but also from an overall evaluation of satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model that can be used as a guide for the provision, adaptation and management of on-campus student accommodation spaces and services.

A phenomenological research strategy was used for the study. Qualitative data were collected by means of focus group discussions (FGDs) and observations. A total of ten FGDs were conducted. The student accommodations were observed to augment the information gathered through the FGDs. The data was analysed thematically.

The study found that students perceived some spaces and services as essential, whereas others were perceived as nonessential. Spaces including washroom, sleeping space, kitchen, laundry area and dry line, sick bay, computer area and study area, as well as services such as electricity, water, security, fire safety, internet, study furniture, health care, generators, electric fittings, ventilation, maintenance, pest control, refuse collection and cleaning were perceived as the most essential spaces and services required in student accommodations. It also became evident that apart from the spaces and services aforementioned, a student accommodation should also be provided with spaces and services that promote students’ well-being and leisure.

The model can be used as a guide by estate, facility, maintenance and hostel managers to effectively manage on-campus university student accommodation spaces and services. Moreover, the model can assist to ensure that all spaces and services perceived as essential are provided when designing, constructing or upgrading student accommodations.

Although several studies have been conducted on student accommodations, studies that mainly focused on identifying and prioritising the spaces and services required in student accommodations is lacking.

In this chapter, we examine the program- and university-level infrastructure to support learners in a large online Master of Science in Computer Science program. The program is novel due to its cost and size: total tuition for the entire degree is around $7,000, and to date, it has enrolled over 25,000 total students with 11,000 enrolled in spring 2021. Prior research has largely focused on the program’s administration of individual classes, but in this work, we examine the administration of the program at higher levels: at the program level, including its academic advisers, career counselors, and alumni relations, and at the university level where it integrates with on-campus infrastructure for academic integrity, student advocacy, and disability accommodations. We close by offering three guidelines for implementing similar programs at other schools, taking into consideration the full range of experience in building the program.

By using exploratory mixed methods, this study aims to present the investigation of the existing situation of private off-campus student accommodation at the University of Allahabad (UoA) in Prayagraj city.

This study explored the geographical variability of student’s private rental housing in Prayagraj city of India through 721 responses from an online semi-structured questionnaire, together with 12 interviews. Moran’s I and LISA were used to determine spatial clustering of rents paid by male and female students.

Results of this study reveal prevalence of unregulated with poor quality of off-campus housing in general and expensive rents in the proximity of UoA.

Obtaining less responses from the female students was one of the important limitations.

A win-win strategy might be formulated with a mix of innovative solutions inclusive of public private partnerships and social economy solutions woven with need-based rental housing, rekindled as the affordable rental housing complexes after COVID-19 pandemic.

This study is highly beneficial to improve liveability in the student housing segment.

This paper develops extensive understanding on the potential student housing segment in the Indian cities. Additionally, this paper demonstrates weak coordination between the central government policies, educational administrators and municipal officials.

After completing this case, students should be able to: identify and compute relevant cash flows in relation to a real estate project and compute the net present value (NPV). Determine the target return or cost of capital (by looking at historical economic indicators). Design or formulate a sensitivity analysis to determine the drivers of the project value. Evaluate real estate and other investments taking qualitative and quantitative factors into consideration. Demonstrate the computation of a break-even rate to determine the minimum or maximum revenue or cost required for a project to be viable.

This case study is about the Golden Beak Securities Pension Fund that wanted to invest in a Hostel Project in one of the universities in Ghana. Most universities in Ghana faced an acute shortage of on-campus accommodation. Also, the Government of Ghana, in 2017, implemented a programme to make Senior High School in Ghana free. This was expected to increase the number of students who will enter the existing universities. The project was therefore seen as strategic, as it would help ease the pressure of on-campus accommodation while providing diversification for the pension fund. As part of the investment committee’s (IC) quest to improve the skill set available to it, especially in relation to real estate investments, Esi Abebrese was appointed as one of the members of the IC of GSB. Her main task was to collect information on key macroeconomic variables, as well as granular information on project costs and revenues and conduct investment appraisal. Esi was scheduled to make a presentation to the IC on the 15th of October 2019 following which the Committee will debate and make a decision. The project had an estimated cost of GH¢52m with a total number of 3,424 student beds and ancillary facilities. Undertaking the project required moving funds from investments in money market securities with one of the banks in Ghana. The investments in the money market securities were currently yielding about 16% a year. The determination of the cost of capital was critical and Esi and Nana eventually settled on a long-term weighted average cost of capital of 14%. This was after considering the trend of inflation, monetary policy rates, treasury rates, stock market returns and a report on returns on commercial real estate properties in Ghana. An exit capitalisation rate of 20% was also estimated for the purposes of determining the value of the property at the end of the investment horizon. Esi also obtained estimates of cost and revenue for the project and proceeded to carry out a feasibility analysis on the project. This consisted of an NPV analysis and sensitivity analysis on various factors to determine the drivers of the project value. The IC had to take several factors (both quantitative and qualitative) into consideration before making a decision. Esi believed that these factors included the diversification of the fund’s assets, the return on investment, potential oversupply of hostel accommodation, the social responsibility of providing student accommodation and the impact of any prolonged shutdown of the university.

Masters/advanced undergraduate.

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CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

To provide an overview of how environmental management systems (EMSs) are becoming sporadically employed within higher educational institutions.

An overview of international developments in sustainable education and within UK universities. Focuses specifically on the University of Glamorgan, Wales.

EMSs have been historically perceived as of little importance within most of the UK higher educational sector. Documents how the University of Glamorgan, Wales became the first university in the UK to have all of its operations accredited to ISO 14001.

Provides a summary of a higher education institution's path to ISO 14001 accreditation.

This paper aims to share the success story of a residential college based in Australia through a case study approach.

The paper discusses the setup of the college in terms of its management structure, demographics of residents, sustainability initiatives and the resident life programs which run every semester. A survey was conducted to gather feedback from the residents and identify areas for future improvement.

Generally, residents are satisfied with the living conditions. Affordability, the collegiate experience and the convenience of living on campus are primary factors affecting the decision of residents to move into a residential college.

The paper provides an insight into the management of a residential college which has not been discussed in the literature.

This paper compares the provision and risk associated with the lack of safety measures in the student accommodations of a university in the Western Cape province, South Africa, with the aim of developing a guide to improve the provision of the safety measures.

The study adopted a case study research strategy. A questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect quantitative data, whereas an interview was conducted to collect qualitative data. Both descriptive (mean score) and inferential (paired t-test) statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data, whereas a content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.

Although most of the measures were provided, few critical measures were not adequate or not provided at all. Moreover, the mean scores obtained indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the provision and risk of non-provision of most of the measures. Weapon detector, closed-circuit television (CCTV), water sprinkler system, lift for disabled students, disabled toilet facility, burglar bar on doors, first aid box, medically trained personnel on post and accident logbook were identified as measures requiring urgent attention.

Data were collected only from one university; therefore, the findings of the research study may not be generalised. Thus, a study that can expand the number of participating universities is recommended.

The facilities department and safety unit can use the recommendations provided to improve the safety of the student accommodations. Policymakers could also benefit from the findings of the study.

There is dearth of studies focussing mainly on student accommodation security and safety measures from the infrastructure point of view. Thus, this article contributes to the body of knowledge in this area.

This paper focuses on exploring the relationship between Australian university websites and international student enrolments. Few studies have investigated this relationship and, as such, this research addresses some of the existing knowledge gaps.

A mono-method qualitative methodology was adopted for this study. Primary data collection was through the website content of selected Australian universities. Six Australian universities were selected; three universities with positive international student enrolments and three universities with negative international student enrolments. The website content of the selected six universities was analysed using the dimensions of the ICTRT framework (Li and Wang, 2011) to evaluate website effectiveness. The study results were based on two analysis levels, an overall thematic analysis (level 1) and an ICTRT framework-based analysis (level 2). The thematic analysis, based on the major themes and concepts, was conducted using Leximancer 4.5.

Two major findings emerged. First, the websites of universities with positive international student enrolments tend to be more people focused whereas websites from universities with negative international student enrolments tend to be technology or system focused. Second, websites from universities with positive international student enrolments tend to be more visionary or forward focused whereas websites from universities with negative international student enrolments tend to be more backward focused. Additionally, the study findings indicate some important website marketing strategies for Australian universities with negative international student enrolments.

This study used ICTRT framework to evaluate the websites of Australian universities. Li and Wang (2011) proposed this framework for evaluating websites. Hotel, travel agency and destination marketing organisation websites have been assessed using the ICTRT framework (Li and Wang, 2011; Pai et al., 2014; Sun et al., 2017). This model has not previously been used, however, to evaluate tertiary education websites. This study is among the first to examine the university websites using a theoretical framework employed in destination marketing organisations which is a major theoretical contribution.

The major findings indicate that the website attributes, which are future focused and people oriented, are necessary for university websites with negative international student enrolments. Similar to university websites with positive international student enrolments, university websites with negative international student enrolments should also provide more contact details of staff members, should be more people oriented and should provide information focused on future students rather than past and current students. These practical implications are useful for administrative bodies in Australian universities for increasing international student enrolments.

This study is among the first to examine the university websites using a theoretical framework used in destination marketing organizations which is a major theoretical contribution. For example, this study has provided an illustrative example of how a research model of destination marketing organizations will be used in the universities or higher education context.