The quality and value of higher education facilities: a comparative study

Christos Vidalakis, Ming Sun, Aspasia Papa

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    25 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Purpose - The aim of the paper is to explore the relationship between the quality and value of higher education facilities through comparing the views of different user groups and professionals involved in the procurement and design of such facilities.

    Design/methodology/approach - The paper adopts a mixed methods approach incorporating a number of interviews and a questionnaire survey, underpinned by the recommendations and input of an expert panel.

    Findings - The results reveal the potential of facilities management and maintenance to create value for higher education institutions (HEIs) and students, perhaps even greater than the construction of new high-profile facilities, by facilitating student recruitment and improving student learning experience.

    Research limitations/implications - The sample includes data from a single HEI. Although this was deemed necessary so as to reduce the impact of externalities the adopted approach has to be applied to a wider sample of HEIs in order to claim more generalisable findings.

    Practical implications - The paper provides a better understanding of the relationship between the quality and value of higher education facilities. This can potentially support HEIs to achieve improved value for money from their facilities and free up resources to be reinvested in other aspects of student experience.

    Originality/value - Considering the subjective nature of value the paper incorporates views from a number of different interest groups. These views are correlated with different facility quality standards to provide a holistic approach to assessing the value of higher education facilities.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalFacilities
    Volume31
    Issue number11/12
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2013

    Keywords

    • Expert panel
    • Higher Education
    • Quality
    • Value

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