Higher Ed Hybrid Work vs Space Standards: Closing the Governance Gap | CampusIQ

2026 Space Management Survey Report - Part 2

[00:00:00] Aaron Benz: Why have hybrid work policies moved faster than space standards, and how can institutions close that gap? Welcome back to another Bow Tie Tuesday. This is part two of our State of Space Management Suvey here with Andrew Sama from Huron. Last time we talked about some portfolio decisions. Today we're actually gonna be looking at hybrid work because while 90% of institutions have flexible work policies, the physical space rules haven't kept up.

Andrew, this feels like one of the biggest unrealized opportunities in higher ed right now.

[00:00:34] Andrew Sama: Yeah, no doubt. I mean, given, given the size of office space as a part of the portfolio, at most institutions, this is a huge opportunity, right? The story here starts with a governance gap, right? You know, the reality is on, on campuses that HR typically owns a, a people policy and facilities is gonna own the space. And this, you know, in my experience, neither group is gonna feel real comfortable trying [00:01:00] to launch or enforce any kind of new space allocation standard without support from a provost or a president level leader. Right. You know, without sort of a shared top level mandate, they're gonna default.

And we, we heard this in the survey, right? We actually had a respondent explicitly talk about this, that they default to a one person to one desk model, which has been the historical standard, right? Uh, and inertia just takes hold, right? I think fear of friction takes hold. And so what we think is that leaders need better data to break through that, right?

You know, when, when you can point to objective. Verifiable utilization, right? Whether that's really high or really low, it just builds conversation for leaders to start that conversation, right? And so I think that's a big part of why there's this gap is there's not the right data. Right. And, you know, I think there's a misalignment or there's a gap in sort of how how space is governed, right? You know, it kind of lives in multiple different places, and there's not always one person who feels empowered to make that [00:02:00] change.

[00:02:00] Aaron Benz: So, So speaking of data right here, here's three kind of main data points that came out of this survey results. So we found 90% have flexible remote work policies.

Only 26% linked those policies to actual office assignments, and 48% have not updated their space standards since 2021.

Yeah. So

my question to you, right, why the gap, right? Why has HR policy adoption outpaced space policy updates?

[00:02:30] Andrew Sama: Yeah. Um, I mean, it's part of that, governance gap, who owns it, right? Who should put those two things together, but I think it's also risk aversion, right?

Mm-hmm. You know, there's real costs, political and socially and, and otherwise on a college campus to changing some of these things, right? And I think some of the way we framed this issue on campuses it's about the workers and sort of, you know, what, they're, they're getting flexible and they're getting out of work and they're doing all these things.

And I, I think it, it. It sets a tone for the [00:03:00] conversation. That's really tough, right? That you're now taking something away from, you know, your workforce when you adjust these standards. And I think where we need to have a little bit of a conversation is about the value to the institution of space consolidation, right?

Like you can instantly, as an institution create more space by being, uh, you know. More, I'd say just rational about what's really going on in these campuses. And, and using some of this data, you can create more space without putting a single shovel in the ground. And without taking on additional maintenance, renewal, or operational commitments, which we talked last time, is really starting to be a burdensome to these institutions, right?

I think it's about framing the conversation a little different for leaders, right? Yeah. Hey, what can the institution gain by being more intentional here and adjusting these policies? And, and then, you know, then, then there's the tactical bit of, you actually have to have some new space standards, right?

I don't think that part's particularly hard. There's some playbooks out there, which we can talk about, uh, but then you have to go do the policy update, right? Like you have to actually tell people what's the [00:04:00] connection between your presence on campus and the types and amounts of space that you're going to get?

Uh, that part I don't think is particularly hard. I think the mountain to overcome is the leadership will, right? And sort of their comfort level with pushing on those things.

[00:04:12] Aaron Benz: Right. Breaking those kind of, let's say legacy norms, right? One-to-one office, like these kind of things, all of a sudden how do we evaluate space based on the function, right?

How, how are you functionally using this space and how often are you here versus everybody gets their own office? 'Cause that's what we've always done.

[00:04:28] Andrew Sama: Yeah. And this is where the data that you guys bring, you know, from CampusIQ is so important to this, right? It breaks through some of that discomfort because when you can just see, hey, office utilization in these buildings is at 30%.

Now, you know, it's just, you can, you can have a different conversation than you had before.

[00:04:45] Aaron Benz: So when institutions do update space standards, what, what does that actually look like? Do you have any good, like concrete examples that, that come to mind?

[00:04:54] Andrew Sama: Yeah. Yeah. So I think it starts with, I kind of alluded to this just a second ago.

You gotta take that, those presence [00:05:00] expectations, right? Right. How often are you on campus? And you have to translate that into what does that mean for the types and amounts of space that you're going to be, uh, you know, assigned. Right? Or, or, or you know, the guidelines around what you should get. You know, obviously someone coming to campus five days a week should look a little different than somebody that comes, you know, one day a week or two days a week.

Right. And so there, like I mentioned, there's, there's a playbook out there, right? There are some some general standards here, right? You know, I think people that are high presence roles four or five days a week gonna have an assigned workstation gonna be typically north of a hundred square feet, uh, in size, you know, you're gonna have at the low end, right?

You know, folks that are, that are remote for the most part, right? You're looking at touchdown space, right? You know, this is gonna be something, 20 to 40 square feet, per person kind of thing. And then you have this middle part where I think institutions will vary a little bit in what their mm-hmm.

Their portfolio will, uh, you know, take and, and sort of what their culture will take. Right. But, you know, you have to come up with that middle group. What are we gonna do with the folks that come in two to three days a week? You know, how are we [00:06:00] gonna address that? That's probably where there's the biggest range and what to do.

Um, right. You know, but you're gonna be somewhere between half a desk of 0.7, 5.8 of a desk. Right. Something in the, you know. 75 to a hundred square foot, you know, range. But again, that's, that's where there's a lot of flex for folks. But you gotta get to that point. And then you gotta remember, you gotta think about not just the desk space, but all the other things that go around it, right?

So you gotta have a plan for how am I gonna provide focus rooms, team rooms, quiet zones, lockers, you know, you gotta do the things that people need to operate in a more hybrid environment, right? So I think that's that's the steps you need to take. You need to kind of develop something that, that gives you the answers to those questions.

Uh, and, and start somewhere. Just put something down. Uh, be transparent about the process and then understand it can be a living document. It does not need to be the, you know, the final answer right up front. Right. You can do it. And we talked before last week about, you know, pilots. Right. Do it in a small setting.

See how it works. Adjust as you go. Right. Let it [00:07:00] evolve.

[00:07:00] Aaron Benz: Yep. See what fits. You adjust where it doesn't, but ultimately have kind of a different. Positive way of, of thinking about in the future, right? How, how do we fit people more to the function of how they want to operate, right? Versus just assuming they need X amount of square footage that no one else can touch.

So may maybe last piece, we touched on it a little bit, right? A a lot of times offices are very personal and political, right? This is my office where I spend most of my time. How do insti institutions navigate some of that tension? Right? Or, or maybe a different way of asking it is, is how do you help reduce friction?

When you're trying to make a change like this?

[00:07:36] Andrew Sama: Yeah. I will build upon kind of some of the things I said last week. I talked last week about. Starting with pilots, right? And building a coalition. And I think as that relates to specifically office space, right? There's some additional things I would say are really important.

So when you're doing a pilot use it as an opportunity to show people how. New office environments that are aligned with these standards we just talked about are actually more [00:08:00] functional, more pleasant places to be. Mm-hmm. You know, show them off. You know, showcase better technology, showcase better acoustics, better collaboration rooms.

Right. You know, the use of focus rooms, you. Address all those things that people complain about in sort of legacy office setups, right? Right. And help them understand that, that going into one of these environments is an upgraded experience. Right. Uh, you know, so, so shift sort of that, that helps you shift that conversation away from I'm losing an office into, I'm getting a space that works better for me.

And, you know, that may take a little investment, but as a, as a percentage of the dollars you're likely spending on, you know, maintenance and operations and, and you know, all those things, it's, it's a. It's a worthy investment, right? So, so as it relates to office space, your pilots need to be showcases.

Um, and then, you know, in terms of, of the coalition, right? Mm-hmm. I talked before about how important it is for bringing campus along with you, right? Notably the ac, the academy, and the faculty. Right? And I think a talking point as it relates to office space specifically is what can this [00:09:00] consolidation of space and this new space I'm creating.

In these buildings, what does it unlock for me in terms of program development thing? Things that I, as a faculty member, as a dean, as a department chair, have been trying to do for years, right? Uh, that maybe I can do now, right? Maybe I have that space to put that new, uh, you know, research center somewhere, right?

You know, maybe I have that space to hire some more faculty that I wanted to hire and I couldn't before because I'm gonna do, you know, some of these things around, uh, you know, office space. Uh, I think it's about, bringing those people along in the conversation, but helping them understand like, we all want with change what's in it for me?

Right? What is this unlock for me programmatically that I didn't have before? So yeah,

[00:09:39] Aaron Benz: again, much less of the focus being, let's say a reduction and more of like, right, hey, what's a new vision that where we can operate, where you can have all these other things that you don't have now that you actually do want.

And yeah, test it out. I, I love that. Right? How, I guess some of the things, right? How, how do we shift from where hybrid work right now is kind of without a real space alignment, [00:10:00] which really means we're paying for underuse, right? In some real sense, right? We have emptier buildings that aren't as lively and pleasant and how all of a sudden through maybe more transparent processes, policies in a better vision. Can we reduce friction? Test it out small. Iterate with your constituents, right? And ultimately probably change the footprint that you have, but make it better, right? Make it how people wanna function today. Awesome. This has been part two. Uh, we'll have one, one more at least of of this and some of the key insights that we're figuring out from the State of Space Management Survey brought to CampusIQ and Huron.

Andrew, see you next week.

Sounds good. See you then. All right.

Feel good. Good. We'll question this. Yeah. All right. Let's see the research space. Frontier. Okay.