While institutions of higher education have used technology to continue operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that significant progress needs to be made to make distance learning equal to the traditional methods.

As part of HMC’s ongoing research effort to better understand the longterm effects of COVID-19 and develop solutions for these institutions, we spoke with higher education clients, students, contractors, and consultants to gain insight and understanding of short-and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on facility design and operation for college campuses and universities.

HMC is committed to sharing our findings with the industry in a series of white papers that focus on five main areas of Technology, Adaptability and Flexibility, Regulatory/Budgetary/Institutional Impacts, Space Needs Restructuring, and Impact to Wellness/Mental Health. In this paper, we focus on distance learning and its relationship to technology.