AV/IT Infrastructure Guidelines for Higher Education

The in-depth report, AV/IT Infrastructure Guidelines for Higher Education, draws on the collective knowledge of audiovisual (AV) professionals working in higher education settings, as well as AVIXA’s AV design courses and standards. The purpose of this document is to address the architectural and infrastructural considerations that go into designing and implementing AV/IT technologies in higher education learning spaces, while preserving the pedagogical and functional needs of such spaces — both virtual and physical — throughout the project cycle.

The document provides contemporary, systems-oriented guidelines that are grounded in:

• The professional experience of the authors
• Best practices in AV systems design and installation
• User experience
• Planning for future technology
• Sustainability
• Industry standards
• Coordination with other trades (e.g., IT, administration)
• Facility manager requirements
• Operations and maintenance

Although focused on higher education learning settings, these guidelines may also prove helpful to others involved in infrastructure projects, whether it’s in K-12 education, corporate training, virtual learning, or other specialized teaching/learning environments.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: Teaching Spaces and Technologies

• Chapter 1: Teaching and Learning Spaces
• Chapter 2: Teaching Space Technologies

Part II: Infrastructure Design

• Chapter 3: Building and IT Infrastructure Requirements for Technology
• Chapter 4: Architectural Design to Support Technology Infrastructure
• Chapter 5: Sustainable and Smart Buildings
• Chapter 6: Accessibility

Part III: Processes

• Chapter 7: Project Planning and Coordination
• Chapter 8: Needs Assessment
• Chapter 9: Project Documentation
• Chapter 10: General Budgeting of Technology Systems
• Chapter 11: Project Closeout and Post-Occupancy

Appendixes

• Appendix A: Teaching Space Examples
• Appendix B: Relevant International and National Standards
• Appendix C: Further Reading
• Appendix D: Bibliography
• Appendix E: Glossary

AV/IT Infrastructure Guidelines for Higher Education Task Force

• Greg Brown, CTS-D, CTS-I, UCLA (Chair)
• John Cook, CTS, The Sextant Group, Inc.
• Jeff Griffeth, CTS, AVI-SPL
• Kimberly Hickson, Gensler
• Sharon Kaiser, Duke University School of Medicine
• Kay Persichitte, Ph.D., University of Wyoming
• Stephen Phillips, Stantec
• Derek Powell, Grad. Dip. Communication, Grad. Cert. Management, AVDEC Pty Ltd
• Scott Wood, CTS-D, CTS-I, Unified AV Systems

AVIXA gratefully acknowledges the leadership of the following organizations for reviewing this document prior to publication. Their efforts resulted in a more valuable resource for readers around the world, and we appreciate their contributions.

Guidelines

The InfoComm paper, AV/IT Infrastructure Guidelines for Higher Education, is free to download in PDF.

Download The PDF

Related Content

Giving AV the Old College Try (Aug. 2014) 

AV/IT Infrastructure Guidelines for Higher Education cites a variety of AVIXA standards that readers may to refer to in their design of learning spaces, including:

• ANSI/INFOCOMM 1M-2009, Audio Coverage Uniformity in Enclosed Listener Areas
  
  
• ANSI/INFOCOMM 2M-2010, Standard Guide for Audiovisual Design and Coordination Processes
   
• ANSI/INFOCOMM 3M-2011, Projected Image System Contrast Ratio 
   
• ANSI/INFOCOMM 4:2012, Audiovisual Systems Energy Management   
   
• ANSI/INFOCOMM 10:2013, Audiovisual System Performance Verification Guide 

All AVIXA standards are free to Premium and Elite members. 

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