"In fact, no professor has an office, not even the dean, and Dr. Huttenlocher insists they will not when the campus moves to Roosevelt Island, either. Instead,

"In fact, no professor has an office, not even the dean, and Dr. Huttenlocher insists they will not when the campus moves to Roosevelt Island, either. Instead, each person has a desk with low dividers, and people can grab conference rooms as needed — much like the headquarters of a small tech company." This sounds a lot like what we currently have in my university and it is hell. Right now it's only for PhD students but next year junior staff will share our pain. Communicating is all good and everything, but academic/research work also require quietness. In fact, I would even argue that it requires quietness more often than it requires communication, which is why all these "communication-first" offices drive me insane. Or am I the one that is wrong, and everybody else is able to "focus" the noise out of their head?