University of Rhode Island - Planning Services

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Green Hall

University of Rhode Island

35 Campus Avenue

Kingston, RI 02881

Phone: 401-874-7077

Email: eileen@uri.edu

URI Planning Services

May 2004

POLICY ON ALLOCATION AND UTILIZATION OF SPACE

1. General

All University of Rhode Island land, facilities and buildings belong to the University as a whole. The University has the authority and responsibility to allocate space to specific users for certain periods of time, to review these allocations periodically, to assess utilization, and to reallocate space as needed to support the University’s Academic, Strategic and Master Plans.

2. Space Enhancement, Design & Allocation Committee Functions

Space should be allocated equitably. To sort out competing demands, a space policy, allocation guidelines, and procedures for allocating and reallocating space have been developed. The committee charged with the responsibility to execute these policies and procedures is the Space Enhancement, Design & Allocation (SEDA) Committee. The SEDA Committee is not responsible for event scheduling or assignment of space for events or classes. The primary focus of the Committee is to consider the space needs of the community, new projects, and the future priorities of the University and make decisions about space allocation and design of space to meet program needs. Decisions are made in alignment with the Campus Master Plan and in communication with the Master Plan Review Team (link) and the University’s academic priorities and strategic initiatives and in communication with the Joint Strategic Planning Committee (link). As necessary, the President reviews space allocation and/or enhancement plans before they are implemented.

The Graduate School of Oceanography Narragansett Bay Campus has a space allocation policy and space committee. Both this policy and the GSO policy shall work together to guide space use on that campus.

3. Space Allocation Goals & Criteria (see also Space Allocation Guidelines)

The following criteria and goals will guide the allocation process:

When possible, a designated use should be allocated to space that meets functional design requirements in order to minimize renovation costs, e.g., a user requiring wet lab space should not be allocated dry space in a non-lab building if wet lab space is available elsewhere.
Faculty and staff should not have second offices on the same campus; in certain cases hoteling (i.e., shared part-time desk space) arrangements may be made.
Departmental and unit allocations should be as contiguous as possible, unless interdisciplinary research, teaching or work group needs dictate otherwise.
Requests for space will be reviewed against the allocation guidelines and adjusted accordingly.
Classrooms and other teaching facilities shall not be depleted as a result of space reallocation.
Space allocations are made to units, not individuals.
Space allocated and scheduled by a unit should be made available for other units when not in use (i.e., conference rooms, seminar rooms, etc.).
Space that becomes vacant within a college or vice-presidential unit can and should be reallocated by the Dean or Vice President within their unit; however, the reallocation plan must be directly forwarded to SEDA for review before implementation.
Space allocated for time-limited uses (i.e., grants) reverts to unassigned status after completion of the specified time period, and must be vacated by the user.
Existing space allocations must be utilized as fully as possible, as assessed by the Office of Capital Projects & Facilities Planning and SEDA, before additional allocations are made.
Requests will be reviewed according to priorities for academic programs, research, and support services as established by the President and Provost and by the Academic, Strategic and Master Plans of the University.

4. Departmental/Unit Planning Responsibilities

Departments and units are responsible for engaging in strategic planning on a regular basis, and ensuring that their strategic plans have been approved by their Deans and the Provost or Vice President for conformance with the College and/or University’s strategic plan. The strategic plans of each department and unit must contain explicit space and facilities provisions. These provisions require consultation with the Office of Capital Projects & Facilities Planning to ensure they are coordinated with the long-range planning of the University.

Applications for grants and other funding initiatives must address space needs and any required renovations prior to submission so that planning for them can occur before the award. The University is committed to providing facilities for activities that advance the mission and goals of the University, but the University cannot guarantee that space or the funds to renovate space will be available within the time frame requested. Advance planning is critical to meet needs within requested timeframes.

5. Procedure for Requesting Space Planning Services

Department/Unit/Program generates space planning need.
Request is reviewed by Dean and/or Assistant/Associate Vice President. Supported requests are signed and submitted to the Provost and/or Vice President for review, prioritization, and approval. Provost and/or Vice President ensures that the unit has done a recent strategic plan and that is has been vetted within the College and University’s strategic plans.
Request is forwarded to the Office of Capital Projects & Facilities Planning for review of request and strategic planning documentation.
Office of Capital Projects & Facilities Planning works with department on space planning, which may result in a request for a space allocation (see Procedure for Requesting Space, below).

6. Procedure for Requesting Space

Please note that the process described below can take months, or even years, so submittals of requests should be made with as much lead time as possible. Inadequate lead times may result in an inability to meet requested timelines.

Department/Unit/Program completes REQUEST FOR SPACE ALLOCATION form
Request is reviewed by Dean or Assistant/Associate Vice President. Supported requests are signed and submitted to the Provost or Vice President for review, prioritization, and approval.
Approved requests are forwarded to the University Planner; entered into the requests database, and reviewed for completeness.
Requests are brought forward to SEDA for discussion, prioritization, and direction on further action. SEDA communicates as necessary to JSPC and MPRT.
Proposed scenarios are reviewed with requestor.
Scenarios are reviewed SEDA for recommendation.
Vice President for Administration reviews SEDA recommendation, and presents to President, as necessary.
Allocation is approved/denied.

If the newly allocated space requires renovation that will be requested through Asset Protection funds, the Asset Protection request process must be followed. If other funds are available for renovations, this should be indicated on the Request for Allocation of Space form.

7. Space Audits & Utilization Analyses

Space audits will be conducted on a regular basis by Property & Inventory, who maintain the official Space Inventory; by the Office of Capital Projects & Facilities Planning to review utilization; and on an as needed basis for specific requests and projects.
Space audits will minimally consist of an updating of the space inventory records; walkthroughs of space with department representatives; and other survey instruments as needed.
Departments and colleges may be asked to provide information on FTE’s and headcounts of faculty, staff and students, teaching schedules, research/grant funding and duration, and any strategic planning documents.
Inappropriate and/or inefficient uses will be noted, such as vacancies, labs used for office space, offices or labs used for storage, study space or other non-office or lab functions, multiple offices for faculty or staff, space assigned to non-supported graduate students, or dead storage, as well as hazardous conditions.