Skip to main content Skip to navigation
Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture Facility, Operations, and Safety Services

Space Management Policy

This policy articulates transparent, metrics-­based procedures for allocating space to different functions within Voiland College as prescribed originally in 2013.

The basic philosophy is to allocate space using market-based approaches. New allocation and continued usage of space will be based on user-affordability1 and use-efficiency. The affordability and efficiency measures will be assessed by computing a Utilization Coefficient (U) for each space2. The U value for each space will be computed by the college and made available to each department each year.

The guiding PRINCIPLES and IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES are as follows:

  1. Space is a scarce and valuable resource. It must be allocated strategically for maximum impact on ranking/reputation (research) and mission (teaching) needs.
  2. Space is a fluid resource. It must be periodically re-­balanced based on (a) evolving/emerging needs, and (b) impact/efficacy of the present tenancy.
  3. Space is used and managed by the units, but administered by the college.
    • As such, each unit is responsible for re-­allocating space under its management to accommodate its evolving needs.
    • Any re-­assignment of space within a unit must be immediately reported to the VCEA Office of Facilty, Operations & Safety Services so that the record is always up-­to-­date.
    • Any space with U of 0.2 or below will be considered “under-­utilized” and will revert to college-­control. Existing departmental-­oversight and/or tenancy will be allowed to continue UNTIL competing demands arise between units.
    • Before a unit requests additional space, it MUST first demonstrate that all its space is utilized more efficiently (i.e., high U values) than in other units. The college will then identify under‐utilized space in other units to transfer to the unit needing it.
    • Unless otherwise agreed on, the vacating unit is responsible for the cost of moving out, and the occupying unit is responsible for the cost of moving in. (WSU policy)

The PRIORITIES for non-­classroom space-­allocation, in order, are as follows.

(1) Tenure-­track faculty office, (2) Teaching laboratory3 (dual-­use, i.e., teaching-cum‐ research, preferred), (3) Research laboratory2 (multi-­PI preferred), (4) Non-­tenure track faculty/Post-­doc office, (5) Support services & shops, (6) Graduate student office, (7) Student clubs. A higher-priority use will supersede a lower-­priority use whenever competing needs arise, unless U for the higher-­priority use is low and vice-­versa.

CAVEATS: U does not account for: (i) future promise, (ii) quality of space, (iii) relative space needs of different functions, (iv) norms of relative research expenditures (i.e., affordability) of different departments. Where appropriate, these subjective factors will be taken into consideration while making decisions.  The Voiland College Dean may opt to superseded the outlined priorities at s/he’s discretion.

Space Resources

Voiland College of Engineering & Architecture is assigned a space inventory for its operational use at the discretion of the WSU President’s office. The space inventory allocation is considered long-term but non-permanent and could be revoked or modified at the discretion of the president.

Voiland College is expected to manage its property inventory as a tenant occupying WSU property. WSU provides maintenance and operational costs. Improvements, upgrades and/or renovations made to property within Voiland College’s assigned space inventory are at the expense of Voiland College as the primary tenant and are not reimbursable expenditures should Voiland College no longer occupy the space.

Office Allocations

One office will be provided to each Voiland College T/T faculty, with no more than one Voiland College office per faculty. Should a faculty go into an administration office the faculty will relinquish their faculty office for use by the faculty’s home unit.

General standards, but at the discretion of the supervising unit:

  • Non T/T faculty and adjuncts: assigned space at the discretion of the supervising unit, if assigned an office there will be at least two faculty per standard (100-120 sq ft) office. If no office were offered, the unit may provide an area to hold office hours, such as in a hoteling office.
  • Full time teaching/clinical faculty: one dedicated office if teaching numerous courses and requiring numerous office hour sessions, with no more than one Voiland College office per faculty: a shared office is encouraged where possible.
  • Research faculty: assigned space at the discretion of the supervising unit, with no more than one Voiland College office per faculty and no more than two faculty sharing a standard (100-120 sq ft) office: a shared office is encouraged where possible.
  • Post-Docs: assigned space at the discretion of the supervising unit, with no more than one Voiland College office per Post-Doc and no more than three Post-Docs sharing a standard (100-120 sq ft) office: a shared office is encouraged where possible.
  • PhDs: assigned space at the discretion of the supervising unit.
    • A cubicle may be assigned to a single PhD as the PhD’s office, but no other office is provided.
    • PhDs required to hold office hours may schedule their office hours in a hoteling office, with no limit to the number of PhDs scheduled in a hoteling office.
    • PhDs can be assigned to an office, but may not have their own office, with limits up to four PhDs sharing a standard (100-120 sq ft) office.
  • Hoteling: a space designated for the temporary use of Voiland College personnel or it’s guest(s), that has a Voiland College resource calendar associated with it and can be scheduled.
    • The hoteling space may have one or many desks associated with it – each desk should have its own calendar associated.
    • The space cannot be assigned for dedicated use – use is only for hourly reservations.
    • It is discouraged that personal items are left in the room.
    • Hoteling areas can be used to schedule office hours for Voiland College personnel that do not have
      office space assigned (such as faculty or graduate students) or provide short term temporary space for Voiland College faculty/staff/visitors that do not otherwise have offices at WSU.
    • May be reserved at recurring times, (in hours, not days), to faculty whose office is across campus (more than a 10 minute walk) to hold office hours.

1 Affordability will be assessed based on F&A-­generating current and projected funding.

2 U=1 represents the college average. U>1 indicates above-­average usage efficiency.

3 For these spaces, usage efficiency will be assessed based on U.