OP 150 - Office Space Allocation
Number: OP 150
Effective: November 28, 2018
Department: Facilities Planning and Management
Last Revision: November 28, 2018

Purpose

To establish a College policy for office space allocation.

Scope

Applies to all decision making in the allocation of College office space.

Definition

Office space: Space that includes offices, office service spaces, and conference rooms specifically assigned to support the Colleges academic, administrative, and service functions.

Office: A space housing faculty, staff, or students working at one or more desks, tables, or workstations configured as a private office, shared office, or open office with or without cubicles.

  • Private office:  An enclosed work space for one person, suitable for activities which are confidential, demand a lot of concentration or include many small meetings.
    • In some cases and for some positions a private office will be constructed of tall modular walls with a door included.

·        Shared office: An enclosed work space for two or three people.

·        Open office: An open work space for more than three people with or without cubicles.

·        Cubicle: A semi-enclosed work space for one person within an open office.

  • Workstation:  A work space for one or more individuals typically without partition walls and within an open office.

Office Service Spaces: A space that directly serves an office or group of offices as an extension of the activities in those spaces. Office service spaces are not open to the public and include, but are not limited to, file rooms, break rooms/kitchenettes serving office areas, copy/fax rooms, vaults, closets, private restrooms, records rooms, department mail rooms, office supply rooms, first aid rooms, student counseling rooms and testing rooms, and open and private circulation areas.

Conference Room: A space serving one or more units and used primarily for staff meetings and unit activities.  A conference space is typically equipped with tables, chairs, audio video equipment, used by specific organizational units for activities other than scheduled classes. 

Policy

Allocation of office space for the College, whether owned or leased, is to be managed by the Facilities Planning and Management Department (FPM).  Requests will be coordinated with potential users by FPM and are to be approved by the Vice President of Operations.  Office moves within a division do not require additional approval.    

FPM is responsible for implementation and enforcement of this policy— specifically, to ensure coordination and appropriate use of office space.  

Guidelines

Space is a limited College resource and, consequently, it must be managed responsibly and in a way that promotes the advancement of the College’s mission and alignment with its strategic priorities. Flexibility needs to be maintained by all in order to address changes in function, curricula, programs and technologies. Accordingly, a comprehensive framework for assignment and management of office space has been established to achieve best utilization and respond to current and emerging needs.

 This document provides general guidelines for the allocation of office space to the units within all the divisions on campus.  

  • All faculty and staff will be provided with a suitable working environment for the type of work they perform.
  • Office space will be provided to units to adequately support their core missions and functional needs.
  • Office space, like all space, is College property and is allocated to a given unit (not to individuals), as available, in a manner that best advances College strategic priorities.  No unit “owns” space that has been allocated to it.
  • Office space allocated to a unit can be reassigned to another unit in response to College needs and priorities at any time.
  • Office space, like all College space resources, should be deployed in the most efficient and effective manner to best serve programmatic and strategic priorities.
  • Each unit should manage its office space needs within the space that has been allocated to the unit at any given time and should be used to maximum functionality and efficiency.
  • Shared office and open office arrangements are encouraged whenever possible to efficiently use the College’s limited space.
  • Conference rooms and office service spaces are encouraged to be shared among one or more units whenever possible to maximize space utilization.  All conference rooms should be schedulable for faculty and staff.
  • Office space vacated due to a substantial reduction in program size, reduction in workforce, or program elimination resulting in office space being unoccupied reverts back to the college space pool to be maintained by Facilities Planning and Management under the direction of the Vice President of Operations.
  • Offices will be assigned based on need, availability, and suitability for the intended use.
  • Assignment of multiple offices for individual faculty and staff members is not permitted unless there is a true demonstrated need. Under such circumstances, a faculty or staff member may be assigned a secondary office (ideally in a shared arrangement), provided it is not located in the same building as the primary office.  All decisions related to multiple offices will be made on a case-by-case basis and require the approval the Vice President of Operations.
  • Each unit should ensure that all allocated space is occupied.  When offices are left unoccupied for significant periods of time, units should use these spaces to alleviate pressing space needs. If an office space remains under-utilized for a period longer than one year, the unit may be required to provide a justification for maintaining use of the space.
  • When possible, if units desire to consolidate their space assignments for reasons of academic interaction and administrative efficiency, contiguous spaces will be provided.  However, close proximity cannot be guaranteed depending upon the space and financial resources available at any given time.
  • Periodic evaluation of office space allocation should be made by the unit head to insure that all office space is being used to maximum functionality and efficiency.
  • Official space inventory reports recording all office space allocations will be maintained by Facilities Planning and Management.
  • To support an accurate and complete record of space allocations, units will verify office space allocation and names of personnel assigned to occupy specific rooms to Facilities Planning and Management on a semi-annual basis.  This request will be sent out at the unit level by the Vice President of Operations.
  • Office space may not be assigned to non-campus organizations without prior approval from the Vice President of Operations.

Referenced