Facilities Management: The Role of IR in Policy and Procedure Development

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Facilities Management The Role of IR in Policy
and Procedure Development

• SAIR 2014

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WCU

• 10,382 students
• Masters Comprehensive
• Mountain location
• Resident and Distance

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Current Climate

• Performance-based Funding
• Importance of data in decision-making
• More scrutiny internally and at the state-level
• More and larger classes
• Few funds for renovations/furniture/technology
• No capital funding on the horizon
• Accuracy

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Factors Related to Scheduling

• Well over 11,000 students, faculty, staff
• Largely residential
• 6 academic colleges, 30 departments, 120
  programs
• 11 main academic buildings
• 240 teaching spaces
• 2 new campus locations came online in 2012
• Scheduling issues
• Space management more highly scrutinized
• Series25 scheduling software (CollegeNet)

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Scheduling Approach Events

• Very decentralized
• Approximately 150 schedulers
• Rationale
• All areas use R25

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Scheduling Approach Courses

• Two types of rooms
• General pool
• Pre-assignable (labs, conf. rooms, gyms, etc.)
• General pool assignments centralized process
• Optimized placement based on size, location and
  features
• Group review and tweaking of process
  (transparency)
• Pre-assignable controlled directly by depts.

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Strategies

• Changing policies
• Proactive approach
• Data transparency use
• More inclusive decision-making

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Policy Changes

• Formal policies
• Space Management (Policy 65)
• Which bodies have authority
• Who owns space
• How space is assigned
• How to request
• Facilities Use (Policy 82)
• Recognizing that its support derives in large
  part from public funds, it is the policy of
  Western Carolina University (the "University') to
  make its facilities available for use by groups
  and individuals in a manner that is (i)
  consistent with its educational mission and
  related research, service, and outreach
  activities and (ii) consistent with its
  responsibilities as a steward of the State's
  resources.
• Camps Conferences (Policy 110)
• How spaces can accommodate different types of
  groups
• Strategic summer scheduling
• Must still follow the Facilities Use Policy as
  well

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SMC working policies

• Rule of 6s
• Non-standard classroom seating capacities present
  issues for course section scheduling, efficient
  and fair classroom utilization, and compliance
  with fire code
• Seat counts all on multiples of 6s
• Seating capacity will be documented as the
  closest multiple of six lower than the actual
  seating capacity
• General Classroom Use Policy
• Formal course sections have first priority
• Departments can modify rooms but not impact
  desirability by other departments
• First-come, first-serve
• Modifications must come through SMC

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Split the Space Management Committee

• Space Management (SMC)
• Older and most authority
• Reports to Executive Council
• Advisory
• Broad representative membership (Policy 65)
• Academic Space Advisory Board
• Grants some representation to Academic Affairs
• Spreads responsibility and accountability
• Creates buy-in
• Reports to SMC

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Proactive Approach

• Strategic Renovation Fund
• 200,000 recurring for renovations
• Factors for consideration
• Improve overall classroom utilization numbers
• Improve performance-based funding metrics
• Improve classroom access
• Address classroom safety and code compliance
• Increase utilization of poorly utilized rooms
• Flexibility of space
• Style of room
• Furniture
• Trade off with flexibility and capacity

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Proactive Approach

• Look for low-hanging fruit
• Low-cost opportunities
• Add a door
• Add a feature (like a white board)
• Which rooms can accommodate additional seats
• Better align class sizes with room sizes (Rule of
  6s)
• Ask depts to open additional seats when assigned
  to large space

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Proactive Approach

• When space is coming online, call for proposals
• Factors for consideration
• Consolidation of departments
• Prior agreements and identified need
• Space has same general usage type
• Little/no renovation needed

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Data Transparency and Use

• Access to scheduling system
• Everyone has access
• Several dept heads very involved
• Reports shared
• Internal and State reports
• Easy to read/interpret
• Stored in central repository
• Clear standards
• Campus uses State standards
• All space evaluated on same set of standards

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Space Standards

• General Purpose
• 35 hr/week
• 65 seat utilization
• 18 s/f per station
• Labs
• 25 hr/week
• 75 seat utilization
• sf/station varies depending on discipline

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Course Placement
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Building Tours

• Tour each academic space (Friday afternoon)
• Invite all interested parties
• Get a feel for space
• Classroom size
• Classroom layout
• Seat density
• Mix of room types
• and size of conference rooms
• Offices sizes
• Review utilization
• Provides transparency

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Other Strategies

• Multiple meeting patterns for courses
• Multiple reservation runs for error clean-up
• Overbooking
• Forums and surveys to identify space needs
• Shared governance and transparency
• Blocking buildings in summer for camps and
  conferences
• HVAC scheduling based on utilization
• Campus time off-set

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Contact Information
Alison Joseph, Data Analystajoseph_at_wcu.edu oipe.w
cu.edu [phone] Elizabeth Snyder,
Research Specialistecaveny_at_wcu.edu oipe.wcu.edu (
828) 227-7239