Space Requests

Space Management at SUNY Oneonta

The Oneonta Campus contains over 7000 individual rooms in 40 buildings. Managing this huge inventory of spaces in a way that provides fair and equitable resources for students, faculty, staff and programs is a significant and continuous challenge. The Space Planning Committee* has put together this document to help individuals and departments make requests for alterations to spaces. There are several different types of these requests:

• New Spaces: requesting additional space for a department’s activities.
• Change to the structure of a space: requesting physical changes to an existing space, altering walls, doors, subdivision or other layouts.
• Space Use Change: requesting the change of a space’s identity, like office-to-storage, or lab-to-classroom.
• Office Moves: Changing the location of a Faculty or Staff person’s work location from one room to another.

The Office of Facilities has the experience and resources to assist departments with all of these. The Space Planning Committee is charged with maintaining oversight and carrying out decision-making on requests with high costs or large impacts.

There is a detailed, yet short form for making a New Space request. This is due to the complexity usually encountered in developing the scope, design and executing a plan associated with New Space. Requests for Structural Changes, Use Changes and Move Changes are usually a LOT less complicated and can be initiated with an email to facilities@oneonta.edu.

* Space Planning Committee - a group charged by the President to gather up requests and use established processes to address them.

Members:

• Provost
• Associate Provost for Academic Programs
• Vice President for Student Affairs
• Vice President for Finance and Administration
• Chief Information Officer
• Chief Diversity Officer
• Associate VP for Facilities Management
• Facilities Program Coordinator
• IT Specialist, Facilities Planning (advisory)
• Space Management Coordinator, Facilities Planning (advisory)

New Space

(see accompanying form)

Requestor Information: This is the name, phone number and affiliated department of the person generating the request. This person will be the initial contact for Facilities to meet with in order to gather additional information. It does not have to be the person for whom the space is being requested or someone in a management level.

Space Need:

Date Required: This is the date on which it is anticipated that the space must be in operational use. This means not just “available” or “complete”, but in fact furnished, occupied and actively being used for its intended purpose.

Estimate Square Footage / Dimensions / Occupancy: This can be difficult, but if possible provide a floor area in square feet, and/or dimensions in width and length, and/or some idea of the expected total occupancy (number of people) for the space.

Type Description: What will the space is be used for? For example: Office / Classroom / Lab / Storage / Other. If intended to be multipurpose, please give details.

Need Duration: (Permanent / Temporary): Some spaces are “permanent”, to the extent that anything is permanent. Some are clearly temporary. If temporary, please give indication as to duration, if known.

Funding Availability (Source, Amount): New space usually requires modification and furnishing. Funding for this work might be subject of a grant, a budgeted amount, or other previous commitment. Please indicate if a request for general funding has been made but not yet approved. Facilities will assist with developing a project budget if necessary.

Space Need Description: Please provide a detailed description of the space need and what activities will be conducted as these may affect the space size, layout and design. This description need not necessarily be extremely verbose: “Faculty Office Space” or “Storage Closet” are perfectly adequate descriptions in some cases.

Space Justification / Utilization: Please provide a statement describing why the space is needed and how it will be used.

Anticipated Equipment / Furnishings Required: Anything apart from the fundamental structure of a space comes under the heading of equipment and furnishings. Desks, chairs, shelves, cabinets, specialty lighting, accommodative technology, card access or specialized equipment related to the operation of the space should be listed.

Planned Occupants (Names or Titles): If known, a list of who will be using or occupying the space on a very regular basis (does not apply in the case of classrooms or other kinds of general multiuse space).

Endorsed by (aligned w request form): This is a statement of who has endorsed this request at what level. Endorsements should come from the Department Chair / Director Level or Dean / AVP Level.
Primary Contact: Who is the most relevant contact in terms of following up on this request.

What to expect as a result of this request:
Making a space request does not necessarily or inevitably result in an immediate and complete fulfillment. However:

• Once a request is received (send form to facilities@oneonta.edu), Facilities will make contact with the requestor within three business days to schedule an appointment to gather additional information. This may best be accomplished with an onsite meeting at the proposed location of the space request, if applicable. We encourage requestors to follow up with the Office of Facilities at 436-3224 if a response is not received within that period.
• The results of this fact-finding meeting will be summarized and shared with the requestor and others as appropriate within the administrative framework for necessary comment, clarification or revision. Facilities will develop a preliminary set of options including opinions of cost and feasibility. This information will be forwarded to the Space Planning Committee, a group that meets regularly to consider requests and approve actions.
• After review and deliberations, the SPC will follow up with the requestor to take the next steps related to the space request.

Change to the structure of a space.

Occasionally changes to the layout of a space--moving a door, adding or removing a wall, changing a ceiling—are either required or desired. This is obviously different from a routine work order requesting a new electrical outlet or a different kind of doorknob. Any change to the fundamental shape or layout of a space envelope is a structural change and requires a series of actions by the Office of Facilities.

Facilities will want to meet with requestors to establish the need that spawned the proposal in the first place, to develop a set of options and then work up a scope, budget and architectural plan. This usually involves the collaboration of our colleagues in the Maintenance Trades Departments: Carpentry, Plumbing/HVAC, Electrical, Paint Shop and the Lock Shop. Facilities will take the lead on the process and work with Maintenance Operations on the implementation.
Please convey a request for structural changes to space by providing the following information in an email to facilities@oneonta.edu:

• Contact person making request and Department
• Space identification (building and room number)
• A description of the current use of the space,
• Proposed changes, proposed date / deadline
• Known budget/funding allocations
• Any other relevant details.

The Office of Facilities will contact you to schedule a review of the request and start the scoping and design process.

Space use change

If a department wishes to change how a space is used, there are many things that the Office of Facilities can assist with.

A proposed change to the use of a space is usually a reaction to an identified need – otherwise why would anyone go to the trouble? Facilities has a great deal of experience with these kinds of changes and we will very likely have helpful suggestions regarding alternatives to address the need. We can also provide valuable information on what kinds of spaces offer acceptable accommodations for various kinds of activities. Ventilation, lighting, emergency exits, capacity, storage, proximity to related activities; all these are important considerations and Facilities can work with you on them. It’s also much better to manage these matters up front instead of after-the-fact.

Apart from these considerations, Facilities maintains a database of SUNY Oneonta's Physical Space Inventory, and it is critical to keep this fundamental accounting up-to-date and accurate. It informs a great deal of analysis, planning and decision-making across the campus. Changing one storeroom into an office may not seem like a big deal, but it can easily have unintended consequences. We can help you avoid them.

Please convey a request to facilities@oneonta.edu for conversion of space use by providing:

• Contact person making request and Department
• Space identification (building and room number)
• A description of the current use of the space(s),
• Proposed changes, proposed date / deadline

The Office of Facilities will contact you to schedule a review of the proposal and determine what issues may arise as a result of the proposed change.

Office Moves

If a department wishes to move individuals from one office to another (such as turning a storeroom into an office, for example) then there is no need for approvals beyond the departmental and division/school level. However, the Office of Facilities has a series of specific needs related to moving individuals from here to there, and can in return offer important services to assist the move.
Facilities can assist with:

• Moving furnishings and equipment – delivering packing boxes, setting up work orders with Maintenance to haul items, scheduling such work at the best possible times.
• Arranging for moves of phone service, computer hardware, and particularly delicate items.
• Securing all items during move processes.
• Logistics of metal key requests / surrender of old keys, card access setup, changes to mail delivery, directory information, signage, etc.
• Necessary modest maintenance tasks, such as paint, carpentry, cleaning, or special accommodations.

Facilities will also manage information related to its internal requirements, including changes to the SUNY Oneonta Physical Space Inventory, Occupancy Inventory, Property Management database, Safety Office data (if applicable) and Facilities Master Plan data, all critical to the overall management of campus space as mandated by SUNY Central.

Departments contemplating or planning a move should contact the Office of Facilities at facillities@oneonta.edu with the following information:

• Contact person making request and Department
• Space identification (building and room number)
• Proposed changes, proposed date / deadline
• Any other relevant details.