Space Management

To ensure the effective and efficient use of space resources in support of the university's academic, RSCA and community service missions, the space management program:

• Provides a framework in which opportunities and needs are integrated into other institutional planning efforts.
• Allows for data-informed decision-making within a transparent, visible structure.
• Allows for identification and management of space types (i.e. offices, labs, classrooms, conference rooms, student support, etc.), utilization (i.e., how often and efficiently space is used), surpluses and deficits.
• Identifies solutions to make the best and highest use of existing space including space allocation expansions and contractions.
• Informs proactive planning for future capital investment or divestment as well as acquisition possibilities.
• Provides an understanding of the total cost of supporting and developing space, current space use and how needs might evolve.

Informed by best practices and industry standards, San Diego State University (including all campuses) is committed to the thoughtful organization and assignment of space with the goal of creating synergistic environments that enhance collaborations, creative activity, research, scholarship and education. Strategic allocation of space is an important component in achieving the goals of the campus to achieve the highest and best use of this limited resource. There are several principles and goals for allocating the space of the campus.

1. Authority – All space, whether owned by the state or the auxiliaries, is university space and allocation decisions are ultimately the President’s responsibility. Space allocations or reallocations by university leadership do not imply a permanent obligation or ownership by an entity or individual, but rather current commitments based upon program priorities and continued program space justification.
2. Process – The process for allocating or reallocating space must be consistent, data-informed, fiscally responsible and transparent. Prioritization and approval of space allocations should optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of space, time, money and other resources.
3. Priority – Supporting the strategic priorities of the University based on the best and highest use. The criteria for the high-level prioritization are defined in the Space Prioritization Criteria section below.
4. Decision Rights - Because of the finite nature of the assets, decisions on best and final use on the allocation of space are reserved to the President and delegated to the Provost and Vice President for Business & Financial Affairs for the final decision, if needed, to assure that the university fully maximizes its resources in providing top quality academic services to its students and a positive and productive working environment for its faculty and staff. However, decisions aligned with approved policies and procedures should be made at the lowest level possible.
5. Assessment - Space assignments will be reviewed annually to determine an accurate accounting and centralized data capture of space use, space utilization, associated costs and how well current usage serves a dynamic set of university needs and priorities.

1. Assignable Square Feet (ASF) – Calculation of square footage within an interior space that includes the area enclosed on all sides by walls, partitions, or doors, including built-in and freestanding furniture and excluding the thickness of the walls surrounding those spaces. Restrooms, circulation spaces (public corridors, stairways, public lobbies and elevators) and building services spaces (custodial and maintenance facilities; mechanical, electrical and plumbing spaces) are not considered assignable spaces and are excluded from total building ASF calculations.
2. Building – A roofed structure for the permanent or temporary shelter of persons, equipment, animals, plants, etc.
3. Emergency Space Allocation Request –  The need for an occupant to be relocated to a short- or long-term space assignment from an existing space that has been deemed unable to be occupied due to unforeseen occurrences, as identified by an authorized source (i.e., Deputy State Fire Marshal, Campus Architect, Facilities Services, building inspector, Human Resources, Student Disability Services).
4. Facilities – Any property, including buildings, that is controlled by San Diego State University or its auxiliaries and enterprise organizations in support of the SDSU missions.
5. Facilities & Administrative (F&A) Rates and Costs – F&A stands for Facilities and Administrative costs, also called indirect costs or overhead. F&A costs are those costs that are necessary to support the overall research infrastructure but not directly attributable to a specific sponsored project. Examples of facilities and administrative costs include: utilities; building maintenance and operations; security; insurance; costs associated with regulatory compliance and central administrative staff expenses.
6. Facilities Information Systems (FIS) – FIS or MetaBIM is San Diego State University’s official space database of record. It is a web-based application used by the campus to maintain a current inventory of space assignments. The accuracy of the database is dependent on timely campus input as changes to space occupancy and use are implemented.
7. Gross Square Feet (GSF) – Includes the total area of all floors of a building, including all areas within the outside faces of exterior walls and floor penetrations. GSF also includes all space above and below grade, the building’s structure, spaces for mechanical and infrastructure systems, all building circulation, restrooms and support spaces.
8. Inventory – Any periodic, itemized survey of equipment, property and/or space, including functional space and occupant allocations.
9. Instructional Space – Classroom, lecture hall, instructional laboratory, demonstration space, seminar space.
10. Long-Term Space Assignment - A space assignment allocated for a duration between twelve months and three years.
11. Principal Investigator (PI) – The individual directly responsible for the sponsored project funds supporting space utilized for wet and dry research (including research, scholarship and creative activities).
12. Swing Space - A collection of spaces that are intentionally left vacant in order to be available for temporary use (typically less than one year) due to short-term or temporary needs (i.e., contractor or visiting faculty/staff) or displacement caused by emergencies or tenant improvements.
13. Rentable Area/Square Footage - The portion of a floor or building that includes the sum of the occupied area (assignable square footage) and its pro-rata share of the common or shared spaces (amenity and service areas).
14. Research (including Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities) – As defined in the Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual (FICM), research is a space category used for laboratory experimentation, research or training in research methods, professional research and observation within a specific program for sponsored research or any other type of extramural funding (whether sponsored with federal or non-federal government, foundation, corporate, private or institutional funds).
    1. Dry Research: Research (including Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities) conducted in an office-type environment is considered dry research. It is generally not the direct outcome of wet research. It may include such spaces and activities as phone centers, data analysis, human health or performance assessment, bioinformatics, etc.
    2. Wet Research: Research (including Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities) conducted in laboratory space that is outfitted with fume hoods, lab gases (air, vacuum and natural gas), sinks, autoclaves, glass washers and specialized HVAC equipment. Wet research space may also contain special-purpose equipment, such as bio-safety cabinets, incubators, centrifuges, freezers, microscopes, analyzers, etc. Note that laboratory service space that directly serves one or more research laboratories as an extension of the activities occurring in the laboratory space is also considered wet research space. Examples include tissue culture rooms or separate microscope facilities. Also, the PI’s office is considered an extension of the activities occurring in the laboratory space.
    3. Other Spaces: These non-office spaces include performing arts spaces, art studios, etc.
15. Research (Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities) Space-Related Productivity Plan – Outlines how research (including research, scholarship and creative activities) productivity will be defined between the dean and PI. Where possible, the intent is to identify a metric(s) that provides a common measure to determine research/creative activities space productivity campus-wide, using criteria and data compiled annually by the academic colleges. This may include criteria such as grant submissions, scholarly activity, external funding, etc. The Productivity Plan outlines the steps that will be taken to raise research productivity to meet the established standard, the length of time to achieve the agreed-upon metrics and any extenuating circumstances or special factors that should be considered by the respective dean or vice president if those standards are not met for two consecutive fiscal years. The productivity metric(s) will be used to determine if ongoing funding of space is approved.
16. Room – An interior building space enclosed on all sides by permanent walls, floor, ceiling and at least one doorway. Floor-to-ceiling height of a space may vary but cannot be less than 7’ to qualify as a room.
17. Short-Term Space Assignment - A space assignment allocated for a duration of less than one year.
18. Space types – Space is assigned based on the following categories, with metrics for utilization established by each division:
    1. Academic and Research Space
       1. Classrooms, teaching labs
       2. Research, scholarly and creative activity space.
    2. Academic Support Space
       1. Academic offices
       2. Administrative offices
       3. Library, open labs and collaborative learning spaces
    3. Student Community / Co-Curricular Space:
       1. Student-centered spaces
       2. Recreation and athletics
       3. Healthcare space
       4. Library space
    4. Other Space:
       1. Community Space (e.g., clinic space, TBD, etc.)
       2. Assembly & Exhibit space
       3. Conference rooms
       4. Miscellaneous indoor space
       5. Physical plant
19. Unit – For this policy, a unit is a subset of San Diego State University or its auxiliaries and enterprise organizations in support of the SDSU missions. A unit may be a department, division, or other distinct operational activity/entity, such as a center or institute.
20. Utilization Metrics – A department/school, college, or unit is required to submit utilization metrics to the Space Management Committee and the respective dean or vice president to outline how and how often assigned space is being utilized.

Space should support the strategic priorities of the University based on the highest and best use. To best support the University’s strategic plan, mission and goals, the following criteria (not listed in order of importance or weight) will be used to prioritize space allocation or reallocation requests for instructional space; research, scholarship and creative activity (RSCA) space; student and community space; and other office/administrative space.

Requests should have strong alignment with the SDSU Strategic Plan.

Priorities

1. Emergencies - The allocation or reallocation of space prioritizes the maintenance of swing space inventory to ensure adequate inventory in the event of an emergency (e.g., flooded building, EH&S crisis, etc.). If an emergency does occur, occupants displaced from the event will be given immediate priority.
2. Temporary Use - Swing Space must be maintained to accommodate short-term temporary use such as emergencies, tenant improvements, unexpected needs.
3. Reassigned Occupants - Priority will be given to requests from units/individuals who are impacted by being reassigned out of their existing assigned space to accommodate other units/individuals.
4. New Needs - Accommodating new needs for those who will not otherwise have space assignments.
5. Change in Existing Needs - Accommodating growth, changes, or consolidation of space.

Criteria or Considerations

• University facilities must meet regulatory codes (e.g. life safety, fire codes, ADA requirements). Priority will be given to spaces to ensure these codes are met.
• Priority will be given to allocation or reallocation requests for space that was designed and constructed to be consistent with the intended and permitted use to avoid frequent and/or costly renovations required to convert the function of one space to that of another. This may require spaces to be either re-evaluated for optimal utilization or left vacant until the need for the original intended use of the space arises. Repurposing of instructional space for non-instructional use (i.e., converting a classroom to office space or an instructional lab to a dedicated research space) is discouraged and generally should occur as a last option only.
• Academic activities, classrooms and research space have priority over administrative activities (non-student/faculty facing) or offices.
• Space assignments that save money, enhance revenues, or encourage interdisciplinary collaboration will be given priority.
• Requests for space that return square footage to the University’s space inventory will be prioritized higher than requests for additional space without giving up any existing assigned space.
• Whenever possible, programmatically similar or supporting units should be in a proximate or contiguous fashion to optimize shared resources and synergies.
• Space allocations that satisfy long-range plans take precedence over more temporary accommodations.
• Space requests that require unplanned, unfunded major construction will have lower priority than space requests that include funding and resources available to complete any required major construction.

Instructional Space Priorities and Criteria

The efficient use of instructional space at SDSU is critical to the academic success and timely graduation of our students. Class schedules are built first and foremost to support student success by using available funding most effectively to meet student demand and achieve learning outcomes. The SDSU policy file includes guidelines for the use of instructional space. Instructional space requests will be given a higher overall priority than other requests. The assignment of new instructional space will use the following priorities. These should be applied in light of current instructional practices that have proven successful and satisfactory to faculty and students and given untapped, yet apparent potential.

• Instructional space for courses that facilitate timely graduation will be considered the highest priority.
• Safe, accessible, smart, or collaborative classroom space should be used for appropriate teaching modalities. For example, a small seminar course should not be prioritized for a smart classroom.
• Use of classroom space for non-instructional needs (e.g. club meetings, etc.) will be prioritized lower than instructional needs.

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (RSCA) Space Priorities and Criteria

The RSCA efforts of SDSU faculty, students and staff are critical to the mission of our institution and the optimal management of this space is crucial to meet the needs of SDSU’s diverse RSCA portfolio. This includes recruiting and retaining faculty and staff, the growth of individual faculty RSCA at SDSU, training undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, creating environments for collaborative research and leveraging existing space resources for core facilities and growth in capital equipment. The assignment or reassignment of RSCA space at SDSU should rely on a transparent set of priorities. The following priorities apply to university space. For SDSURF space, considerations must first be given to the operational, maintenance and debt costs for the space and then to the priorities listed below.

• High-impact RSCA that aligns with the SDSU Strategic Plan.
• Requests that optimize the efficient use of space resources (e.g., wet labs consolidated in places with sufficient infrastructure to efficiently house them).
• New faculty at the Associate/Full ranks who are bringing external funding to SDSU.
• Faculty who have productive RSCA programs as defined by the college (e.g., extramural funding, publications, patents, extensive mentoring of students, etc.).
• New Assistant Professors.
• Pre- and Postdoctoral trainees supported by external funding.
• Space requests that facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and shared resources (e.g. equipment, space).
• Spaces that include graduate or undergraduate students in faculty RSCA activities (e.g., master’s thesis or dissertation research).
• RSCA activities with the potential to grow IP/entrepreneurship at SDSU.
• Space requests that facilitate interdisciplinary RSCA pursuits and/or the space is shared with other units.

Community / Co-Curricular Space Priorities and Criteria (e.g. Student Space, Clinic Space, Library, etc.)

Spaces required to ensure the well-rounded success of the University’s community are central to SDSU’s mission. Prioritization of the following spaces will be given to ensure the overall needs of SDSU’s students, faculty and staff are met.

• Clinic spaces critical to SDSU student learning as well as to members of the San Diego community to access needed health and wellness services.
• Interdisciplinary collaborative spaces are required for student academic clubs.
• Athletics spaces are required to meet division requirements.
• Student group and individual study spaces.
• Individualized private spaces to accommodate classes taught virtually.

Office/Administrative Space Priorities and Criteria

As with instructional and research space, office and administrative space at SDSU is severely limited and should be used as efficiently as possible. The assignment or reassignment of office and administrative space at SDSU should rely on a transparent set of priorities.

• Each university faculty and staff member should be allocated a maximum of one (1) private office.
• Offices with high traffic from students, faculty and/or staff should be located as centrally and conveniently as possible.
• Proximity of a unit head to their supervised staff should be attained whenever possible.
• Priority will be given to full-time faculty members (tenured, tenure track, lecturers, field faculty).
• Confidentiality considerations (e.g. managers, faculty/students, frequency of confidentiality needs, etc.).
• A request that consolidates space through the efficient use of additional workstations, shared workspaces, hybrid work models, or hoteling.

Develop an organizational structure at SDSU for space policy development, implementation, refinement and review.

•  Space Management Executive Committee – review and approve capital projects, tenant improvements (TIs) over $1M, overall university space policies or policy changes, etc.
  • Provost
  • VP BFA
  • Consultation with VPs of DRI, ITS, URAD, SACD when impacted.
• Space Management Committee (SMC) – This committee will be composed of stakeholders who have connections to the use and function of various spaces on campus (e.g., research, instructional, administrative, etc.), comprised of the following (or appropriate designees).
  
  • Voting Members
    • Vice Provost, AA (co-chair)
    • AVP for Business Operations, BFA (co-chair)
    • AVP for Research Operations, DRI (co-chair)
    • AVP and CEO of SDSU Research Foundation, DRI
    • AVP for Financial Operations, BFA
    • AVP for Financial Operations, AA
    • CFO of SDSU Research Foundation, DRI
    • AVP for Finance and Operations, SA+CD
    • Deputy Chief Information Officer
  • Non-Voting Members (Support Roles)
    • Director of Facilities Planning, BFA
    • Executive Director of Facilities Services, BFA
    • Director of Project Management, BFA
    • Senior Director of Environmental Health & Safety and Risk Programs
    • Campus Planner, BFA
    • Supplemental / Augmented Planning Support, BFA
    • SDSURF Director of Facilities Planning & Management
    • Enrollment designee
    • Ad hoc as needed (e.g., expert consultation, AS staff rep, Library, Aztec Shops, Disabilities Services, etc.)

This committee is advisory to the executive committee on select issues with delegated authority to make decisions regarding:

• Space-related recommendations that exceed everyday space decisions (e.g., faculty or staff offices) or involve the reassignment of space across colleges or divisions.
•  Recommendations about space policy and principles, space request processes, space assessments and space reductions or reassignments.

The co-chairs of SMC will work closely with the support members to facilitate the progress of the committee (e.g., facilitate SMC meetings, create agendas, archive minutes, report on action items, etc.) and serve as the linkage between SMC and the executive committee. SMC will meet monthly with an agreed-upon standing day and time. Appointed SMC members will serve for 3-year terms.

• SMC Coordinating Group - evaluate and establish timelines; conduct space inventory investigations; assign preliminary priority; initiate consultations with ad hoc members; and make decisions regarding swing space via weekly meetings.
  
  • Vice Provost, AA (co-chair)
  • AVP for Business Operations, BFA (co-chair)
  • AVP for Research Operations, DRI (co-chair)
  • Director of Facilities Planning, BFA (support)
  • Campus Planner, BFA (Support)
  • Supplemental / Augmented Planning Support, BFA
  • SDSURF Director of Facilities Planning & Management (Support)

Support personnel will set agendas, meeting days and times and reporting processes.

• College/Unit Space Committees - colleges and units will create space utilization plans in alignment with campus space priorities, principles and policies to be shared with SMC.

The SMC is SDSU’s Space Management Committee. This committee is charged with ensuring the effective and efficient use of the university’s space resources in support of the university’s missions. Space is one of the most valuable of the university’s assets and collective oversight of this asset better assures the continued success of SDSU. 

A collection of spaces that are intentionally left vacant in order to be available for temporary use (typically less than one year) due to short-term or temporary needs (i.e., contractor or visiting faculty/staff) or displacement caused by emergencies or tenant improvements.

A short-term space assignment is space loaned for a duration up to one year. Space loans or re-assignments longer than one year are considered long-term space assignments and may require additional verification before approval. 

Each college or division is responsible for developing and applying its own metrics and guidelines for the management of the spaces it directly controls. However, when space assignments involve multiple colleges or divisions—or when long-term reallocation of university swing space is under consideration—decisions are guided by campuswide priorities and the Space Prioritization Criteria outlined in the Space Management Recommendations Document.

A space request form must be submitted prior to requesting a tour. If the SMC determines a space to be a promising option to satisfy the space request, a tour can be scheduled.

The room should be clean and returned to its original condition. Keys need to be returned to Access Control. The SMC will expect the room to be vacant with the ability to be reassigned immediately after the expiration date.

• Requests for space currently outside of your college/division control need to be sent to the SMC. This includes, but is not limited to, any space located in the Love Library, Gateway Center and any space operated by Aztec Shops, or Associated Students. Requests for space operated by the SDSU Research Foundation should go through the Research Foundation and therefore do not need to go through the SMC.
• The college/division internal space request process must be completed prior to submitting a space request to the SMC.
• Non-laboratory space decisions in state-owned space can be made directly within colleges/divisions regarding space already assigned to them and therefore do not need to be approved by the SMC.
• Any change of space to or from a laboratory cannot be handled without a space request submitted to the SMC. This includes all movement among or between lab spaces, even for short-term assignments. Swing space cannot be used as an option for short-term assignments unless all safety requirements are met. (i.e. a temporary PI assignment for biological work cannot go into a chemistry lab without a biosafety cabinet). 

Space Requests can be submitted to the SMC by any SDSU faculty or staff member, but must be approved by the College Dean or Division Head. Approval is noted by the College Dean or Division Head signing the space request form. By signing this space request form, it is understood that the college/division’s internal space request process has already been completed and no available space was found within the space already assigned to the college/division.

The space request form needs to be completed and submitted to [email protected] by a College or Divisional leader (e.g., Dean/ AVP or designee). If the request includes any space modifications or renovations, a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost and funding source is required with the submittal. Upon receiving your request, the SMC will reach out to you with any next steps, which could include an informational interview and/or a space utilization plan.

Acting on space requests typically requires substantial lead times. To implement assignments, space must be identified and requirements must be analyzed. To facilitate this process, colleges/divisions should review, document and submit their requests to the Space Management Committee within the following timelines:

• Long-term assignments
  • Twelve months in advance of the date for which space is needed.
  • Eighteen months in advance of the date for which space is needed, if tenant improvements are required to accommodate the intended use of the space.
  • New hires:
    • Faculty
      
      • Deans shall communicate requests for space (including infrastructure requirements) when asking for new faculty lines.
      • The Vice Provost verifies with the SMC the space requests listed for the approved lines.
      • Deans communicate available space to search committees prior to short-list interviews (e.g., Zoom interviews).
      • Search committees assess candidate RSCA space needs during the short-list interview stage.
      • Any unique space needs should be shared with the SMC once the faculty member has accepted a job offer.
    • Staff
      • Directors or AVPs shall submit requests for space associated with new staff hires to the AVP or VP for authorization 1 month before the start of the search process.
• Short-term assignments
  
  • Six months in advance of the date for which short-term space is needed (preferred), or as soon as sufficient details of the need for space are known. Priority will not be given to late requests.

The SMC will respond to your request as soon as they are able. The total process can often take a few months, especially for long-term requests. However, you should hear back from the SMC within 30 days of submitting your request regarding any next steps, which often include an informational interview and request for a space utilization plan.

If you feel that an appeal is warranted, please email [email protected] detailing your reasoning and the SMC will work with you to determine if a change to the original decision should be made.

Yes. All changes to space that have been approved by the dean or division head should be sent to [email protected], noting the building, room number and updated attribute. Common changes to submit include: 

• new occupant name
• new departmental allocation
• new room use
• new station count (i.e. number of seats within a classroom or number of desks within an office)
  
  • Changes to station count within instructional space require prior authorization by Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) for verification of accessibility and fire code requirements. For changes to station count within instructional space, please have College Schedulers contact [email protected] and copy the Office of the Registrar at [email protected]. The Office of the Registrar will require approval from PDC prior to updating the class schedule in my.SDSU.

If spaces regularly change occupants, a general occupant name can be used to determine to whom the space is assigned. As long as this general name remains true, you do not need to submit specific occupant name changes. Examples of accepted general occupant names include: lecturer, student worker and grad student. Please note that general occupant names should not be given for faculty or staff space, unless the space is designated as reservable hoteling space intended for temporary occupancy.

No. While any space voluntarily returned to the overall university space pool is always welcomed, it is not required for short-term vacant spaces. If a space becomes vacant, include a brief explanation of future plans to reoccupy the space when submitting the space update to [email protected]. If the future plan assumes the space will remain vacant for a longer period of time, the college/division can choose to loan the space to others. 

Deans and Resource Managers, with support from the Office of Environment, Health & Safety (EH&S), Project Management and other relevant campus partners, are responsible for determining whether equipment and other items may be purchased and delivered to campus spaces. This oversight ensures that all acquisitions are reviewed for safety, suitability and alignment with established space use policies.

No. Departments and individuals may not alter delivery addresses or order items directly to unapproved spaces. Established review processes exist to confirm that all deliveries and installations are appropriate for the designated locations, meet safety and compliance standards and support the effective management of campus resources.

Start by contacting your Dean or Resource Manager. They will guide you through the appropriate review and approval process and coordinate with EH&S, Project Management and other campus partners as needed.