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Policy Information

Policy Title	Space
Responsible Office	Office of Space Planning and Academic Scheduling Effectiveness
Policy Type	Facilities and Property
Policy Number	405
Last Revision Date	6/2/2026

Changes in the use of University Space and Space Request Process

Space is one of ÑÇÖÞÇéɫ’s most valuable and limited resources, requiring a collective commitment to active stewardship. All ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ« land, facilities and buildings belong to the University as a whole; and as such, no single unit, department or division owns space. Instead, space is allocated to units to advance the University’s programmatic and strategic goals. This stewardship model ensures that space is managed with transparency and flexibility, allowing for reallocations that meet the evolving priorities of the entire University.

Space Allocation Hierarchy

The University has established the Space Management Council, chaired by the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, which has the authority to make and change space allocations across Vice Presidential areas to meet current needs and priorities. Significant space decisions will be coordinated with the President, who will have final authority over all decisions regarding space.

Space allocations are made to departments, not individuals. Departments can make changes within their existing allocation, following the Space Allocation Goals and Criteria below. Deans and Vice Presidents have overall responsibility for the space allocations of their reporting units and can make changes within their units without approval from the Space Management Council.

Space allocations can be long term or temporary. Temporary allocations are for a stated purpose and specific time period. Any changes to the use of a temporary allocation must be approved. 

When the University relocates all or a portion of a unit into new space, such as to a new building, the space vacated by the unit becomes part of the University's pool for reassignment. 

Space Allocation Goals and Criteria

Units have the ability to manage and make changes to the space within their allocation and should follow these allocation goals and criteria:

• Space should be allocated equitably and in accordance with SUNY and University guidelines. Deviation may be required for programmatic, architectural and/or financial reasons related to renovation costs.
• Department allocations should be contiguous whenever possible, except when adjacency to other facilities is more beneficial, such as proximity to specialized research facilities.
• Existing space allocations must be fully utilized before additional allocations are made.
• Existing space must be used to its maximum functionality, e.g., wet labs should not be allocated for computational work.
• Departments have the right and responsibility to schedule their spaces such as conference rooms, seminar rooms, class laboratories, etc. Sharing of these spaces with other units is encouraged, when not in use by the department.
  • The B There Scheduling system is available, at their discretion, for departments to use for scheduling their departmental spaces. Use of B There is encouraged for all large venues used for events on campus.
    Faculty and staff should only have one dedicated office at the University. In cases where the faculty or staff have responsibilities on multiple campuses, shared or touch down space should be made available in lieu of a second dedicated space.
• All faculty and staff should be provided with a suitable working environment for the type of work they perform. An individual’s title, function and supervisory responsibilities will determine the type of office space needed. 
  • Hard walled offices, where available, are appropriate for tenured/tenure track faculty, full time research faculty and staff generating significant external funding, full time non tenure track faculty, Bartle faculty and full time staff requiring regular confidentiality. 
  • Modular wall offices or shared offices are appropriate for part time faculty and staff, clinical faculty, research staff, full time staff without confidentiality requirements, emeritus faculty, teaching assistants, and graduate and undergraduate student assistants. 
  • Hoteling space is often appropriate in place of modular or shared offices and is encouraged for those needing intermittent use of office space.
• Instructional spaces (classrooms, lecture halls, seminar rooms, pods and class laboratories) should be scheduled weekly and each semester in such a way as to maximize the effective use yet not jeopardize specially designed instructional or research features.
  • All classrooms, lecture halls and seminar rooms (excluding departmental conference rooms) should be centrally scheduled by the Office Space Planning and Academic Scheduling Effectiveness (SPASE).
    • All new classrooms, lecture halls and seminar rooms should be designed as general purpose classrooms and should meet the ÑÇÖÞÇéÉ« Classroom Design Guidelines.
  • Class laboratories should be shared across disciplines, where possible.
• Space should be allocated to promote collaboration. Faculty doing specialized work requiring similar functionality of space, equipment and/or technical support (similar infrastructure needs) should have research space in close proximity to one another and share core facilities.
• Priority for assigning dedicated research space will be given to:
  • Faculty with sustained externally funded research and scholarly and/or creative output (publications, concerts, performances, gallery exhibitions, etc.).
  • Faculty whose research, scholarship or creative endeavor is supported by current and/or pending external funding.
  • New faculty.
  • Faculty involved in nascent interdisciplinary research ventures.
  • Continuing faculty that require research space and internal support in order to provide the basis for grant funding and publications.
  • Research space that is not contributing to research and scholarly productivity is subject to reassignment to meet these priorities.
• Specialized animal research facilities, due to their stringent federal, state and AAALAC International regulations follow a distinct process separate from the general space process. 
  • Access to animal research facilities is restricted to authorized personnel. The Laboratory Animal Research (LAR) department oversees policies on access and use of these facilities, as outlined on their website.
  • Animal research space allocation is under the authority of the Vice President for Research in conjunction with the LAR and the Animal Research Space Committee.
  • New and continuing allocations will be contingent upon having an approved IACUC protocol. 
    • Animal research space is subject to frequent utilization reviews. Space that is not actively supporting an approved protocol for more than six months, or where no new grant proposals or protocols have been submitted, is subject to immediate review and potential reversion to the central animal facility pool.
  • The B There Scheduling system is available, at LAR’s discretion, for scheduling shared spaces within the animal facilities.

All changes to existing allocations must be reported to Space Planning and Academic Scheduling Effectiveness to ensure that updates are made to the AiM Space Inventory System.

Space Request Process-General

This process should be followed for all space requests, except space for specialized animal research space. For those requests, see the Space Request Process-Specialized Animal Research Facilities outline below.

•  Requests for additional space should begin with a discussion between the unit director or chairperson and their supervisor to assess the legitimacy of the need. The supervisor can make changes to existing allocations within their units, space permitting. If space is not readily available, consultations around space transfers should begin at the unit-to-unit level, with discussions continuing up to the next level(s) and, if necessary, to the Vice President. At each level, the supervisor or ultimately the Vice President can make changes to allocations within their units’ space allocation, space permitting and in accordance with University Space Guidelines and utilization metrics.
  • Unit leaders are required to initiate negotiations for all cross-unit space changes through discussions with other affected units, whether within or outside their division. In such cases where an agreement is tentatively reached, a must be submitted to the SPASE office describing the terms of the transfer and providing written consent from all affected units. The Form will be reviewed by the Vice Presidents of the affected units who can approve or deny the space transfer.
• If no space is available at the Vice President level and no transfers of space can be arranged through the consultation process, the department director or chairperson should submit the indicating as such, for review and potential action.
• SPASE staff will verify approval of the request with the Vice President and dean, if applicable. Receipt of the Space Request Form will trigger a departmental Space Allocation Audit by SPASE staff. This will determine accuracy of the department’s space assignment data and check for consistency with University Space Guidelines and utilization metrics.
  SPASE staff will develop one or more allocation options to meet the request, working with the Senior Director of Planning, Design and Construction when modifications to space are required.
  • In cases where options require space allocation changes between units, all units must provide written consent of the proposed allocation changes. In cases where consent cannot be reached, the matter will be referred to the Provost (for < 500 sq. ft.) or the Space Management Council (for > 500 sq. ft.) for final determination based on University priorities.
• The SPASE  director will provide the option(s) to the Provost for next steps. 
  • For simple requests, those that are less than 500 square feet, require no or very minimal renovation and do not require transfer of space between Vice Presidential units, the Provost can approve the request with a courtesy notification to the Space Management Council. 
  • For complex requests that are over 500 square feet, require substantial renovation or transfer space between Vice Presidential areas, the options will be forwarded to the Space Management Council for review.
• The Space Management Council (SMC) will be composed of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs (chair), Vice President for Research, Vice President for Operations, Vice President for Student Affairs, the CFO, the Director of Athletics, 
  the Associate Vice President for Facilities Management, the Senior Director for Planning, Design and Construction, the SPASE director and a Fac/ulty Senate Representative.
  • The SMC will meet quarterly. Additional meetings may be scheduled, as needed, or issues may be handled via email, as appropriate.
  • The SMC will approve/deny the options presented or suggest modifications to the options.
  • Once a decision has been made SPASE staff will notify the requestor. If space is allocated, a Space Allocation Notification Agreement will be sent to the requestor. 
• The SPACE staff will update changes in space allocations in the AiM Space Inventory.

The department accepting a space allocation is responsible for submitting service requests (and covering associated costs) to Facilities Management for all work associated with occupying the space (lock changes, signage, painting, etc.). Approval of a space allocation does not constitute approval of funding for any work that must be accomplished. If additional funding is needed, the department must follow the budget request process. 

Not every request will result in an allocation, even if approved. Space may not be available for the use requested. 

For requests that did not result in an allocation, the requestor can appeal to their Vice President or Dean for further consideration. 

Space Request Process-Specialized Animal Research Facilities

This process should be followed for specialized animal research space. Requests for all other spaces should follow the Space Request Process-General outlined above.

• The Animal Research Space Committee (ARSC) will be composed of the IACUC administrator, attending veterinarian, Director of SPASE (chair), Division of Research representative, Director of Research Compliance and one faculty representative from each department with ongoing animal research, and report to the Vice President for Research.
  • The ARSC will meet biannually. Additional meetings may be scheduled, as needed.
  • Requests for animal research facilities must be submitted to the ARSC using the Animal Research Space Request Form. 
  • The ARSC will review the request, confirm approved protocols are in place and submit recommendations to the Vice President of Research for further consideration.
  • If space is not available to meet the request, SPASE staff will notify the requestor. Appeals can be made by the dean to the Vice President for Research.
  • Notification of approved space allocations will be sent to the requestor by the SPASE staff. All space allocations are considered temporary and contingent upon approved IACUC protocols and the ability to meet Per Diem requirements.
  • The SPASE staff will update changes in space allocations in the AiM Space Inventory.

Date	Description	Responsible Party
6/2/2026	Added language to clarify consultation process.  Approved by Senior Officers Group on 6/2/2026	Office of Space Planning and Academic Scheduling Effectiveness