Since 2012, the College of Engineering has implemented a new process for space management. There are two critical components to this process.

1. Establishment and implementation of a Departmental Space Committee
2. Development, critique and finalization of a Departmental Space Management Policy
   departmental space management plan template

Overview of UW Space Allocation and Management

Space at the University of Washington is allocated to colleges, schools and other units by the Office of Planning and Management (see Administrative Order No. 7).

Space allocation is documented in Space Manager. It is the responsibility of the department to ensure the information in Space Manager is up to date. This data should be reviewed annually by the Departmental Space Committee or an assigned designee (e.g., Departmental Associate Chair in charge of Infrastructure).

Best Practice Process for Space Assignment and Reassignment

In the College of Engineering, most space is assigned to and managed by departments. (Specific exceptions include space in interdisciplinary buildings including: the Benjamin Hall Interdisciplinary Research Building, Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building (MolES), and the Nanoengineering and Sciences Building (NanoES).) To manage space successfully, the following process is recommended:

1. Develop a space committee (also called an infrastructure committee) with faculty members that represent different areas of the department and the space assigned to the department (e.g., if the department has faculty in 3 buildings, the committee should have representatives that have space in those 3 buildings).
2. Develop a space policy that addresses office space, teaching space, research space, space reviews and procedures for space management.
   departmental space management plan template
3. Review space assignment for faculty 1-3 times a year.
4. Walk space assigned to the departments every year or every other year.

Departmental Infrastructure/Space Committee

Every department in the College of Engineering is required to have a space/infrastructure committee. The charge of this committee is to support decisions about departmentally assigned and managed infrastructure, including space, equipment and IT. This document only covers space. In terms of space management, typically this committee:

1. Is chaired by the Associate Chair that is responsible for space/infrastructure
2. Is composed of 5-8 faculty members that represent the variation in departmental space needs (e.g., dry lab, wet lab, computational space, type os teaching spaces, buildings).
3. Meets once a quarter to review possible: space reassignment, new space assignments, alignment of space and faculty hiring, alignment of space and student growth, etc.
4. Reviews space allocation annually with respect to space needs and the space policies set forth in the Departmental Space Policy.
5. Other issues as they arise.

The department is STRONGLY encouraged to use the Departmental Space Committee to review, evaluate, assign, reassign and otherwise manage space. This approach both aligns with a strong faculty governance approach and aides the departmental chair in making space revisions.