Space Utilization - Washington University in St. Louis

Space Utilization

Space Survey FY 2008

Introduction and General Instructions

Purpose of the Space Survey
Time Period Covered
Renovations
Floor Plans
Deadlines

Space Survey Instructions, Non-Research Departments

Space Utilization Report
Room Type
Functional Use of a Room
Room Assignment
Deadlines

Space Survey Instructions, Organized Research Departments

Functional Use of the Room
Room Specific
Consistency Between Functional Coding of Room and Dollars Spent
Basic Process - A Step by Step Approach
Types of Rooms
What you will receive:
Deadlines
WebSpace

Introduction and General Instructions

Purpose of the Space Survey

The purpose of the annual space inventory/survey is to confirm the rooms used by each department, gather information on how that space is used, and to verify attributes, such as room type and square footage. This information is very important and is used for rent prorations, clinical space changes, space analysis and planning, management reporting, financial statement allocations, and facilities and administrative (indirect) cost recovery.

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Time Period Covered

The functional classification of a room is based on the activities conducted in that room over all of Fiscal Year 2008. This survey must reflect the average functional use throughout the fiscal year. When completing the study, consideration should be given to the anticipated activity for the remainder of FY2008.

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Renovations

Renovations that occurred in your department during the fiscal year should be reported to the appropriate Space Coordinating Office. (Susan Ugalde at Danforth Campus at 5-5650 or Keith Van Booven at Medical School Campus at 2-8146).

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Floor Plans

Small scale floor plans of your area are available upon request. Contact your Space Coordinating Office.

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Deadlines

The space survey should be completed by June 30, 2008.

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Space Survey Instructions
Non-Research Departments

Space Utilization Report

The space utilization report is a summary of the space information in the space system. Your space utilization report should reflect the space assigned to your department. Compare this report with the rooms your department actually occupies. The department field should reflect the specific department of the primary occupant, not the main or "roll-up" department.

The space utilization report is a continuous form, with one line for each room. It is designed to allow you to verify the following information: building, room, floor, square feet, room type, space functions and percentages, and responsible party/principal investigator.

Please review this report and note any changes. The report should be signed and dated by the department space coordinator and returned to the appropriate Space Coordinating Office.

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Room Type

Each room is assigned a room type code representing a general description of the room. (See Room Type Code Definitions) The code should be checked to see that it represents the general description of the room. A PDF listing of room types and definitions can also be found at the Systems and Procedures website.

If a more specific description of the room is desired , it can be noted on the Description field in the space utilization report (Danforth Campus only).

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Functional Use of the Room

The most important part of the survey is to accurately reflect the functional use of space based on the activity performed in the room during the entire fiscal year, not just at the time of the survey. Each room function on the space utilization report is defined in the table of Space Function Codes ( Indirect Cost Codes).

In some situations, multiple codes could be appropriate. The percentages assigned to the codes, for all functions performed in the room, must sum to 100%.

The room function (indirect cost code) for administrative departments will generally be the same for every room occupied by the department and normally the code does not change from year to year. It is based on the overall functional activity of the department (e.g. Accounting Services would have an indirect cost code of 87, General Administration).

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Room Assignment

The list of rooms should be checked to be sure they have not been been reassigned to another department or new rooms added due to renovation or transfer from another department. Change of assignment occurring during the middle of the fiscal year should be prorated for the year.

If space is loaned to another department, note the department number of the occupant department(s) with the beginning and ending dates on the space utilization report. If the assignee (loaning) department did not use the room during the year, their percentage would be zero and the occupant department's percentage would be 100%.

In some situations, a room is occupied by more than one department. Each department will have its own function code / IDC code(s) and percentage(s). The sum of the function code / IDC code percentages will represent the percentage of the room assigned to the department. The percentage of the room allocated to each department should be based on the area used by each department or the activity during the fiscal year. The shared department numbers are printed under the heading of "Shared Departments and/or Description" on the space utilization report.

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Deadlines

The space survey should be completed by June 30, 2008. Return the signed space utilization report, with any changes marked on it, to the appropriate Space Coordinating Office as follows:

Medical School Campus

Keith Van Booven
Facilities Management
Box 8034

Danforth Campus

Cost Analysis / Space Utilization Office

Box 1034

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Space Survey Instructions
Organized Research Departments

Functional Use of the Room

The most important part of the survey is to accurately reflect the functional use of space based on the activity performed in the room during the entire fiscal year, not just at the time of the survey. Correctly estimating the percentages of total time for the year (not percentage of an 8 hour day) spent on the functional activities is critical. Each room function on the space utilization report is defined in the table of

Space Function Codes ( Indirect Cost Codes)

Multiple codes should be assigned as needed. If there are multiple departments, codes can be assigned specifically to each department or if there are multiple investigators, codes can be assigned to specific investigators.

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Room Specific

Functional coding of space must be done on a room-by-room basis. The coding must take into account the specific activities performed in each room. Arbitrary percentages are not acceptable and will be challenged by federal negotiators. The person completing the survey for a specific room should "walk the space" and must have first-hand knowledge about: who occupies the room, how the room is used, the funding sources of the occupants, and the specific activities conducted in the room.

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Consistency Between Functional Coding of Room and Dollars Spent

Federal guidelines require that the coding of space must be consistent with the coding of the expenses that support the activities in that space. If an activity is funded with an organized research account, the space used should be classified as organized research. Conversely, if an activity is funded with an instruction account, the space used should be coded as instruction.

The principal exception to the rule above is voluntary uncommitted cost sharing by faculty or senior researchers, which is additional cost sharing on a project not committed in the award proposal. The direct costs of this activity are not recorded in an organized research account, but the space used to conduct the activity should be classified as organized research.

If there are other justifiable differences they should be explained in the "Comments" field on the Survey screen in WebSpace.

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Basic Process - A Step by Step Approach

Verify the accuracy of the space inventory

Review building, floor, room, square feet, room type, and Principal Investigator / Principal Occupant (PI/PO) for space occupied by your department. You can review this information in WebSpace in the Inventory section. You will also receive a space utilization report that contains this information. Compare this information with the rooms your department actually occupies. The department field should reflect the specific department of the primary occupant, not the main or "roll-up" department. If any changes are identified to the department, room type, or PI/PO, enter the new information in WebSpace.If any changes are identified to the building, floor, room number or square footage, notify Susan Ugalde (Danforth Campus) at 935-5650 or Keith Van Booven (Medical School) at 362-8146. After reviewing all the rooms and entering any changes, complete the Inventory in WebSpace for all rooms in your department.

Determine who pays for the room (Medical School campus only)

If Washington University does not pay for the space, then one of the following must be done:

If the space is owned by WU then code it as external function code / IDC code 92).

If the space is not owned by WU but is controlled by the department, and the costs are recovered from an external party (other than through F&A on sponsored projects) then assign the room to a non WU department code and code it as external (function code / IDC code 92).

If the space is not owned by WU and no longer controlled by the department, contact the Facilities Management department, who will decide whether to delete the room from the WU Space System database or not.

Consider the type of room

The method used to determine the functional percentages for a room will vary depending on the type of room. The occupants of a room and their funding sources must be used to determine the activities that take place in rooms that have regular occupants, such as laboratory space. Other methods, reasonably reflecting how the room is used, may be used for types of rooms that do not have regular occupants, such as cold rooms, equipment rooms, etc.

Analyze activities in the room

Functional use (function code / IDC code) percentages must reflect the specific activities performed in each room. Arbitrary percentages, such as averages or repeating percentages are not acceptable.

If necessary, interviews of the responsible individuals within the rooms should be conducted to substantiate the functional use of the room. DO NOT ASSUME that the space functional use has not changed from the last survey. The DHHS Review Guide instructs federal auditors that:

"...the current user of the space or a person knowledgeable about the use of the space and the direct cost functions should be interviewed to verify the accuracy of the space usage per the survey...Significant inconsistencies could lead to questioning the validity of the space survey."

Space used by graduate students funded from Organized Research projects or participating in research training programs that are classified as organized research should be coded as Organized Research (Function Code / IDC code 82). Space used by students clearly involved only in teaching activities should be coded Instruction. If the room is clearly 100% Organized Research, code it accordingly. The room should not be arbitrarily assigned 50% Organized Research/50% Instruction because students are working in the lab. The activities of the occupants determine the functional use of the room.

Enter data into WebSpace - Enter functional use (function code / IDC code) percentages and occupants on the Survey screen in WebSpace.

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Types of Rooms

Laboratory space - You must consider the following issues when assigning functional use percentages for lab space:

Determine occupants

Identify all individuals who use the space, including anyone not paid by the University. Anyone that uses the space on a regular basis should be identified. Individuals who use the space on a non recurring basis for a material amount of time should also be identified.

Determine funding sources

Classification of space must be consistent with the coding of the expenses that support the activities in that space so it is necessary to determine the funding sources of the occupants of a room. However, individuals who use a room but are not paid by the University must still be taken into consideration when assigning functional use percentages (e.g. unfunded students or visiting faculty).

Determine how the occupants use the room

What a person does in a particular room determines how that room should be coded. A person can work in multiple rooms and do different activities in each room. For example, a faculty member may use a research lab for organized research and a classroom for instruction.

Consider the extent of use by each occupant

A person working in a lab 15 hours a week for four months should be counted much less than someone who works in the lab 40 hours a week for the entire year.

Support rooms (cold rooms, equipment rooms, etc..)

Coding support rooms should generally be done based on the average functional use of the rooms supported. For example, a cold room used by everyone on a particular floor should be coded based on the average functional use of all the rooms on that floor. Several other options are also available. If supporting data, such as logs, are readily available then the room can be coded based on actual use. If those methods are not feasible another alternative is to code the space Joint Use.

Offices and Conference Rooms

Danforth Campus

Offices and conference rooms should be assigned a function code / IDC code of Joint Use (JU). Internally this means the functional distribution of the room will be based on the salary and wage distribution of the department(s) assigned to the room.

Medical School

Offices should be coded according to the specific functional use of the room. Identify the occupants, and consider how they use the room, the extent they use the room, and their funding.

Conference rooms should be treated the same as support rooms. Generally the best option is to use the average functional use of the rooms supported. If supporting data is readily available then the room can be coded based on actual use. Another option is to code the room Joint Use if neither of those methods is feasible.

Instructional Space

Classrooms and class laboratories are normally coded 100% instruction. See function code / IDC code 81 Instruction and Departmental Research (Danforth Campus) or 96 Instruction (Medical School).

Animal Facilities

Service support areas where no organized research is being conducted, such as staff offices, feed storage rooms, cage wash rooms, etc. should be classified as Specialized Service Facilities (SSF). In accordance with HHS policy on animal facilities dated November 15, 1999, other areas such as procedure rooms, operating and recovery rooms, isolation rooms, quarantine rooms directly related to research protocols, and rooms that house animals involved in research that are not generally removed from the facility in order to conduct the research, should be classified according to the functional activity in the room.

Specialized Service Facilities/Recharge Centers

Function code 85 should be used. See definition of function code / IDC code 85.

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What you will receive

Space Utilization Report (Short Form)

The space utilization report is a summary of the space information in the space system. Your space utilization report should reflect the space assigned to your department. Compare this report with the rooms your department actually occupies. The department field should reflect the specific department of the primary occupant, not the main or "roll-up" department.

The space utilization report is a continuous form, with one line for each room, and contains the following information: building, room, floor, square feet, room type, space functions and percentages, and responsible party/principal investigator.

Additional Reports

Medical School departments will receive the following reports:

Report # 1 -- Employee effort by function -- YTD payroll % Academic and Non-Academic

Report # 2 -- Funding sources by function -- YTD expenditures

Report # 3 -- Funding sources by P.I. - YTD expenditures

Since FY08 is not an F & A base year, those reports will not be distributed to Danforth Campus departments, but are available on request.

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Deadlines

The space survey should be completed in WebSpace by June 30, 2008.

WebSpace

|   Main Space Utilization Page  |   What's New  |   Annual Space Survey  |
|   Room Type Code Definitions  |   Indirect Cost Codes (Space Function Codes)  |
|   Glossary  |   WebSpace System  |   Reports  |   FAQ  |   People to Contact  |