FAQs
Yes, in tandem with the campus-wide research space guidelines. UCF’s intent is to keep management of research space localized in the units where assessment considering all facets of effective use is best. The guidelines will simply provide overarching principles and objectives that guide the allocation of research space at UCF.
The guidelines apply to the management of all research space occupied and/or utilized by UCF. This includes, but is not limited, to all campuses as well as leased research spaces occupied in areas such as Research Park. The research space utilization rubric is only focused on research lab space and does not include office space related to research.
The guidelines are overarching principles and objectives that guide the allocation of research space at UCF. Implementing these guiding principles across the University will support colleges and units as they collaborate with central administration on the efficient use of their existing spaces and seek support for the development of new spaces. While not the deciding factor, these guiding principles will be an important data source to assist in this decision-making process.
The research space utilization rubric evaluates how individual research lab spaces are being used and is not a performance assessment of faculty or associated personnel. Both quantitative and qualitative metrics are needed to make well-informed decisions regarding space allocation, and it will be left up to department leadership to enter this data into the rubric.
At this time, the research space guidelines are focused on research lab spaces, not associated support spaces or offices. Decisions around offices, and other workspaces, are guided by Policy 3-126: Comprehensive Space Management.
Please direct your space allocation questions to your department chair or unit director.
Please send questions to realestate@ucf.edu.
As UCF continues to pursue its Strategic Plan goals, further growth in research is expected that will require an organized and coordinated process for assessing use of research space. The guidelines and the research space utilization rubric are key to a uniformed approach to research space allocation. These tools will provide data that will assist leadership in identifying space needs to support existing research efforts and attract additional faculty.
Forms
The Request for Space form should be submitted to the Space Administration office when there are planned additions to a unit’s programs or personnel. These requests for additional space should be submitted only after all other options have been exhausted within a unit’s dedicated space. All Request for Space forms will require approval from upper management (chair, unit head, dean or VP) prior to submitting.
This form is not intended for exploratory purposes. All requests for additional space should be critical to the unit’s continued function.
The Change of Room Function form is intended to track any planned modifications to a space that a unit occupies, where a Minor Project Request form was not submitted. For instance, if a conference room was converted to an office or a larger office was converted to a break room. While many of these modifications have been discovered during building walk-throughs, we are attempting to reduce the amount of time that passes before these alterations are discovered and recorded.
The Transfer of Space form should be submitted to the Space Administration office when a unit no longer requires the use of a room that has been assigned to them. The transferring unit may have had changes in programming or personnel that have deemed a room obsolete. Or the room in question may require a level of renovation that deems the space inoperable for its unit. Whether or not the transferring unit has identified another group to transfer the space to, we need to be notified of this development. Once the transferred space has been assigned, the unit assuming ownership will be responsible for any modifications to the space that are required.
The Missing Room form allows departments to report rooms that are not present in university’s space management application or other key applications. A missing room can occur under the following two conditions:
- Facilities Improvement/Renovation: During a facilities improvement/expansion, it is common for rooms to be created or eliminated. To reflect such changes, the Space Administration department will need to update the university’s space management application.
- Room Classification: A room classification determines the primary function for a room based upon utilization. If a department(s) changes a room’s utilization, the Space Administration department will need to update the classification for the corresponding room.
In addition, various university’s applications (e.g. PeopleSoft OID eform) relies on the room classification to determine the available rooms based upon a specific function (e.g. conference/meeting rooms). If a room is present within the university’s space management application but does not appear in other applications, the room may need to be reclassified.
The Request a Location form tracks new educational site(s) where UCF faculty provides instruction or conduct research with university’s students and staff. This form must be submitted prior to the commencement of each semester.