School of Medicine & Public Health – Assignment and Utilization of Wet Laboratory Research Space and Associated Offices

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Policy Number:
SMPH-1020
Old Policy Number:
10.20
Responsible Office:
SMPH Dean’s Office

School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

The mission of the School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) is to advance health without compromise through service, scholarship, science, and social responsibility. As a leading academic medical center, SMPH supports this mission by providing flexible, adaptable, and affordable facilities to accommodate the changing science and medicine goals of departments, multidisciplinary centers, institutes, and programs. Efficient and effective allocation of space will help shape the future of biomedical and public health research, academics, and the practice of medicine. This policy focuses on the types and amounts of space required by “wet lab” research activities in SMPH.

Definitions:
ASF
Assignable square feet.
Primary work area
Office, workstation, laboratory, or other space where the majority of an individual's essential work duties are conducted.
Space allocation
A process used by the dean or the dean’s designee to allocate space to departments, centers, institutes, or programs for their assignment of space to personnel.
Space assignment
A process used by departments, centers, institutes, or programs to assign space to personnel within their department, center, institute, or program.
Space request
Any request for allocation or modification of space, including:
  • New space – Department, center, institute, or program requests more space than currently allocated.
  • Refresh – Department, center, institute, or program requests new flooring and/or paint within currently assigned space.
  • Change of use – Remodeling that changes the primary use of any space (e.g., lab into office, or vice versa).
  • Renovation or alteration – Remodeling project requiring trade coordination in any space.
Space utilization metrics
Numerical assessments of space efficiency and productivity.
TDC
Total direct costs.
Vacant space
Space allocated to a department, center, institute, or program, which is unassigned to personnel or is unused.
Wet lab
A laboratory where chemicals, drugs, or other materials or biological matter are tested and analyzed, and which requires water, direct ventilation, and specialized piped utilities.

 

Policy:
  1. The dean has authority over all space assigned to SMPH and is accountable to the chancellor and Board of Regents for effective, efficient use of space. Within this authority, the dean establishes priorities for space utilization within the school.
  2. The allocation of research space should be on the basis of articulated criteria. Foremost among these should be alignment of space needs with the missions and priorities of the school.
  3. The dean delegates daily management of space to the chairs/directors of the departments and centers to which space is assigned.
    1. At their discretion, chairs/directors may develop and enforce more restrictive guidelines to ensure that assignments of space align with programmatic priorities.
      1. If more restrictive policies are to be implemented, these should first be reviewed and approved by the dean or the dean’s designee.
      2. The dean retains ultimate control of space, transferring space from one unit to another when needed to advance the missions of the school.
    2. Research space may not be changed in function or loaned by a unit or an individual without the approval of the dean.
  4. Each department or center should be allotted core space sufficient to achieve its mission.
  5. Research space will be assigned or reassigned on the basis of productivity measures such as peer-reviewed extramural grants and contracts, training grant support, and internal funding, together with other measures of research productivity.
    1. Determinations of productivity should be made on the basis of experience over time rather than a static look at a very short time period.
    2. For faculty with joint appointments, credit for research funding should be allocated (as nearly as practicable) in proportion to the space provided to the research project by each unit.
    3. With the exceptions of probationary or new faculty, assignment of research space to faculty who have not had competitive research funding for a protracted period should be limited to no more than ~250 assignable square feet (ASF).
    4. No faculty member should lose space immediately upon the loss of research support; however, a faculty member who has been unfunded for a period of three years should be required to contract to ~250 assignable square feet, or even less if the research does not require wet laboratory space.
      1. Exceptions, in either the time period to reallocation or the amount of space, may be granted or imposed by the chair/director of the unit to which the space is assigned.
      2. Any exceptions are subject to review by the dean or the dean’s designee.
  6. Chairs/directors will consider extramural funding in making or adjusting space assignments.
    1. For research requiring wet laboratory space, the SMPH dean’s office publishes its expectations for extramural grant support of laboratory space in terms of annual total direct costs (TDC) per assignable square foot (see Appendix 1).
    2. This guideline will be reviewed periodically by the dean’s office and may be changed to account for the effects of inflation on grant expenditures and the overall availability of laboratory space within the school. Access to shared resources will also be taken into account when assigning space.
    3. Exceptions to this funding guideline may be imposed by the chair/director, subject to review by the dean or the dean’s designee.
    4. Because the space for core activities does not necessarily increase as funding increases, the assignment of space to laboratories holding multiple extramural grants will be made according to need rather than a TDC/ASF guideline.
  7. Departments should discard unused, obsolete equipment and minimize the amount of space devoted to storage of shipping containers or rarely used supplies or equipment.
  8. If research activities could be better performed off-campus, the unit should consult with the dean or the dean’s designee to explore the possibility of leasing such space.
  9. Departments/centers will assign office space to faculty for research and instructional activities, as well as workstations to research staff and trainees.
    1. The assignment of office space to research staff and trainees within a unit will be done only on a very limited basis using guidelines established by the chair/director of the unit with the approval of the dean or the dean’s designee.
    2. Faculty members with an appointment greater than 50% are given highest priority for assignment of office space.
  10. Space for a new program or faculty recruit must be identified prior to the initiation of the program or recruitment of faculty.
    1. In general, such space will be identified by reallocating space within the same unit; however, the dean may assign new space to a unit, outside of productivity guidelines, when the initiation of a new program is in the best interests of the school.
    2. Decisions regarding allocations of space should be made before arranging financial support for the initiative.
  11. Space utilization is subject to periodic review by the dean or the dean’s designee(s). Such reviews may result in changes in the amount or type of space assigned to the unit.
  12. A faculty member wishing to dispute a space assignment will first appeal directly to the chair/director responsible for the space. If the dispute cannot be resolved, the faculty member may then follow SMPH procedures for faculty grievances.
Procedure:

SMPH Facilities will create, maintain, and keep current processes for space requests, processes for modifications to space, guidelines for assignment of space, and metrics on efficient and effective use of space. These processes and guidelines will be consistent with UW policies and procedures and considered in light of the partnership with UW Health to ensure alignment on processes and guidelines. Departments, centers, institutes, or programs will develop their own space assignment plans with guidance and review by the dean/dean’s designee.

Appendix 1:

With reference to Article 6 of the policy, the SMPH dean’s office expects that the research activities of an individual principal investigator (PI) assigned wet laboratory space for that work will generate extramural grant support (144 and 133 funds) of $300 total direct costs/assignable square feet annually. As indicated in Article VI, this expectation will be reviewed periodically by the dean’s office and may be changed to account for the effects of inflation on grant expenditures and the overall availability of laboratory space within the school. Any change in the expectation will be communicated to department chairs and center directors for dissemination to principal investigators within their units.

Appendix 2:

The articles within the policy will be implemented beginning July 1, 2021, and with due consideration of the campus and school-mandated risk mitigation strategies to minimize transmission of COVID-19 that are required of all faculty, staff, and learners occupying SMPH research and office space. Strategies include social distancing, a minimum asf of laboratory research space per occupant, and a limit of one occupant in an office at any given time. Adherence to these strategies will likely delay full implementation of the policy until such time as risk mitigation in relation to COVID-19 is no longer necessary.

Related UW-Madison Policies:

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Dean, School of Medicine and Public Health
Policy Manager:
SMPH Senior Associate Dean for Basic Research, Biotechnology & Graduate Studies
Contact:
SMPH Administrative Program Specialist -- Leslie Lord, lllord@wisc.edu, (608) 265-7489
SMPH Senior Associate Dean for Basic Research, Biotechnology & Graduate Studies -- Anjon Audhya, audhya@wisc.edu, (608) 263-9171
Effective Date:
03-01-2016
Date Issued:
03-01-2016
Revised Dates:

02-08-2021, 08-18-2012

Retrieved:
04-26-2024 17:41:19