School of Medicine & Public Health – Office Space Usage and Allocation

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Policy Number:
SMPH-1021
Old Policy Number:
10.21
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. The primary purpose of this policy is to provide criteria for office space allocation and use in support of SMPH-1020 Assignment and Utilization of Wet Laboratory Research Space and Associated Offices. Within these criteria, departments and centers are authorized to manage the office space that is assigned to them by the dean. 

Definitions:
Primary work area
Office, workstation, laboratory, or other space where the majority of an individual's essential work duties are conducted.
Private office
An enclosed office allocated for a single occupant assignment.
Shared office
An enclosed office allocated for two or more occupant assignments.
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, storage into office, single occupancy into multiple occupancy).
  • Renovation or alteration – Remodeling project requiring trades coordination in any space.
Space utilization metrics
Numerical assessments of space efficiency and productivity.
Vacant space
Space allocated to a department, center, institute, or program, which is unassigned to personnel or is unused.
Policy:
  1. The dean of the SMPH 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. Units may submit a facilities request to the SMPH assistant dean for facilities within the Office of the Senior Associate Dean for Basic Research, Biotechnology, & Graduate Studies.
  3. The SMPH facilities office may verify that the unit's space allocation data are current.
  4. The SMPH facilities office then calculates the allocation of office space using the following criteria for office assignment:
    1. Each permanent employee will be assigned one primary workspace, if available. Any need for a secondary workspace in a separate location may be met through a shared or touch-down workstation proximate to that location.
    2. Any individual employed at less than 50% cumulative effort will be assigned a shared office or a cubicle.
    3. If available, private offices will be assigned to faculty, dean-level administrators, department or division chairs, and an administrator for each department or major division.
      1. Exceptions may include individuals who work with sensitive information (e.g., employee personal data) or whose jobs require confidential meetings during most of their workday.
      2. Individuals who have confidential meetings less frequently will be expected to use shared huddle rooms for these meetings.
    4. Physicians and other health care professionals who have primary clinical or teaching responsibilities and limited academic activity will be assigned a shared office.
    5. Graduate students and postdoctoral trainees will be assigned shared workspace or cubicles.
    6. Units will not assign individual workstations to undergraduate students.
    7. Requests from a unit leader for an exception may be submitted in writing to the assistant dean for facilities who will transmit the request to the senior associate dean for resolution.
  5. The dean’s office through the SMPH facilities office may conduct periodic reviews of office space to ensure that assignments to departments and centers are appropriate.
Procedure:

Once it is determined that a unit's current office data is up to date, the senior associate dean in consultation with the assistant dean for facilities will determine whether the unit's request for additional space is justified. If the request is justified, appropriate additional office space will be assigned to the unit, if available. Should the request for additional space be denied, the unit has the authority to meet its needs by reassignment of office space and cubicles within its current allocation. The SMPH facilities office is available to assist the unit in planning office assignments and reassignments. Based on the assessment described in article III of the policy, the SMPH assistant dean for facilities may make recommendations for space assignments or reassignments to the dean of SMPH or the dean's designee (currently the senior associate dean).

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:
07-01-2019
Date Issued:
07-01-2019
Revised Dates:

02-01-2021

Retrieved:
10-03-2024 10:16:11