UB experiencing campus-wide space crunch
Newman emphasizes that academic and space planning should go hand in hand
By
DONNA LONGENECKER
Reporter Assistant Editor
Even
at 10 million square feet, UB is suffering from major growing pains.
And that leaves the Office of Space Planning to grapple with the end
resulta major, university-wide space crunch.
The
problem is not just about having enough classroom spacespace in
general is at a premium and how it's being used is a major issue, says
Ann Newman, director of space planning in the Office of the Provost
and the Office of the Vice President for Health Affairs.
Newman,
whose office is responsible for planning for all academic and non-academic
space at UB, wants to make it clear that all space at UB belongs to
the university as a whole, and its allocation and use always should
support the mission of the university.
Adequate
utilization is crucial, Newman points out, because the state won't support
requests for new buildings unless it sees that current space is being
well-used.
"Right
now, we're in the fifth year of a five-year capital plan that was extended
to a sixth year with no additional funding from the legislaturethat
was pre-Sept. 11and we don't know really when the next one (capital
plan) is going to start.
"We
know what our needs are, and we know our needs are greater than the
funding we'll get from the state."
The
top items on the list of additional space needs are new buildings, including
facilities for computer science and engineering, and more biomedical
research space on the South Campus. Money also is needed to renovate
the space that would get back-filled, or converted to another use.
"Everyone's
growing; you have to look at who's growing the most," Newman says. "For
the next year or two, we're okay. But beyond that, it gets troublesome."
As
for teaching space, Newman says that centrally scheduled classrooms
have a very high capacity in terms of utilization.
"There
are some departments that really use their teaching space very, very
well. There are some others that could improve utilization," Newman
says.
She
also describes three components that are essential for good space planning
at a university.
"First,
you need an accurate inventory of what space you have and how it's being
used. We are well on our way to that," she says.
"Second,
you need a robust and well-communicated academic planning cycle, where
the growth and focus of departments and schools is in line with the
university's larger goals, and that academic planning then gets communicated
in a timely fashion to the various offices that have to deal with its
effects, such as budget, personnel, enrollment, space planning, etc.
"Part
of this is an understanding of the time needed to go from plan to reality
on space issues, Newman explains. "It takes time for me to be able to
identify additional space opportunities, if they are needed, and negotiate
them. It takes time to plan, estimate, find funding, design and build
renovations.
"If
I can communicate one thing," she stresses, "it's that no one should
apply for a grant or create a new program that has space implicationsthey
cannot do it in their existing space without renovationswithout
letting my office know." Newman notes that the channels and processes
for such notification are described at www.provost.buffalo.edu/OSP/index.html.
Faculty
members cannot assume that if they get a research grant requiring new
space that they will able to get that space easily or quickly"especially
now that UB is in such a space crunch," she says. "Not that we don't
want people applying for grantswe dobut they need to think
of the space issues early, so I have time to develop options."
The
third component of space planning, says Newman, is the need for space-allocation
policies and guidelines. At this time, there is no additional space
on campus to convert into classrooms, and the space that does exist
is not very flexiblewhich, she explains, makes it crucial that
space and academic planning go hand in hand.
"We
have a long way to go to really incorporate that planning process and
make it a continual thing," she says.
Progress
is being made, though. Newman has updated and improved the space inventory
with new softwarea graphic database that links data and floor
plans, significantly improving the quality of the data and providing
a more accurate inventory of space.
"If
you're in a situation like we are, where all your programs are growing
and your space is not, we're going to have to root out those poorly
utilized spaces and put them to other uses," says Newman.