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Office and Workspace Utilization Standards
Review the guidelines articulating the sizes, utilization, and assignments for UB's various types of office space.
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Guidelines
The following guidelines describe the sizes, utilization, and assignments for the various types of office space at UB:
- Faculty, staff and students may be assigned space which is appropriate to their work activities. In general, assignments will not be made based on seniority or classification. Some job titles predicate an office space type, however when that is not the case, the work activity will be assessed along with space availability.
- The Campus Planning Office will work with departments to regularly review their space inventory to ensure appropriate utilization, to update rosters, and to make any space reallocations required.
- Office and workspaces are defined as a space housing faculty, staff or students working at one or more desks, tables or workstations. Offices and workspaces come in a variety of sizes and types ranging from a private (enclosed) individual office space to an open and shared environment.
Recommended Standards for New and Renovated Offices and Workspaces
The UB guidelines for full-time staff workspace varies depending upon the type of work conducted by the employee. Workspace may be a private office, shared office or open office space depending upon the nature of the work. Part-time staff will be located in shared or open office space environments.
Determining Staff Office and Workspace
The following factors are criteria for management to determine private office and workspace assignments (not an exhaustive list):
- Supervisory and/or managerial role of other staff
- Nature/frequency of confidential communication in person or on the telephone
- Nature/frequency of working with other members of a team pursuing similar tasks
- Nature/frequency of processing confidential data
- Nature/frequency of handling equipment/material that requires secure space
- Volume of noise associated with departmental activity or individual job role
- Degree of isolation required for completion of routine job duties
- Interaction with students that pertain to confidential matters as their primary job function
Square Feet Based on Personnel Type
Chart showing a visual representation of space square feet based on personnel type
Executives and Faculty
The Dean, Vice Provost and Vice President office should be a single, private office with appropriate technology and additional space to hold a meeting for 5-6 people (Figure 2)
Figure 2, Example Spaces (175-300 SF)
Full-time tenure track faculty are assigned a single, private office. Individual faculty offices will have workspace for the faculty member, appropriate technology and space to accommodate 1-2 visitors (Figure 3)
Figure 3, Example Spaces (120-140 SF)
Full-time non-tenure track faculty may be assigned a private office or shared office space depending on availability. When assigned space in an open office environment, faculty will be provided access to conference space for private consultations with students (Figure 4)
Figure 4, Example Spaces (50-80/120-140 SF)
Visiting, Adjunct and Part-Time Faculty, Lecturers, Fellows and Research Associates may be assigned shared office space. Space assignments for these faculty depend upon the type of work being conducted, whether individuals have full or part-time appointments, and overall program needs and building constraints (Figure 5)
Figure 5, Example Spaces (50-80 SF)
All emeritus faculty are responsible for vacating their full-time office and removing their personal belongings upon their new appointment. Emeritus faculty with significant continuing research or teaching responsibilities may be assigned a private office, and/or laboratory space, as appropriate and as space is available. When emeritus faculty are engaged in teaching and research on a part-time or infrequent basis, they will generally be assigned a shared office space (Figure 6)
Staff and Administration
Example Spaces (120-210 SF)
Example Spaces (120-175 SF)
Example Spaces (55-120 SF)
Example Spaces (120-210 SF)
Student Workspaces
Assignment of workspace for students tends to vary from school to school and from department to department. In general, priority should be placed on allocating workspace for doctoral students whenever possible.
Example Spaces (20-60 SF)
Student assistants may be assigned workspace to conduct their work.
A Second Office
UB strongly discourages the assignment of second offices. A second office may be assigned in the following cases:
- Faculty who become department chairs may be assigned a second administrative office, if their primary faculty office is in a separate building from the department office.
- Faculty in leadership positions (i.e., Directorships) in independent laboratories, faculty who are Associate Deans or faculty who have joint appointments may be assigned a second office, if their primary office is a significant distance from the home department.
Notes
- All staff categories above may be assigned space in a teaming or open office environment. These environments are particularly useful for groups that work closely together daily, project-based groups, groups that desire or need interaction to complete their work, groups that rely heavily on cross-training and shared responsibilities, etc.
- Units with staff who work on confidential matters but would benefit from a team-based environment will be assigned a secure open office space.
- Office occupants are expected to regularly edit their storage needs by sorting, shredding, purging and archiving their documents. This applies to private offices and shared work environments.
- Faculty who teach/research on multiple campuses will have access to hoteling office space on their secondary campus.
Contact an Expert
Kelly M. Hayes Mcalonie FAIA, LEED AP
Director
Campus Planning