UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Space Management Guidelines
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction
Guiding Principles of Space Management at Warwick
Management & Decision-making Structure
Allocation of Space to Departments
Timetabling
1.
Introduction
These space utilisation guidelines serve as a baseline to:

evaluate space requests;

outline methods by which space is allocated, space demand is projected and space use is
monitored;

ensure each campus department/unit is adequately accommodated to enable creation of high
quality research and delivery of student academic support;

ensure efficient and cost-effective use of a limited resource (including energy related
efficiencies).
They have been approved by the Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group to provide
guiding principles for the allocation of academic space.
2.
Guiding Principles of Space Management at Warwick
The following are guiding principles which underpin Warwick’s approach to space management:
A. Space is considered as much a University resource as staff or a budget. The physical facilities of the
University are an asset crucial to the operations of the campus. The number, type, and condition of
University spaces helps shape all aspects of campus programs and activities.
B. Space is a University resource to be allocated in a manner which best advances University priorities.
No one department, centre or division "owns" space. University space resources should be deployed in the
most efficient and effective manner to best serve strategic goals.
C. University space can and will be reassigned. The University values flexibility and recognises the
continuously changing curricula, programmes and technologies. Accordingly, space assignments will change
to achieve optimal utilisation and respond to current and emerging needs.
D. University space needs will be evaluated in the context of traditional quantitative and functional
considerations. The University’s Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group (CPARG) will employ
both statistical information and qualitative information to evaluate the efficiency of space allocations and the
case for additional space. Data from a department’s transparent accounts will also inform the evaluation and
allocation process.
E. Decisions relating to assignment and reassignment of space will generally be made by the Capital
Planning and Accommodation Review Group for academic space. In the case of space in University
House and other central administrative space, the final decision will normally be made by the
Registrar or his/her nominee. While any and all space assignments are subject to change based on the
authority of the Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group (or Registrar), the ability to assign and
reassign space within a department’s existing allocation is the responsibility of the Head of Department. This
authority, which is contingent on compliance with applicable space guidelines, is expected to provide
flexibility to Heads of Departments to address the space needs of their respective units. Change of use
involving building or structural alteration must be approved by the Capital Planning and Accommodation
Review Group.
3.
Management and Decision-making Structure
3.1
Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group
The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group is a sub-group of the Building Committee. Its
membership comprises:
Chair, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor
Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education and Student Experience)
Chairs of the Boards of the Faculties
Chair of the Board of Graduate Studies
Registrar
Finance Director
Director of Estates
Secretary, Senior Assistant Registrar (Space Management & Timetabling)
Assistant Secretary, Assistant Registrar (Space Management & Timetabling)
The Group’s Terms of Reference are:
1.
To examine the entire range of non-residential building space in the University and to approve
its allocation within the context of the University’s Strategic Framework for Capital
Development approved by the Council as part of the University’s Five Year Financial Plan.
2.
To keep under review the use, availability and accessibility of non-residential University
accommodation and to advise the officers concerned and make reports and recommendations
on these matters to the Steering Committee, the Finance and General Purposes Committee
and the Building Committee, where appropriate.
3.
To prepare an annual Capital Development Plan for consideration by the Steering Committee
and the Financial Plan Sub-Committee and approval as part of the University’s annual
Financial Planning round.
To achieve this, the Group has the following roles:

Developing and implementing Space Management Strategy and the Space Management
Guidelines.

Developing and reviewing techniques and measures to support the University’s strategic
objectives and inform capital development decisions.

Assessing space needs on an annual basis and reporting these to the appropriate University body,
conducting audits and reviews of departments as appropriate.

Monitoring feedback on space use and space management measures from users and investigating
options to improve the functionality and suitability of academic accommodation.

Agreeing targets and measures on space management matters.

Approving the allocation of minor works funding.

Examining the entire range of non-residential building space in the University and making
decisions on its allocation.
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3.2
Reviews and Audit of Space
The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group will periodically review the space usage of
departments. This Group will take a holistic approach and include office, teaching space and research
/ laboratory space. Ad hoc brief reviews of space are also instituted when particular pressures or
demands on space arise.
In the first (or early second) term of each year departments will be sent electronic and/or hardcopy
schedules of their current space allocations and will be required to review the purpose for which space
is used and make amendments accordingly. This serves not just the space management process but
also helps improve accuracy of data used in the transparent accounting and for full economic costing
of research grants.
3.3.
Minor Works
The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group evaluates and approves the allocation of the
Estates Minor Works budget. The budget and related projects are administered by the Estates
Department.
4.
Allocation of Space to Departments
The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group considers requests from departments for
additional space on the basis of the allocation guidelines set out in this document, taking into account
the affordability of recurrent costs for departmental space, suitability of space for a proposed function
and strategic objectives and priorities of the University. It is expected that departments will apply the
Guidelines outlines below consistently across the full allocation of their space.
4.1
Guidelines for Allocations: Staff and Students
4.1.1
Academic Staff
Full-time members of academic staff appointed to the level of Assistant Professor and above
will normally be allocated an office for his or her sole use. However, a Head of Department
(following consultation with the Chair of the CPARG) may choose not to allocate sole
occupancy offices to academic staff where there are significant space pressures in the
department and/or the nature of the activities undertaken by the staff means that shared office
space would be more appropriate and/or the building design is better suited to offices being
shared.
Staff who are affiliated to a University research centre in addition to their principal affiliation to a
department, or staff who are jointly appointed by two departments, may only have one sole
occupancy office. However, where the centre/departments are located in buildings at a
significant distance from one other, staff with joint affiliation may be provided with shared or
open plan office space in the secondary centre/department, where a presence in both areas is
needed to ensure that an appropriate level of research collaboration can take place.
4.1.2
Research Staff
There is no entitlement for research staff to have sole occupancy office space, irrespective of
grade. Research staff in non-experimental, non-laboratory based subjects on FA7 or above
may be allocated offices for sole use, but this will be dependent on space pressure, the type of
activity being undertaken by individual staff, and the building design, rather than grade level.
Provision will be made for laboratory-based research staff in the Faculty of Science and in
experimental subjects in other faculties to have access to a non-laboratory study area in
accordance with health and safety regulations. Where space requirements form the basis of a
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grant, the Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group must be made aware of the
specific wording of the grant terms.
4.1.3
Teaching Only Staff
Full-time Teaching only staff may be allocated offices for sole use but this will be dependent on
space pressure and the type of activity being undertaken by individual staff, rather than grade
level. Departments may wish to consider enabling one room/office to be booked for
tutorials/private meetings with students, or using locally managed or centrally timetabled
teaching rooms for this purpose.
4.1.4
Non-Academic Staff
All non-academic staff will normally be expected to share office accommodation or to be
located in open plan space.
4.1.6
Part-time Staff
Part-time staff (academic and non-academic) are expected to share offices. The extent to
which sharing desks is possible, particularly for academic staff, may depend on the member of
staff’s FTE and scheduling constraints.
4.1.7
Department Offices
Each teaching department shall normally be entitled to a departmental office. Where
departments have more than one member of non-academic staff, normal allocation standards
apply to the number of people located in the departmental office.
4.1.8
Study Leave Arrangements
There is no automatic right to the sole use of a room by a member of staff if he or she is on
study leave or leave of absence, though access to a working area should be facilitated where
requested. The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group will take into account the
number of staff on study leave in a department when considering bids for additional
accommodation, and departments are expected to list those staff for which study leave
accommodation is necessary in their annual bid. Where a room is allocated this will normally,
but not always, be the member of staff’s existing office. Offices of staff on study leave should
be used to meet accommodation needs where possible, for example to provide temporary
accommodation for visiting fellows, PhD students or tutorial/meeting space.
4.1.9
Postgraduate Research Students
The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group recognises that the provision of study
and work space for full-time postgraduate students is desirable. Where possible full-time
postgraduate research students will be allocated shared working space, usually on a hot-desk
basis.
4.1.10 Visiting Fellows
There is no automatic right to the use of a room, or part of a room, by Visiting Fellows,
Honorary and Emeriti Professors. It is expected that where office accommodation is required
departments will find it within their existing allocation of space or make arrangements with
other departments in the first instance.
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4.1.11 Science City Staff Primarily Affiliated with the University of Birmingham
The Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group recognises that Science City staff
who are primarily affiliated with the University of Birmingham may nevertheless require access
to space at the University of Warwick. In such cases, the relevant Warwick department may
provide shared office/open plan space for such staff from within its existing space.
4.2
Office Space Data
The University does not operate space norms or standards but does analyse departmental office
allocations to assess the efficiency with which space is used. The analysis currently applies only to
office space, recognising that laboratory space requirements vary enormously between different
disciplines.
A standard office in the University varies in size across campus with the average being between 10
and 15 m2. There is no specific entitlement of space in metres squared per FTE member of staff
(above minimum Health and Safety regulations). The University does not recognise different sizes of
offices for differing categories of staff. Offices for single occupancy should normally be those between
10 and 15m2, with larger spaces used to accommodate multiple occupancy staff or postgraduate
research student groupings.
4.3
Non-staff Accommodation
4.3.1
Research Laboratories
Laboratory space is locally managed. Due to the specialist nature of laboratory space requests
for changes or additional space are made on a case-by-case basis to the Capital Planning and
Accommodation Review Group. If the proposed change is not externally funded, the request
for additional or change in space must be supported by an academic case for the change,
which should be sent to the Secretaries to the Finances and General Purposes Committee and
Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Groups.
4.3.2
Teaching and Specialist Space
Allocation of local teaching and meeting room space is made on a case-by-case basis and the
Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group reserves the right to allocate additional
rooms to the Central Timetable as required.
Where a departmental bid or capital development plan incorporates a centrally timetabled
teaching room, an alternative location for the teaching room of equal or larger capacity must be
identified. If this alternative location is within another department’s allocation, the department
posing the request must have written agreement from the Head of the Department that is
currently allocated the room.
4.3.3
Common Space
The University encourages departments to take a collaborative approach to common space
where possible. If a department wishes, within its overall allocation of accommodation, to
provide common areas for staff and/or students, it may do so.
When allocating space and considering departmental bids for space, the Capital Planning and
Accommodation Review Group will note comparative common space data between
departments, particularly for areas where pressure on space is great.
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4.3.4
Central Administrative Space
The vast majority of the central administration activities and staff are located in University
House. Decisions on the allocation of space in University House are made by the Registrar (or
his/her nominee. Requests for additional space should in the first instance be referred to the
Assistant Registrar (Space Management).
5.
Timetabling
Teaching space can be divided into two categories on the basis of their management; those for which
bookings are controlled centrally and those for which bookings are managed locally by a department.
5.1
Central Teaching Timetable Policy
Central timetabling is one method of effective space management. Centrally timetabled teaching and
meeting room space has been widely commended in both the National Audit Office Space
Management in HE Good Practice Guide and in HEFCE Good Management Practice Programme as
the most effective management method for maximising the efficiency with which space is used.
Development of the central timetable is overseen by the Space Management and Timetabling Section.
Departments work with the Section on an annual basis to construct the main University teaching
timetable. Ad hoc bookings in centrally timetabled rooms are permitted by staff and students after the
final release of the teaching timetable.
Teaching rooms are initially allocated on a 'best fit' basis to maximise room occupation, therefore it is
important that accurate group sizes are given early in the construction process wherever possible.
5.1.1
The Teaching day/week
The Senate, at its meeting on 14 March 2001, approved the extension of the standard teaching
day to 7pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and 6pm on Fridays. This was introduced in
response to the recent increases in student numbers and the impact on demand for teaching
rooms, particularly large lecture theatres.
All departments should make use of the full teaching week, with the exception of Wednesday
afternoons which should be kept free from undergraduate teaching unless authorised by
department Heads.
Sessions should be completed leaving enough time for all students to vacate the room, to
enable the following session to start on time.
5.1.2
Timetable Construction
Each Department will provide a dedicated and appropriately trained timetable representative
with responsibility for ensuring efficient space utilisation.
In March, the timetable for the current academic year is carried forward to the following year.
Change requests from year to year should be forwarded to the relevant departmental
timetabling representatives, who use the on-line timetabling system to request their timetable
and room bookings for the year.
For local rooms of capacity greater than 20 all departments are required to enter all booking
data onto the timetabling software (via the AUDI System during the timetable build process and
via the Ad-hoc Booking System thereafter, unless the use of an alternative departmental
booking system has been agreed by the Space Management and Timetabling team) so that
room usage can be monitored. Where data for a room is not entered onto the software the
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Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group will assume that the room is not being
used, hence the Group will remove that room from the relevant department’s allocation.
Whilst under construction the timetable has a number of releases on certain dates, which are
set out on the Central Timetable website. The final release for most departments is
approximately one month prior to the start of the Autumn Term. Ad hoc bookings will not be
considered until the teaching timetable is finalised for the year.
During the construction period, any activities requiring specific timetabling (AV requirements,
disability needs etc) must be brought to the attention of the Central Timetabling team.
Bookings for Departmental Open Days after 1pm on Wednesdays may be requested as part of
the construction process. Due to demand for teaching space, Open Day bookings for all other
times will not be made until all teaching bookings have been finalised. Open Day booking
requests should be sent to room.bookings@warwick.ac.uk, which go directly to the Central
Timetabling Section. These will be prioritised before ad hoc bookings.
5.1.3
Teaching rooms
In the process of allocating teaching activities to appropriate facilities, there is no distinction to
be made between the three sites across the University (Main site, Westwood or Gibbet Hill).
Departments must be willing to teach on any part of the campus where student and staff
timetables allow for movement across the campus.
The following behaviour is required of those using centrally timetabled rooms:




5.1.4
Smoking, eating or drinking is not allowed in any of the centrally timetabled rooms.
Scheduled activities should not cause a disturbance to anyone else.
Rooms should be left clean and tidy and in a teaching room style after use.
All users of centrally timetable rooms are required to abide by University Regulation 30
covering meetings etc. on University premises.
Adherence to the published timetable and cancellations
Academic staff have an individual responsibility to:

adhere to the latest version of the published timetable. You can check all of your bookings
for your department by selecting activities, activities by dept, select your dept and display
activities.

keep departmental timetabling representatives up to date regarding
- the cancellation of courses
- when a room is no longer required
- if they are unable to teach in their allocated room owing to someone else using it.
The departmental Timetable Representative must inform the Central Timetable Team of
cancellations so they can ensure the removal from the system of the scheduled activity so the
room in question may be freed for other users. The teaching survey shows each year that over
1/5 of bookings made are not actually used. If the Central Timetable Team is able to release all
of these bookings there will be considerably more flexibility in the timetable and in the
availability of rooms.
5.1.5
Fining
The University has previously utilised a fining system which it applied to departments that were
shown to not have used a significant number of centrally-timetabled bookings. This system can
be reinstated by the Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group at any time.
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5.1.6
Annual Teaching Survey
A survey of all teaching space is conducted during one week in the Autumn Term. The data
provided by this survey informs the University’s Estates Management Statistics submission and
capital development planning.
5.2
Locally Managed Teaching and Meeting Rooms
Locally timetabled rooms are managed by the Department to which the space has been allocated. As
detailed under 5.1.2 above, the University requires that Departments manage the timetabling of all
local rooms of capacity greater than 20 by using the University’s on-line timetabling system, which can
be set to restrict bookings to one department. For further details on how to use the on-line system for
managing local bookings, please contact room.bookings@warwick.ac.uk.
The sharing of local teaching space and meeting rooms between departments is encouraged by the
Capital Planning and Accommodation Review Group.
Space Management Guidelines_v14 (kb).doc (as at 25 Oct 11)
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