Space Survey

The Campus Planning Office conducts an Annual Space Survey in order to update and maintain the University’s Space Database, consisting of a room inventory with approximately 14,000 locations and over 5 million square feet of space in owned and leased buildings. 

The Space Database is a critical part of Finance and Administration. This database provides important information for the Federal Finance and Administration Cost Recovery Rate, internal/external reporting and analysis, master planning, facilities maintenance, logistics, and mail services.

Why is the Annual Space Survey Important?

The facilities component of PSU’s Federal F&A rate is allocated based on the results of the survey. The facilities component is the only uncapped portion of the F&A rate (i.e. the only area where PSU has the potential to increase its reimbursement of costs associated with conducting research on campus).

What Impact will you have?

The quality of your response determines the accuracy and defensibility of the allocation of costs in the F&A Rate Proposal. 
The final F&A rate negotiated determines the amount of money recovered by PSU top support the current and future resources requirements of the research enterprise
In short, your effort will impact the financial resources of the Portland State University.

Changes to the Space Survey:

This year there are some changes to the space survey and the information gathered.  In addition to collecting data on the function of each room your department occupies, the Campus Planning Office would like to document the names of the individuals who occupy each space.  This addition serves several functions:

1. Facilities and Property Management is working on new Key Authorization procedures, which will include a module through AiM (work request database) to submit key request.  
2. The Campus Planning Office will use this information to better work with departments and schools on space planning. 
3. The Indirect Cost Recovery rate is based on research space linking funding with the Primary Investigators and their space.
4. During emergency situations it is important for the Campus Public Safety Office to know who is located in each building on campus.

The Campus Planning Office would also like to hear from each department regarding any issues or concerns in regards to their space.  This is why we encourage the space coordinators to contact the space analyst, Amanda Wolf, to set up a meeting to complete the space survey together.

Completing the Space Survey:

You have two options to complete the 2012 space survey:

1. Contact the space analyst, Amanda Wolf, at (503)-725-4939 or wolf@pdx.edu, to set up a meeting to discuss your department’s current space and complete the space survey.
2. Follow the instruction below to complete the space survey and email your Corrections Form and Additional Employee List to space analyst, Amanda Wolf at wolf@pdx.edu.

Space Survey Deadline:

The 2012 space survey deadline is Friday, December 21st.  Please contact the space analyst, Amanda Wolf, before this date to set up a meeting to discuss your department’s space or email the completed Corrections Form and Additional Employee List to wolf@pdx.edu.  

Space Survey Instructions:

You will receive an excel document, via email, with the following information:

• Space Allocation Report
• Corrections Form
• Additional Employee List

Instructions: 

1. Your Space Allocation Report lists the rooms allocated to your department and their usage according to CPO records.  It may be useful to print this form to take with your while walking your department’s spaces.  
2. Review the PSU Functional Use Codes and the Location Type Codes (link below) to see which apply to the spaces in your department.
3. Walk through each room on your report and check the “Department/Organization”, “Location Type,” and “Functional Use”.
4. For each room add the name of the primary occupant, employee type (drop down menu), and the primary occupant’s Odin ID.  For all additional employees occupying the space please use the Additional Employee Worksheet to add them in.
5. If you see a room that your department uses that is not on the report, make a note of it
6. If you see a room that is on your report that your department does not use, make a note of it.
7. If you see a room that your department shares with another department, make a note of it.
8. Add the occupant/employee information to the Space Allocation Form.
9. Fill out the Corrections Form electronically to make changes, add rooms or delete rooms that you marked on the survey.  
10. Fill out the Additional Employee Worksheet for any rooms that have multiple occupants
11. Email the excel spreadsheet with the completed Space Allocation, Correction Form and Additional Employees Worksheet to Amanda Wolf, wolf@pdx.edu, by Friday December 21st.

Useful links:

Building Codes 2011.pdf
Location Type Codes_Definitions 2011.pdf
Functional Use Codes_Definitions 2011.pdf
Organization Codes 2011.pdf

How to Determine the Functional Usage

Space should be functionalized based on the activities performed in the area. When space is occupied by multiple departments the frequency and intensity of their presence should be considered in determining the percentage of functional activity.

Example: Non-Class Lab with two Occupants
Two research assistants share the lab, one is working full-time on an organized research grant and the other is working part-time on a Department Research program, using the lab only about 25% of the time. 
How to Code: 75% Organized Research (ORGRES) & 25% Department Research (DEPTRES)

Some rooms may have more than one or two uses. Be sure that you include all functional uses for every room, ensuring that the Functional Usages adds up to 100%.

Common Space Survey Mistakes:

NOT walking or being familiar with space. It is important to make sure that you are familiar with the space you are surveying. Sometimes this will require talking to the occupants of particular space to get a better idea of the functional use of that space
Claiming 100% organized research. Not all research space is considered organized research, nor is the entire functional use of a room for organized research. You need to make sure that the functional uses reflect the actual activity of each room. (i.e If students are using a research (non-class lab) then a portion of this lab must be coded as instructional support (INSTRUP)). 
Confusing Organized Research with Departmental Research or Other Sponsored Activities Read the definitions of the three different functional use codes carefully. If there are any questions about what functional use code to use, don’t hesitate to contact the Space Analyst.
All lab service areas should be functionalized similar to the surrounding lab or labs. If you have a lab service area, it should be functionalized the same as the lab it serves.
Academic Departments should never use the functional use code General Administration. Academic Departments will always use Department Administration (DEPTADM) for their administration spaces.
The Academic Library Functions should ONLY be used for the Millar Library. All Departmental library space should be coded as Departmental Administration (DEPTADM)