Guiding Principles of Space Management

All space belongs to the University and Schools/Professional Services Directorates will be allocated space within which to perform their functions.

Oversight of space management rests with the Space Management Group.

It is the responsibility of Heads of School/Directors to allocate space within their area of responsibility in a fair, efficient and transparent manner that will:

• Optimise the space available in an inclusive manner;
• Support our learning, research and other professional activities;
• Support the delivery of our strategic and operational objectives;
• Enhance our working and learning environment by:
  • Facilitating social interactions between staff and/or students; and 
  • Welcoming visitors and members of the local community to our campus.

In allocating space within their area of responsibility, it is the expectation that Heads of School/Professional Services Directors will:

• Provide a sufficiently detailed rationale for any proposed alteration, addition or reduction to space allocation for their area;
• Ensure that space allocation and usage within their area of responsibility is line with these Guiding Principles and takes account of our commitment to environmental sustainability;
• Communicate in an open and transparent manner with members of staff and students to ensure that space allocated is being efficiently, inclusively and appropriate utilised, involving colleagues from Estates & Facilities and other Professional Services for additional support/guidance as required

We will ensure the fair and transparent use of space that supports the delivery of School/Directorate plans, ensures the health, safety and wellbeing of staff, students and visitors on campus and complies with fire safety and other statutory obligations e.g. licences and those relating to equality.

To ensure that current and future space needs are met, we will ensure that space allocations serve our best interests, optimise the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of how space is used across the University and ensure that there is effective consultation with regard to all changes in space allocation and/or usage.

In reviewing our use of space, we will seek to involve as many interested and affected parties as possible during consultation periods – including, wherever possible, members of staff, students and external stakeholders.

It is our expectation that all users of our space – students, staff and visitors – will respect our campus and buildings, ensuring internal and external spaces are kept clean, litter-free and fittings treated with care.

Any issues in relation to the maintenance of buildings, furniture, equipment or the external landscape should be highlighted to estates@abdn.ac.uk.

We will seek to ensure the efficient and optimal use of space through:

• The maintenance of up-to-date records of the allocation of space across the University;
• Supporting Heads of School/Professional Services Directors in communicating with staff and students on space allocation/management issues within their area of responsibility;
• The application of robust processes to ensure the effective oversight of space management via the Space Management Group.

The Space Occupancy Record records the current occupancy and space usage across the University. These plans ensure that we have a fair and transparent mechanism through which we can give full consideration to more significant changes to space requirements and their associated impacts e.g. requirement for a new teaching/research space to accommodate academic activities, an increase in staffing in a particular area or to ensure that obligations relating to equality are met.

We recognise (i) our legal obligations in relation to the reporting of statistical data and (ii) the importance of benchmarking with comparators across the Higher Education sector to continually monitor and improve the effectiveness of our space management and utilisation. Therefore, we will ensure that an accurate and effective process is in place to monitor space usage for reporting to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and through the TRAC data process.

Through effective monitoring of space usage, we will inform future estate developments and strategic planning processes to support the development of Schools.

We will encourage Heads of School/Directors of Professional Services to communicate in an open and transparent manner with members of staff and students to ensure that space allocated to their area of responsibility is being efficiently and appropriate utilised, involving colleagues from Estates & Facilities and other Professional Services for additional support/guidance as required.

By establishing clear communication channels between the Space Manager and other relevant colleagues in Professional Services Directorates with Heads of School/Professional Services Directors and designated points of contact in every School and Directorate, we will ensure that the consideration, communication and implementation of changes to space occupancy and usage is undertaken (i) in a fair and transparent manner and (ii) with due regard to the impact of the change(s) on the delivery of other operational services.

By implementing a fair, transparent and responsive Space Change Procedure, we will ensure that requests for (i) additional space, (ii) changes to existing space usage and (iii) requests to vacate space are considered in a timely manner.

It is important that changes to space occupancy and usage are underpinned by a fair and transparent communication process. We encourage Heads of School/Directors of Professional Services to establish local processes that empower School/Directorate representatives to engage in a proactive and effective two-way flow of communication with their local constituency.