Personal Workspace Allocation Principles

Preamble

Space in the COE is a resource to be shared. It is a valuable and scarce resource, so we must use it efficiently and effectively. All COE space is property of PSU, and the assignment of personal workspace within it will be based on legitimate work-related needs.

Principles

1. Keep departments intact when possible.
2. Every personal workspace should be functional and comfortable.
3. Personal workspaces will be furnished with: desk, chair, computer, and phone.
4. The COE will seek additional space to supplement current space allocation as required to support expansion in external funding and/or the expansion of our research agendas.
5. Space needs must be considered and planned for when grants are written to assure that grant personnel can be appropriately housed.

Guidelines

1. Priority for single-occupancy, private offices is as follows:
   1. Deans, associate deans, department chairs, and others responsible for supervision,
   2. Full-time, tenure track or non-tenure track faculty,
   3. Faculty teaching more than half-time, but less than full-time who have student advising responsibilities,
   4. Employees who conduct face-to-face advising on a daily basis,
   5. Employees whose job description requires they spend the majority of their time each day working with highly confidential information and/or are on the phone with students or other clients.
2. We will endeavor to provide desk space and access to a computer for each .5 or greater faculty member.
3. Faculty teaching half-time or less will be asked to share offices on space-available basis.
4. Graduate assistants and grant personnel, less than .5 FTE, will be accommodated on a space-available basis.
5. COE employees on sabbatical or other lengthy leaves are expected to make their workspace available for temporary use until they return. A clean desk or table surface, access to the computer, and some shelf space will accommodate the temporary occupant. Faculty using others’ offices should respect their privacy and use the space gently. Faculty on sabbatical will be notified of who will be using the office.
6. Any grant proposals which require space should include lease or cost share expense – and this information be brought to the attention of the Department Chair and Dean.
7. Departing employees must remove all material and personal belongings from their office and storage areas and vacate their office by the date provided by the Dean’s Office.
8. When grants are completed or programs end, the space occupied reverts to the common space pool in the COE for reallocation.
9. Offices will be painted only once every six years unless damage to the walls requires it be done more frequently. Paint colors must be selected from PSU-approved pallet provided by PSU Facilities.
10. Offices will be re-carpeted/re-tiled if the current flooring is sufficiently damaged to warrant replacement.
11. As workspaces become vacant, and as funds are available, they will be reconfigured with appropriate furniture, as described in the Principles above.
12. As employees move from workspace to workspace, the furnishings (except personal items and desk chair) will remain in that workspace, and the employee will then use the furnishings that are in the workspace they are moving into. This is a cost saving measure.
13. Any exceptions in space allocations must be approved by the Dean’s Office.