Space Planning

There must be a proper balance between efficient space use and over-utilization of space. In order to better manage the limited space on UNC's campus, and better plan new space, a new space planning model was developed to (1) identify master planning needs for space and (2) more importantly, provide campus planners and administrators a tool to study its space use and budget effectively. The campus will be able to test a variety of planning scenarios and project facility impacts due to programmatic changes being considered.

The model is being driven by two major components; people, and the amount of space people need for various functions. People include students, faculty, staff, and visitors, both existing and projected. Projections are based upon the academic planning assumptions, goals and objectives established in the master plan. The other major component is the guidelines used in projecting space needs. Guidelines used in the model came from a combination of sources included, but not limited to, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, national standards, consultant recommendations, and current University practices

Space Projections Model

The space model prepares a space projection and compares it against existing space to show how more, or less, space is needed to support a given enrollment level. Space is expressed as assignable square footage (ASF) by master plan space category.

The following information summarizes the space needs and the variables used in the model to project them. The variables are programmable values that can be altered at any time to forecast the impact a program change will have on space.

It is important to view the results of this model from a macro perspective. Because planning is done on a University level and space inventories are currently kept on a department level, judgments can only be made on the new differences by space category. The following notes help clarify some of the results of the model:

• Some of the projected space needs are based on the total student population and not by program or department. Others, when possible, are calculated by department.
• Service space is calculated a number of different ways, depending on space type. A number of the space categories allow for service space and a factor is included in the calculations. In many cases however, existing room inventory records do not categorize service space; therefore service space may or may not be included in each section, but is accounted for in the total projection.
• Administrative and auxiliary function's office and related support space was calculated based upon the size of the institution, thus student enrollments and faculty/staff projections.
• Although the University's Enrollment Plan is to cap enrollments at 15,000 FTE on campus and 20,000 FTE total, the space planning model forecasts space needs associated with a 5% and 10% enrollment increases. This allows the University to have a more appropriate picture of space needs near term.
• Finally, the ultimate use of the space model is to determine the overall picture of the space needs as the campus grows. It's the net difference for each space category that is important. Individual department figures provide points of further study, but are not necessarily reflective of specific space deficits or surpluses.
• Space for scholarly activity is captured by planning laboratory, storage, and support space variables driving these needs.