Space Management at Wellesley College

One of Wellesley's most vexing problems is how best to manage our physical assets. Competing demands for a finite number of spaces lead to questions about current scheduling processes and priorities. These demands also present significant communications challenges with regard to informing the College community of how spaces are assigned throughout each day.

To begin to address these issues, the Events Management Project was charged in March, 2000 with developing an integrated database of courses and scheduled events. This database is serving as the foundation for the campus calendar.

In April, 2001, the Events Management Project team joined with the Working Group on Space Management and Scheduling to review the way space is managed and scheduled. Based on the recommendations of the Working Group, Senior Staff and the President approved space management policies and procedures designed to enhance our ability to use our spaces more effectively and better manage the large number of campus events by:

• reducing the number of scheduling departments
• increasing coordination between schedulers, requestors, and service providers thereby reducing conflicts
• providing a basis for resolving competing claims for space
• simplifying the scheduling process for all campus constituencies

Below is a summary of Wellesley's space management policies and procedures announced in July, 2002:

Space Ownership: All Wellesley College facilities and land are owned by the College and may be assigned and reassigned to serve the institution's overall priorities and needs. These spaces include but are not limited to all academic, administrative, auxiliary, athletic, residential and student facilities. Space is a valuable asset of the College and must be used in accordance with space management policies that promote cooperative and efficient use of space. This policy applies without regard to the process used to schedule a particular space.

Space Classification: The College adopted space classification standards to determine the primary use of each event space. The Business Manager of Operations, Physical Plant is responsible for the classification process. To ensure accuracy, classifications will be reviewed by the appropriate departments. How a space is scheduled will largely be determined by its space classification. For example, spaces designated as classrooms will be scheduled by the Registrar's Office for primarily academic purposes.

Scheduling Responsibility: The new procedures shift Wellesley's scheduling from a distributed system driven largely by space to one that is event-oriented and that presumes space to be an important institutional resource.

The Registrar's Office will schedule all curricular events and spaces, based on information received from faculty and academic departments. A curricular event is one that is associated with a specific course, including regularly scheduled class meetings as well as one-time events such as a review session or film screening. A curricular space is one that is classified as a classroom.

Special Events will schedule academic and administrative events in spaces that are classified as general use facilities (including Collins Cinema, Alumnae Hall Auditorium and Ballroom). In addition, classroom space that is available after regularly scheduled classes have been accommodated may also be scheduled by Special Events.

Beginning in January, 2004, Student Life will assume responsibility for scheduling student events occurring in institutional space. Currently, Special Events is scheduling these events.

Four special use facilities will continue to schedule events within their buildings:

• Davis Museum and Cultural Center
• Keohane Sports Center
• Wellesley Centers for Women
• Wellesley College Club

Institutional policy on ownership of space applies to these special use facilities.

Spaces classified as laboratories and study facilities will be scheduled by the appropriate department.

Although departments and programs will manage office space in a localized manner, institutional responsibility and authority for the assignment of office space rests with the following College officers:

• Dean of the College for academic office space
• Dean of Students for student office space
• Vice President for Administration and Planning for administrative office space

• Page Created: August 13, 2002
• Last Modified: September 7, 2004
• Page Expires: June 30, 2006