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Allocation of Office, Laboratory, Work, and Storage Space

PPD 0024

PPD Number: 0024
Title:  Allocation of Office, Laboratory, Work, and Storage Space  
Responsible Office: Chief Operations Officer
Effective Date: June 1, 2010
Last Updated: October 13, 2026

 

Background 

The Dean and Director of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) allocates office, laboratory, storage and other workspaces, whether inside or outside, to the various sections, research centers, and administrative departments. To assist with this task, the Dean and Director has established the Advisory Committee on Space Allocation and Utilization (the Space Committee). In most circumstances, the Director of the Eastern Shore Laboratory has been delegated management of space allocation at that facility.  

The Chief Operations Officer serves as Chair of the Space Committee. The other members of the Space Committee are the Associate Dean for Research and Advisory Services, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the Chairs of the (academic and research) Sections, a Director of a major Research Center, and a representative from the VIMS Professional & Professional Faculty Council (PPFC).  

The Space Committee will meet as needed and will advise the Dean and Director on major issues related to the utilization and allocation of space. In general, minor changes within a section, center or unit that result in no net change in the amount of space utilized by the section, center or unit, e.g. swapping offices, do not require action to be taken by the Space Committee. However, the Space Committee should be updated on such actions for record-keeping purposes. Approval of such actions is the domain of the appropriate Associate Deans, Section Chairs, Center Director, or unit head(s). At its discretion, the Space Committee may review the utilization of any area and, if appropriate, recommend changes. If the recommendations or actions of the Space Committee are agreeable to all parties involved, then the action can be implemented without further deliberation. If any party affected by the proposed action disagrees with the recommendation of the Space Committee, the Chair of the Space Committee will forward the matter to the Dean and Director for resolution.  

Because space is a limited resource and the demands for that resource vary over time, the following guidelines are established to assist with the equitable allocation of space in a transparent manner. 

Definitions 

Office space: space that is allocated for the purposes of using a computer, reading, conducting meetings or working; It is the policy that only one office is allocated to an individual, and multiple offices on the campus are not permissible.  

Research space: space that is allocated for conducting laboratory or analytical research; research space and office space are not necessarily mutually exclusive. 

Storage space: designated areas allocated for the organized retention and safekeeping of research materials, equipment, specimens, documents, and other resources essential to academic, advisory, and scientific pursuits. 

Teaching space: space for which the primary use is for teaching graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, or staff. Such space includes designated campus classrooms like the Technology Classroom in Watermen’s Hall and the Chesapeake Bay Hall Teaching Lab [CBH 140/141], with their use exclusively scheduled through Academic Affairs. Teaching space should not be used for research or other needs unless permission is explicitly granted from Academic Affairs.    

Unit: refers to any organization or group that supports the mission of research, education and advisory service and does not reside in a Section or Center. Examples include Finance, Facilities, Academic Affairs, Sponsored Programs, etc. 

Guidelines for Space allocation and Distribution 

Space at VIMS is shared by all and allocated to sections, centers, and units on a temporary basis. These allocations may be reviewed periodically based on the needs and requests from the State, as well as decisions made by the Dean and Director and the Space Committee at VIMS. 

Laboratory, storage, office, and other workspace vacated by a faculty member, researcher or employee who departs VIMS is to be considered part of a common pool of such spaces to be administered by the Dean and Director with guidance from the Space Committee. Specifically, the section, center, or unit of the departed employee should not occupy that space and sequester it for their section, center, or unit. Requests for short-term use of the vacated space should be brought to the Space Committee through the appropriate section, center, or unit representative on the Space Committee. The eventual disposition of the vacated area will be determined by the Space Committee based upon current needs, priorities, and consideration of new hires. 

All requests for new space, significant reallocations or reassignments e.g., swapping offices) must comply with the guidelines of this policy and should be submitted via a VIMS SPACE REQUEST FORM to the Space Committee at requestspace@vims.edu. Space request forms shall be submitted to the committee via the responsible section chair, center director or unit head. All space request forms should provide a justification in support of the request. For cases where personnel are moving within spaces that are allocated to their section, center, or unit, they must have the approval of the head of their section, center, or unit and provide notification to the Space Committee for the purpose of maintaining the space database (such as FAMIS).  

The following “Alternate Office” options and space redistributions/reallocations do not require approval from the Space Committee. Alternate Office options for working in multiple venues include: 

  • Hot Desking: Workspaces are completely unassigned; staff occupy them on a  first-come, first-served basis at the start of each workday. 
  • Hoteling: Workers reserve a space in advance to use temporarily on days they 
          will be in the office.    
  • Shelf Space: Workers assigned a space or desk with storage for multiple office use on campus without permanently assigned multiple Offices. 

Private offices: Faculty, senior level administrators, and staff with supervisory responsibilities will be prioritized for private offices. Other staff in many cases will be allocated shared offices subject to room design capacity. Subject to room capacity, offices will generally be allocated to multiple students and/or staff.  

Space policies guiding post-retirement activities associated with Emeritus and Adjunct faculty (excerpt from PPD – 1312):  

Laboratory space and associated lab equipment/instrumentation will revert to central administration at the faculty member’s retirement date. New lab assignments will be determined by the Space Committee however, lab equipment will either remain with the lab, be reassigned by the Dean’s office and/or the new faculty. Office space, if available, will typically be provided for up to three years following the faculty member’s retirement date. Space negotiations will be part of the wind-down package and considered on a case-by-case basis based on space availability, institutional needs, and the needs of the retired faculty member. 

Excerpt from PPD-0025, Visiting Scientists and Students: 

Persons seeking to host a visiting scientist or student must obtain permission of the section chair/center director, who is responsible for the allocation of space and other resources, and from the Associate Dean of Research and Advisory Services who will consider the overall impact on VIMS. 

Storage Spaces: 

All storage space, whether indoors or outdoors, is allocated for terms not to exceed two years. The Chair of the Space Committee will be responsible for sending a note to the campus community to review and assess their assigned storage space every two years. Requests to use or continue to use storage areas should be made to the Space Committee through the appropriate member.  

All storage areas and laboratories, whether inside or outside, should be clearly labeled with the name and contact information of the faculty member or researcher responsible for the space.