Campus Space Survey

The Office of Space Planning and Utilization conducts an Annual Space Survey to update and maintain the University’s Space Database. UT Health Science Center is required by both state and federal regulations to maintain accurate inventory of space in all buildings owned and leased by the university. This information is used to request federal research reimbursements, state funding for new construction and renovation projects and is a key component of the Campus Master Plan. Also, The Tennessee Higher Education Commission requests UT to report facilities data for all campuses as a part of the space justification process directly tied to funding. Funding issues tied directly to this data remain an important topic for all UT campuses. Therefore, your careful and accurate work on this project is very important. Meeting this deadline is critical. There are a number of processes which take place after the departmental data updates.

What is the Space Survey?

The survey collects information such as room type, room usage, room occupants and accounts which fund sponsored research activities for the average functional use throughout the fiscal year. This information is used for the financial statement allocations, internal/external reporting and analysis, master planning, facilities maintenance and logistics.

Why is the Annual Space Survey important?

The federal and state regulations govern calculations for funding. The Office of Space Planning and Utilization is responsible for maintaining the campus’ comprehensive space management system. The facilities component of UT Health Science Center’s Federal F&A Rate is allocated based on the results of the survey.

What impact will you have?

The quality of your response determines the accuracy and defensibility of the allocation of costs in the F&A Rate Proposal. The final F&A Rate negotiated determines the amount of money recovered by UT Health Science Center to support the current and future resources requirements of the campus’ research enterprise. (If necessary, interviews of the responsible PI and staff within the rooms should be conducted to substantiate the information being reported in the survey.)