Fayetteville Policies and Procedures 726.0
Space Standards Guidelines
The University of Arkansas space standards are to be used for suggesting appropriate room sizes, for recommending space needs of departments, and for space use evaluations. These space standards should be used as guidelines when developing new facilities, renovating existing facilities, and changing a room's use. The standards are the maximum assignable square feet to be used. The campus should use these standards where possible. However, they are meant to be guidelines and it is understood that they may not be applicable in all space development. (Please note that classrooms and laboratory square footage will include aisles for general circulation of the room's occupants.)
While the standards do provide individual room size suggestions for offices, the Office Complex Space standards should be used when developing a department's office space. The Office Complex Space standard allows flexibility and considers all the department's office space. Graduate students' space is classified as research space and is not part of the department's office space.
Teaching Laboratories
The Teaching Laboratories standards apply to Upper and Lower division teaching laboratories.
The assignable square feet per station includes circulation and support space for
the occupants.
| Discipline | ASF Per Station |
|---|---|
| Administration | 40 |
| Agricultural Biological Services | 75 |
| Agricultural Economics | 40 |
| Agricultural Science | 60 |
| Anthropology | 60 |
| Architecture | 75 |
| Arts, Visual | 90 |
| Biological Services | 75 |
| Computer Science | 50 |
| Education | 40 |
| Engineering Sciences | 90 |
| Engineering, Agricultural | 90 |
| Engineering, Chemical | 90 |
| Engineering, Industrial | 90 |
| Engineering, Mechanical | 90 |
| English | 40 |
| Foreign Languages | 40 |
| Geography | 60 |
| International Relations | 40 |
| Journalism | 40 |
| Law | 40 |
| Library Sciences | 40 |
| Mathematical Sciences | 40 |
| Physical Science | 90 |
| Psychology | 50 |
| Social Ecology | 75 |
| Social Sciences, General | 40 |
| Social Welfare | 40 |
| Speech | 75 |
| Studies, Applied Behavioral | 40 |
| Studies, Creative | 40 |
| Studies, Environmental | 40 |
| Studies, Interdiscipline | 40 |
Research Laboratory Space
The Research Laboratory standards are to be used to determine the departmental space needs
for research laboratories. While the standards may provide a guideline for individual
labs, the needs of some labs may vary from the suggested size.
Space is to be allowed for each faculty member and graduate students. The Graduate Student
category space should allow for the following: each 50% FTE graduate student, each
postdoctoral fellow, and each 100% FTE professional support staff. (The support staff
would need to be classified as a 38, 39, or 40 by the Human Resources EEO Occupation
codes.) This allocation practice reclassifies graduate students' offices as research
space. The standards include support space.
| Discipline | ASF per Faculty | ASF per Graduate Student |
|---|---|---|
| Administration | 50 | 50 |
| Agricultural Biological Services | 500 | 250 |
| Agricultural Economics | 50 | 50 |
| Agricultural Science | 350 | 175 |
| Anthropology | 150 | 100 |
| Architecture | 150 | 150 |
| Arts, Performing | 150 | 150 |
| Arts, Visual | 500 | 250 |
| Biological Services | 500 | 250 |
| Computer Science | 150 | 100 |
| Education | 50 | 50 |
| Engineering Sciences | 350 | 175 |
| Engineering, Agricultural | 500 | 250 |
| Engineering, Chemical | 500 | 250 |
| Engineering, Industrial | 500 | 250 |
| Engineering, Mechanical | 500 | 250 |
| English | 50 | 50 |
| Foreign Languages | 50 | 50 |
| Geography | 150 | 100 |
| International Relations | 50 | 50 |
| Journalism | 50 | 50 |
| Law | 50 | 50 |
| Library Sciences | 50 | 50 |
| Mathematical Sciences | 50 | 50 |
| Physical Science | 500 | 250 |
| Psychology | 150 | 100 |
| Social Ecology | 150 | 100 |
| Social Sciences | 50 | 50 |
| Social Welfare | 50 | 50 |
| Speech | 150 | 100 |
| Studies. Applied Behavioral | 50 | 50 |
| Studies, Creative | 50 | 50 |
| Studies, Environmental | 150 | 100 |
| Studies, Interdisciplinary | 50 | 50 |
General Purpose Classrooms
| Size of Room | Guidelines |
|---|---|
| 150 sq.ft. - 250 sq.ft. | 33 sq.ft. per station |
| 250 sq.ft. - 350 sq.ft. | 20 sq.ft. per station |
| 350 sq.ft. - 45 sq.ft. | 16 sq.ft. per station |
| 450 sq.ft. - 700 sq.ft. | 15 sq.ft. per station |
| 700 sq.ft. - up | 13 sq.ft. per station |
Fixed seating should use 11 square feet per station. Seminar rooms or classrooms with tables and chairs should use 20 square feet per station. A class lab that is used for drafting purposes should use 65 square feet per station.
Computer Laboratories and Computer Class Laboratories
30 square feet per station
General Office Rooms
| Classification | Guideline |
|---|---|
| Academic/Non Academic Department Head | 180 sq.ft. per room |
| Standard Office (including faculty) | 135 sq.ft. per room |
| Graduate Assistant | 60 sq.ft. per area/station |
| Clerical/Technical Support | 90 sq. ft. per area/station |
Conference Rooms
| Room Size | Guideline |
|---|---|
| 6 person room | 160 sq. ft. |
| 10 person room | 270 sq. ft. |
| 15 person room | 360 sq. ft. |
Office Complex Space
Office complexes should have 195 square feet of assignable space for each full-time employee
who is to occupy an office. This would include full-time-equivalent faculty, full-time-equivalent
teaching assistants (includes lecturers/instructors), full-time equivalent postdoctoral
fellows, and full-time-equivalent administrative staff. Human Resources" EEO Occupation
Codes of 38,39, or 40 should be used to determine who is counted. Employees with codes
of 41-44 would be considered support and would not be counted.
This standard is a simple way to determine space needs and allows flexibility in developing
an office complex. The total area generated by this standard can be divided into offices,
support staff areas/stations, storage, and general purpose work areas such as copy
rooms. Each particular group can design the office area to fit their needs. This guideline
is for all disciplines and administrative offices. The following example illustrates
the flexibility of this type of policy:
A department with six faculty members should have 1,170 (195x6) assignable square feet.
The area could be divided as follows:
| One 180 sq.ft. office | 180 sq.ft. |
| Five 140 sq.ft. office | 700 sq.ft. |
| Two 50 sq.ft. office | 100 sq.ft. |
| One 190 sq.ft. copy/work area | 190 sq.ft. |
| Total | 1,170 sq.ft. |
Or, the department might need to divide the area as follows:
| Six 120 sq.ft. offices | 720 sq.ft. |
| Two 90 sq.ft. support/help areas | 180 sq.ft. |
| One 100 sq.ft. storage/copy area | 100 sq.ft. |
| One 170 sq.ft. conference/work area | 170 sq.ft. |
| Total | 1,170 sq.ft. |
Building Area Guidelines
All facilities have usable areas within the facility which are not assignable for the functions listed above. Some of these are circulation areas for the facility, building service areas, and mechanical rooms. In addition, the facility will contain some structural areas which are not assignable but are included in the gross square feet. The guideline for percentage of assignable square feet of a facility should not be less than 65% of the gross square feet.
Reformatted for Web April 23, 2014
May 13, 1993