School of Medicine Space Policy

The School of Medicine will utilize annually the space and grant funding mechanism described below to equitably distribute space based on two factors; demonstrated need due to extramural funding and secondary evaluation of need based on personnel, equipment, etc. The current standard for distribution of space is that all departments should attain $250/sq.ft. and that requests for additional space will require departments to attain more than $250/sq.ft. to be considered for additional space.

Purpose

Historically, allocation and distribution of research space within the School of Medicine have not been directly linked to faculty research grants or productivity, and space allocation was tied to new departmental chair recruitments. There were no agreed upon standards, and the Space Committee in the past was comprised largely of individuals in the Dean's office. Research-intensive medical schools have evolved various methods for evaluating and distributing space based on the need to meet the requirements of the federal and private agencies that fund biomedical research. Dean Kaplan recognized the need for an evaluative process which would include faculty input; especially faculty who are among the School of Medicine's most productive laboratory-based research faculty. The Dean charged the newly appointed committee to recommend a policy for the evaluation and distribution of research space. This Space Committee subsequently recommended the following procedure to evaluate and recommend plans for justified assignment of space to departments to support their laboratory-based research.

Historical Background

In the fall of 1998, the Dean of the School of Medicine appointed a Space Advisory Committee consisting of senior faculty from the basic and clinical sciences. In initiating a faculty-based review of productivity, the Dean required faculty input into the process of distribution of space, which in the past had been done without clear standards. The charge to the Committee was to implement a mechanism for Annual Space Evaluations in the School of Medicine and suggest standards for the evaluation and allocation/reallocation process. The Committee was composed of: Frederick Benz, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology; Victor Fingar, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery; Adam Matheny, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics; Kenneth McLeish, M.D., Professor of Medicine; and Roland Valdes, Jr., Ph.D., Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Russell A. Prough, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Research, was appointed to serve as the facilitator of the group. The charge to the Committee was to develop a set of standards and publicize them widely to Department Chairs and the faculty through Faculty Forum and Medical Council. The first announcement of this procedure was made at Faculty Forum on February 10, 1999, and Medical Council on February 24, 1999, where the procedure to be used was described in detail. Additional presentations on the process and the analysis of the space productivity data have been made at Faculty Forum on January 1, 2001, and Medical Council on September 27, 2000, and September 25, 2002. In addition to other informal discussions at Medical Council, the Vice Dean for Research has met with approximately half of the departments upon their request to present and discuss this process at monthly faculty meetings or departmental retreats. A number of letters have been sent to specific faculty requesting information about the policy.

Space Evaluation Process

Starting in the fall of 1998, the Research Office of the School of Medicine has annually prepared spreadsheet files listing space and grant funding inventory (direct plus indirect costs). The space data were accumulated from departments: UofL's Office of Planning, Design, and Construction, and inspections by individuals in the Dean's office. Recently, departments were asked to review the space data and any suggested adjustments were made based on actual use for space for teaching, research or administrative activities. The Research Committee agreed that the official inventory of funding should be the annual database provided by the Vice President for Research. These data list the percent (%) effort/collaboration of each participating faculty member for each grant and allows distribution of credit for research across departments for equitable and objective review of space. Once the information is tabulated, the Committee reviews the two categories as a first evaluation of faculty utilization of space. The first category, used for most space evaluations, consisted of a comparison of extramurally funded grants and contracts for laboratory-based research to the square footage of laboratory space. Secondary standards for consideration beyond the dollars per square foot standard were also adopted when final recommendations about space were transmitted to the Dean. These secondary standards included space needed for large instrumentation (mass spectrometers/microscopy equipment, etc.), adequate departmental administrative space if juxta-positioned next to the research space, and student/fellow/technician staffing.

Outcomes of the Process

In the fall of 2001, a standard of $150/sq.ft. was recommended to the Dean by the Space Committee for the first year's evaluations since this was just above the departmental average of $139/sq.ft. in the 2000-2001 Academic Year survey. This figure was recommended for increase to $200/sq.ft. by the Space Committee when the 2001-02 Academic Year evaluation showed that the School of Medicine average was $168/sq.ft. Such standards have been required to meet the needs of the newly recruited faculty. Positive effects of these standards have been realized during the analysis of the School average in departments without Bucks for Brains faculty, which have also shown an increase in productivity with only most reassignment of their space. For example, the Basic Sciences departments all approach the School average for the 2001-2002 period, largely through increases in grants. The Committee recommended that space redistribution adhere to the standards proposed in all cases, except limited variance required by the Dean for recruitment of new department chairs. Their view was that there must be a system of equitable distribution of space based on research funds, and considerations of the secondary factors. On several occasions since that time, the Committee has held walk-through inspections at the request of the Dean to evaluate laboratory staffing, large instrumentation needs, etc.

Each subsequent year, the Committee has evaluated the space and compared our $/sq. ft. values to those of a national survey performed by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The latest national survey for 2002 placed the mean/medium value for $/sq.ft. figures for public medical schools at $250-260. It is projected for the 2002-2003 period that the School of Medicine average will approach a $250/sq.ft. average and, therefore, the Space Committee accepted a recommendation from the Office of the Dean that departments requesting space would need to exceed $250/sq.ft. before they would justify the redistribution of space. This would ensure that the requesting department maintains a $200/sq.ft. or greater value, and that the School target should eventually be $250/sq.ft. The space standard will be determined each year as described in the procedure above, and the School target will be widely disseminated through Faculty Forum and Medical Council and a website location.