Committee Charge
A monthly meeting of Cabinet members whose purpose is to provide advice to the President on matters of space utilization at the University. In particular, the committee makes recommendations to the President about the strategic use of space for UMW. Final decisions are made by the President.
Committee Membership
- Juliette Landphair, VP for Student Affairs
- Jeffrey McClurken, Chief of Staff & VP of Strategy, Space Committee Convener
- Craig Erwin, VP for Administration and Finance &CFO
- Tim O’Donnell, Provost
- Susan Worrell, Executive Director of Events
- Committee is staffed by Debra Schleef, Associate Provost, as part of IAE’s role in UMW’s room management
Bringing Matters of Space Before the Space Committee*
Requests for spaces should be brought up through supervisors and then eventually up to the Cabinet member for that area, who will bring the request before the full committee. Cabinet members themselves can identify strategic space needs as well to bring before the committee. If appropriate, the committee then makes a recommendation to the President, who has the final say about space issues. Decisions are conveyed to the appropriate Cabinet member to share with the requestors. Note that one space change can often depend on or result in other changes, and so request responses can be delayed as a result of related moves and/or funding for them.
Some Questions to Answer That Would Help the Committee’s Deliberations
- Why do you need new space? What has changed in your space needs? (e.g., have you outgrown current space, have health/safety issues with current space, etc.)
- What is the location, size, and make up of your current space? (square feet, number of rooms/offices/features)
- In what ways is your function student-facing or administrative?
- How many square feet do you need, including the number of individual offices/rooms?
- Are there specific essential requirements for the new space?
Criteria Used
There are often multiple demands for space and decisions about space cross multiple divisions and units and a variety of factors need to be weighed. The committee considers institutional need, programmatic need, costs (renovation), strategic priorities, health and safety, accessibility, the need to better take advantage of space utilization, and cross-unit needs, among other factors.
Starting in November 2021, the committee will regularly update the Leadership Council (which includes representatives from UFC, USC, and a number of units on campus) on space requests and issues that have come before it.
*To be clear, individual space reservations are handled by the 25Live system or Student Activities. This committee deals with longer term space allocation.