InfWeb
School of Informatics Intranet
Contact us

Room allocation policy

Informatics policy on room allocation for staff and students.

The aim of the School’s room allocation policy is to ensure fair and equitable provision of space for Informatics staff and students. There is no perfect algorithm for allocating space to people or activities, nor is there a single optimal allocation of people to rooms. Instead we must reach an allocation that is the best balance we can reasonably achieve between conflicting constraints. We achieve this by setting a broad policy for allocation that leaves room for practical adjustment. 

Academic staff

  • We seek to give single occupancy offices to academic staff with a contract of 0.6 FTE or more. Academic staff with contracts of less than 0.6 FTE will normally share an office with other academic staff. 

  • All staff on leave of absence (LOA) will be expected to tidy their office/desk, to allow the space to be used in their absence, generally by visitors or, where the absence is for a substantial duration, by other staff. 

  • Staff on sabbatical and on maternity leave will be consulted to discuss their plans, to explore opportunities for the space to be temporarily used by visitors or other staff.

  • Staff who are working remotely for a significant portion of their contract on a permanent or extended period of time, may be asked to share an office.

University Teachers, Research, Professional Services and Technical Staff: 

  • Research, professional services and technical staff funded on a School of Informatics contract will be allocated a desk in a shared office for the duration of their contract. Part-time staff may be asked to share a desk but this will be avoided where possible.
  • For research staff, where possible, the desk allocated will be situated within, or close to, the appropriate Research Group, Institute or Principal Investigator.
  • For professional services and technical staff, where possible, the desk allocated will be situated with, or as near as possible to, the team within which they work.

PGR Students:

  • PGR students will be allocated space in a shared office, as outlined in the School’s PGR Student desk allocation policy.

Link to Student desk allocation policy

Visitors

  • Hot-desking facilities are offered to visitors who are approved as resident visitors, however are unable to guarantee dedicated desk space, due to limited availability. 
  • Short term visitors who require a dedicated desk, rather than access to a hot desk, will share their host’s office by either a small second desk being set up, use of the host’s desk or use of the host’s meeting table (if available).
  • Where possible, eminent and longer term visitors will be given dedicated space for the duration of their visit in offices temporarily vacant from staff on LOA, sabbatical or maternity/parental leave (refer Academic Staff above).
  • Refer to the School’s visitor policy for details of resources made available to visitors.

Link to Visitor policy

Allocation responsibility

The Facilities team have overall responsibility for:

  • Oversight of the allocation and use of all space within the School’s Estate including maintaining records of how space has been allocated and who has delegated responsibility for managing the allocated space (eg. Graduate School, Teaching, Research Labs, etc).
  • Making recommendations to the Deputy Director of Professional Services and/or Director of Professional Services on reallocation of space that is under-utilised or at capacity.
  • Allocating offices and/or desk space to academic, research, professional services and technical staff and to visitors, making recommendations to the Deputy Director of Professional Services and/or Director of Professional Services on.

Delegated Responsibilities: 

  • PGR Student Space: Specific space is allocated within the School’s Estate for PGR student use. The Graduate School has delegated responsibility for managing that allocated space and for liaising with Facilities for any maintenance required or changes to use of the space. Facilities retain overall responsibility for ensuring the space is being used effectively.
  • Teaching and Study Space: Specific space is allocated within the School’s Estate for taught student use (ie. teaching and study space, including computer labs). The Teaching Office has overall responsibility for managing that allocated space and for liaising with Facilities and Computing for any maintenance or equipment required or for changes to use of the space. Given the number of areas of the School involved in use and set-up of teaching and student study space, a sub-group of buildings committee will be set up to meet periodically to discuss intended use of the spaces – particularly during preparation for a new academic year. Facilities retain overall responsibility for ensuring the space is being used effectively.
  • Research Laboratories: Specific space is allocated for research laboratories. Each such space must have an assigned Lab Manager, which in many cases may be an academic staff member with lead responsibility for the lab. Lab Managers have responsibility for managing the space allocated to them, with Facilities retaining overall responsibility for ensuring the space is being used effectively. 

 

 

Policy Approved by: Strategy Committee August 2022

This article was published on