All buildings used by the campus - owned, shared or leased.

Buildings in which campus state supported activities occur or for in which state funds are used to support programs but owned by private enterprises (foundation, not-for-profit, for profit) must be included in BCI. Minimally, the rooms used or funded (leased) by campus state operations must be recorded within PSI.

The following structures are generally not recorded in PSI/BCI: band shells, fire towers, communications towers, lean to, pole barns, transformer pad, picnic pavilion, water towers.

For non-state supported activities in these non-owned facilities - i.e. incubator space, clinical practice, private profit/not-for profit - the respected spaces can be optionally created in PSI with a chart of account 03 (public service) function. If necessary, contact our office to establish a special chart of account(s) for these spaces. This approach enables the campus to record all space without impact on its space analysis results.

If the campus has control over the 24-hour assignment of space that is only occasionally scheduled, but is used for the duration of the Fall semester then it should be added to the inventory. For shorter durations or no control of space (i.e. an occasional class in a local high school), do not report in PSI.

Gross area is defined as the sum of all the floor areas of the building included within the outside faces of exterior walls for all stories, or areas that have floor surfaces.

Gross area should be computed by measuring from the outside face of exterior walls, disregarding cornices, pilasters, buttresses, etc., which extend beyond the wall face. Exclude areas having less than a six-foot, six-inch ceiling height. Measured in terms of gross square feet (GSF).

In addition to all the internal floored spaces obviously covered above, gross area should include basements (except unexcavated portions), attics, garages, enclosed porches, penthouses, mechanical equipment, floors, lobbies, mezzanines, all balconies (inside or outside), if they are utilized for operational functions; and corridors, provided they are within the outside faced lines of the building. Partial floors such as balconies and mezzanines are measured as if a plane were passed through that level of the building and the floor area is extended the entire width of the building, between the interior walls. This area will count as additional gross area. The footprints of stairways, elevator shafts, and ducts are to be counted as gross area on each floor through which they pass.

In an attic, if any portion of the attic is usable, then count the entire floor when computing OGSF. Only add the accessible portion (over 6'6", with floor) to the PSI.

Owned buildings must be added when construction is complete and the facility is occupied. (Note: Future buildings may be recorded on BCI.) Leased/shared building are added when the campus occupies the space in the building. The campus should identify the municipality in which an owned building resides.

A newly constructed building addition totaling more than 5,000 NSF or more than 25% of the existing structure should be added to the BCI as an additional building. The square footage of any connecting structure between a new and existing building should be included with the new building.

Owned buildings are deleted only if demolition occurs or if ownership is transferred out of SUNY (campus) control. Leased/shared buildings are deleted when the lease is terminated.

The campus can choose its' own building abbreviation and name within the data element field sizes. The abbreviation usually reflects the official building name. The building number is jointly assigned by the campus and SUCF. The campus can change the building abbreviation and/or name. The facility number can not be changed or revised since it is linked to several historic databases.

All leased space used to support a state program or paid for from state dollars must be recorded in the PSI with an appropriate building added to the BCI.

Campus provides M&O support:

If the campus is responsible for maintenance and/or cleaning of the leased facility, then the mechanical/circulation space should be included on the inventory and charged to '8606xxxxxx' (campus's maintenance or custodial account) using an appropriate mechanical and/or circulation space type code.

Landlord provides M&O support:

If the total square footage being leased includes mechanical and /or circulation space, then the PSI should include that space, even if the landlord is responsible for maintenance. The space can either be charged to the campus' custodial or maintenance account (as above) or to the department leasing the space using an appropriate mechanical and/or circulation space type code.

If the total NSF being leased does not include mechanical/circulation space, then the PSI may optionally include that space. The space can either be charged to the campus custodial or maintenance account; or to the department leasing the space. Using this approach the space is charged to a non-assignable space type, and will not be counted against the department in any utilization reports.

Since all campus owned or funded (leased) space must be recorded in BCI/PSI, spaces occupied by entities for which a standard campus department (chart of account) does not exist should use a department code with a 03 (public service) function. If necessary, contact our office to establish a special chart of account(s) for these spaces.

Examples would include other NYS agencies, private clinical practice plans, foundations, incubator companies, etc.

Future buildings should be added to BCI/PSI once construction is underway. This information is used for planning projections. The anticipated construction completion date (occupancy) is recorded in BCI and should be updated annually until the building is completed and becomes an "existing" building.

PSI spaces for future buildings are required; they can be added based on facility program as individual spaces or into broad categories using an aggregate "room" number for the respective space type, NSF, etc.

Both building abbreviation and facility number for future buildings are assigned by our office. When the building is recorded as an existing building, the campus can assign its' building abbreviation and the campuses and our office will jointly establish the facility number using standard conventions.

Spaces with more than one room number assigned to it (i.e. double corridor rooms; multiple entrances with different room numbers) must be treated as a single space using only one room number. It is recommended that the practice of using the lowest room number be used for PSI as well as CASA and PCS.

Report the number of floors (stories) in the building. Include basements, attics and others if usable (6'6" height with usable flooring). Do not report balconies, mezzanines and penthouses as separate floors.

If a building is built on a hill and part of the basement is below grade and part is above grade then report the entire floor as above grade. If three floors are above grade for half the building and four floors are above grade for the other half of the building, report the highest number (four) of floors for that building.

If a building has a full-size basement level and a smaller basement level below that (sub-basement). Report that two floors are below grade.

In counting the number of stations in a room, remember that the intent is to count the number of occupants who can appropriately be accommodated in the room.

Number of stations is determined by the design intent, not by the number of chairs that happen to be in the room at the moment the inventory is taken. For instance, a room may be designed to hold fifteen student stations but has only twelve chairs at the moment; the number of stations would be fifteen. Conversely, if current safety codes limit occupancy to fifteen and there are twenty chairs, the station count should be fifteen.

Classrooms are usually calculated as:

Lecture Hall:

Class Lab:

The number of stations in a laboratory is often determined by the fixed equipment in the room, such as sinks and counter space, or fume hoods.

NOTE: where a station is designed to accommodate two or three students rather than just one, count the number of students who will be served.

Reported number of stations should reflect occupancy posting limitations.

Following space type require stations to be reported.

Net square footage is measured wall to wall at floor level deducting any protruding walls or abutments.

Do not include pipe chases in NSF. They are part of the interior structure of the building and are not accessible space.

Circulation area within department assigned space:

If a department area is configured with multiple rooms or work stations with open areas for internal circulation, all the space should be assigned to the respective department using space codes appropriate to the servicing of that particular space type if one of the following conditions is met:

Lab Spaces

PSI utilizes seven (7) space types for classification of class labs and one (1) for research lab. Additionally, each lab space type has a corresponding lab service space type. PSI space type definitions distinguish between regularly scheduled labs, informally scheduled and individual study/practice labs. Station utilization is measured for lab space types 1300, 1302, 1303, 1304 and 1306.

Careful distinction between instruction and spectator space is necessary. This may require proration of individual spaces.

H&PE space that is being used for an instructional class should be assigned to an account with function "00" and space type "1600" (phys. ed. class). The number of stations should reflect the number of students that could participate in that class. We would expect to find an entry on the schools Course and Section Analysis (CASA) that would contain weekly student contact hours (WSCOH) for this space. If the same space is used for non-instructional purposes, e.g. student/staff recreational use of a handball court, the space would be prorated to an account with function "05". This proration would be considered student services/staff benefits and not instructional space.

Improper recording of these situations will negatively report instruction station utilization.

Unassigned spaces include: space type 7800 (inactive), 7850 (unusable), 7900 (under alteration) or status code N (inactive), U (unusable), A (under alteration).

These spaces are analyzed as potentially available for program use based upon space upgrade or completion of a rehabilitation project. If the space is not under alteration or renovation and is not unusable because of some physical defect, then the space should be classified as inactive. These three space types make up the inactive space in the functional space types.

Unassignable space is that space not available for programs and can not be assigned to an occupant or specific use. This is mechanical and circulation space (space codes 76xx, 77xx). There should be at least one entry per floor of mechanical/circulation space. Elevator shafts and stairways are reported as circulation with a NSF assigned as a plane through each floor.

Classroom (space type 1001) and lecture hall (space type 1100) rooms are treated as campus wide facilities for space planning and analysis purposes. It is the intent that these spaces not be treated as "owned/assigned" to specific departments. Campuses may assign these spaces to special chart of account 400000 - general instruction.

Department should be standard childcare chart of account (usually 860580 - check your campus official or special chart of account). There could be many different types of space in a child care facility, but they should all be assigned to the standard account. Spaces assigned to space types 75xx, 76xx or 77xx will be considered unassignable, regardless of the account.

Department should be standard ASC chart of accounts (usually 901050, 981110 - check your campus official or special chart of account).

Use of residential chart of account 8709XX (XX is any value) can be used in dorm and non-dorm building and is basis for space allocation between residential (DIFR) vs. non-residential.

Deans and above in an academic area are assigned an administrative function (departmental function "07"), therefore use space type 5000 - administrative office. Department chairs and below should be in an I&DR function with space type 3001 - faculty office.

A general rule of thumb would be the account code paying the person's salary (i.e., function) determines PSI space department and space type. If additional activities, i.e. dean performing instruction in his office, prorate to an I&DR department (departmental function "00"). A change of space type would be appropriate.

 

Faculty and students usually do some level of research (referred to as departmental research). Research done which is not sponsored is assumed to be departmental research (I&DR account function is "00"). Sponsored research (outside funding) space would be assigned to a department with function code "02".

Research and research support space can include graduate student work space, graduate teaching assistants' offices, post-doctoral offices, offices for other research and technical staff, departmental reading rooms and space required to augment typical faculty offices, where appropriate (e.g., studio offices, lab offices and seminar offices). Those departments, which require non-medical clinics (e.g. reading, speech, psychology, etc.), can also derive space from this category.

The space should be prorated using the two accounts if both departmental research and sponsored research take place in the same space.

If no instruction is supported by the space (no WSCOH) the reported space type for a research lab would be "2001" and a faculty office would be "3001".

All research and development activities that are sponsored by federal, non-federal agencies and other organizations. For most campuses, the federal sponsored research is administered by the Research Foundation of SUNY's activities.

PSI can record space assignments to reflect the sponsored research inventory. This is accomplished by creating a 'special' chart of account with the 02 function for the respective department. Rooms can be recorded 100% or prorated to their special department numbers.

Separately organized research divisions such as research bureaus, research institutes, and experimental stations are organized research. These units are independent of and separately budgeted from any other academic department. Spaces for organized research are entered in the PSI with a function "02" chart of account code. Examples of organized research are:

Institute of Theoretical Physics
Marine Science Research Center
Atmospheric Science Research Center
Western New York Nuclear Research Center

 

Class labs (1300) not used for specific department instruction WSCOH, but used as a campus wide resource should be charged to special chart of account 8600970000.

This specific chart of account is reported as campus-wide facility with classrooms and lecture halls.

For medical student instruction (regardless of the level of student), the space involved would be I&DR (departmental function "00"). Medical, hospital and clinical activities should be assigned to departments with function "13" (hospitals and clinics).

Department should be standard sponsored research chart of account in the administrative function - 07 (usually supports campus based Research Foundation of SUNY administrative activities).

On occasion a space user does not have an official SUNY chart of account (department) – e.g. sponsored research (function "02") within a standard I&DR department, non-campus entities, etc. In these instances our office can be contacted to establish a "special" account which then supplements the official campus chart of accounts for space assignment.

Clinical space is put into one of the three functions when assigning a department:

Operated to supplement an academic program for student practice. Usually supported by campus operating funds. Assigned to department with organized activity function (01).

Clinical practice plans at health science centers and Optometry. Assigned to department with hospital function (13).

Community outreach and/or reimbursement basis. Assigned to department with public service function (03).

As of result of this departmental assignment, functions 01 and 13 will fall into organized activities on the functional space report and function 03 will be reported as public service.

 

The 3^rd and 4^th position of the department (chart of account) identifies function.

Public service (function 03)

In addition to campus activity qualifying as public service, external uses of campus space should be reported with a special chart of account reflecting purpose 03.

Organized Activity (function 01)

Organized activities include enterprises organized and operated in conjunction with instructional departments and conducted to give professional training to students.

Organized Research (function 02)

In addition to budgeted bureaus, institutes and experimental stations, sponsored research can be recorded with a special chart of account reflecting purpose 02.

Instructional and Departmental Research (function 00)

Should not include organized research: neither sponsored nor budget organized research. Only departmental research should be included.

PSI provides for recording of multiple (up to nine) splits of a room's assignment. Each split is assigned a line number

Prorations allow for a room

Prorations result in a split of NSF and number of stations for reporting. The percentage associated with each proration is based on percent time multiplied by percent space.

Parking areas have specific types: 7100 (parking facility), 7110 (surface parking - permanent), 7115 (surface parking - temporary), 7120 (parking facility service) and 7125 (parking facility - leased).

One building abbreviation can be used for all campuses surface parking and each individual lot will be entered as a unique room on the PSI. The surface parking building need not be entered on the BCI. For instance, SURPAR LOTA, SURPAR LOTB, SURPAR LOTC, etc., could be used to identify the parking lot building and room on the PSI to report three parking lots. The type of parking is identified by the space code and its capacity (actual number of parking spaces) entered as the number of stations. Zero net square feet is recorded for parking space type records. There is a separate field to enter the parking square footage, which should contain zero for non-parking areas. There is also a field to indicate whether this parking area is lighted.

A parking garage, however, should be treated as any other building and added to the BCI. Any enclosed spaces within the garage (attendant booth, mechanical space, etc.) should be added to the PSI with the appropriate space type. Each actual parking decks should be entered with space type "7100" and treated like surface parking, as described above.