2013-14 Operating & Capital Budget Plan - Cornell University ...

Space PlanningSuccessful space management depends upon an accurate and current inventory of spaceutilization as well as systematic reporting from that inventory. Over the last several years,the Division of Budget & Planning and the Division of Facilities Services have worked in asubstantial and coordinated way to collect and maintain high quality and useful data.Space Planning38This year, the two offices worked together to pulland analyze space data for the period 1996-2012. Thisexercise revealed some of the challenges in reportingpast utilization and creating a complete synopsis ofcurrent space utilization.• The electronic collection of inventory data beganin 1996. Of all the data elements that we can nowreport, only gross square footage (GSF) numberscan be published for years before 1996, and thesemust be estimated based on a combined analysisof map data and published records from a varietyof sources, including references to building sizeand dates of construction and demolition.• More precise calculation of net and net assignablesquare footages became possible with the deploymentof an upgraded web-based inventorysystem in 2010.• Spaces leased to Cornell and those leased byCornell to others were not separately trackedbefore 2010.• Some metrics can be reported for the entirety ofCornell, including net square feet, number ofbuildings owned and occupied, number of buildingsowned and leased to others, and number ofbuildings leased from others. Other metrics, especiallygross square footage, number of rooms,and net assignable square feet, can be reportedfor all locations except Weill Cornell MedicalCollege.In spite of some limitations, we are able to providespace trends and statistics. For example, Figure 10shows gross square feet per capita for undergraduatesonly and for all students since 1953. While space hasincreased per capita for undergraduates, the percapita space for all students has remained fairly constant.The figures on the facing page provide building,room, and square footage snapshots.Figure 10. Gross Square Feet per Undergraduate and Total Student