The paucity of available classroom and office space on campus has many ripple effects, from necessitating enrollment capping policies to the clamoring of departments for what little space is available. Throw in other college initiatives, like President Stephen Jordan’s goal of increasing the number of full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty to 60 percent, the strategic planning and campus master planning processes, the addition of master’s programs and the renovation of the Science building, and you get what might seem an unwieldy tangle of conflicting demands for space.

Enter the Space Planning, Allocation, and Resource Committee (SPARC), established in 2006 to coordinate college-wide planning with regard to allocation and use of space. SPARC has kept busy its first three years, and its activity level is about to increase. With the Student Success Building now slated to be completed by 2012, SPARC is beginning to plan not just for space in the building, but for the “backfill space” vacated by offices that will be moving into the new building.

Planning for backfill space
SPARC is developing a process to elicit comments from faculty and staff on how the backfill space created—estimated at a minimum of 50,000 square feet and expected to contain offices, specialty labs and classrooms—will be used. “We’re planning to get more feedback from the people who will be actually using the space on how new rooms should be laid out,” says Sean Nesbitt, director of facilities planning and SPARC co-chair.

For now, SPARC is focusing on how it gathers the necessary information;ultimately, planning will be tied to strategic plans, accreditation concerns and the president’s goal of preeminence. SPARC will meet over the summer, and the process should be finalized by September, when faculty return, Nesbitt says.

Bringing a “bird’s-eye view” to space planning
“In the past, no one would have planned in advance for backfill,” says David Kottenstette, associate professor of speech and theatre, who co-chairs SPARC with Nesbitt. “This is the first time Metro State’s ever had a dedicated facilities planner, looking out for the collective interest of the College. Before, it was just a free-for-all, with departments trying to grab whatever space they could.

“This process, with Sean’s position and with the involvement of SPARC, is a wonderful step forward for us as a college, and will enhance our overall strategic plan,” Kottenstette added.

To ensure that all voices are heard in the planning process, the membership of SPARC comprises constituents from different departments and different categories of College employees. (See http://www.mscd.edu/~sparc/about/membership.shtml for a list of members.) After incorporating feedback from various constituencies with strategic planning goals of the College, SPARC makes recommendations for the use of space to the President’s Cabinet or the vice presidents.

Kottenstette lauded Nesbitt’s “bird’s eye view” in factoring in multiple needs for space, citing the planning involved in filling the backfill space created by moves into the newly renovated and expanded Science Building. “Now, we don’t just have an empty space created by these moves, and then a rush to fill it. There’s a coordinated, well thought-out plan in place. This is the value that Sean’s position—and SPARC—bring to our Metro State.”