Research Resource and Space Policy

Policy Details

Effective Date:

November 10, 2020

Supersedes:

COM Administrative Policies Initially Adopted February 28, 2007; amended June 1, 2009; September 30, 2010; January 19, 2011; June 12, 2012; May 10, 2013; July 10, 2014; November 10, 2020.

Responsible Authority:

Senior Associate Dean for Research

Policy Statement

The Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine is committed to the pursuit of medical and scientific knowledge and supports faculty efforts to engage in research and scholarly activities. The College allocates University space needed to support these activities, ranging from space assignments for office- based scholarly activity and common laboratory space for unfunded research and research training, to complex space support for funded research programs. The College is responsible for the prudent allocation of University space in a manner that is consistent with the missions of the College and the University.

The primary goal of research space allocation in the College is to support the growth and vitality of externally-funded faculty research programs, which in turn can provide sustainable support for our core missions in the areas of teaching, research and innovation. Recognizing the importance and limitations of existing research space resources in the College, space allocations must support core objectives and align with strategic growth plans. Research space allocations in the College therefore aim to support sponsored research growth, including the growth of training programs, the ongoing work of productive faculty, the development of new faculty recruits and the growth of needed cores and shared resources.

The criteria listed below will be used by a research space review committee to make research space assignment recommendations to the Dean. The committee will make use of all needed data to inform space reviews, including assessments of funding, equipment needs, student training and staffing. This committee will be empaneled by the senior Associate Dean for Research, and comprised of leadership stakeholders charged with assuring program growth and success in the College (e.g., relevant Chairs, research and graduate faculty, and program leadership). Recommendations from this committee to the Dean will be based on a consideration of all relevant factors listed. Department chairs will work closely with the committee to assess faculty and departmental needs. The Dean will make assignments based on due consideration of recommendations, as well as consideration of the overall needs of the College.

Recommendations for space allocation will recognize the diversity of research programs and individual space needs. Space allocations for cores and shared resources, subject to periodic needs-assessments, will also be an important goal of the space management effort. With respect to space allocations to support funded research, priority will be given to full indirect cost (IDC) external sponsored research funding, with space assignments for research funding with less than full IDC based on availability and overall College needs. Priority will also be given to the support of research interest groups or clusters based on common research interest, complementary research expertise and/or shared technology, including funded collaborative or interdisciplinary research supporting the university strategic plan.

Recommendations by the committee will strive to support the continuity of successful programs, foster collaborations, and minimize disruptions to work in the event of a lapse in funding. Space allocation following a reduction or loss of sponsored research funding will consider the prior history of funding and the years since prior funding, and-whenever possible- utilize a phased step-down approach to gradually reduce space allocation when needed. This approach will support the availability of space that can be used for new allocations to faculty who receive new grant funding, without greatly penalizing faculty demonstrating a history of successful grant funding, for a temporary funding lapse.

Within all these priorities and principles, consideration will be given to tenured and tenure track faculty, together with their associated research track faculty, based on the investment of the institution in this group of faculty.

It should be noted that basic research space for scholarly activity including unfunded research, not limited by the criteria below, will also be available as assigned, including space within common laboratory areas. In support of our research mission, tenure-track faculty researchers requiring laboratory space that have an annual research assignment will receive a minimum of 120 sq ft. Furthermore, changes in space allocation will take place on an as needed basis upon the awarding of new grants to existing faculty, recruitment of new faculty, and the availability of space.

To ensure fairness, space allocation changes will be based upon points generated as described in the Space Matrix below, which takes into account the following evaluation criteria:

1. Annual external research dollars (both direct and indirect). As a first priority, the external dollars faculty currently have and the space needed to execute the scientific aims of those active projects will be considered.
2. Research personnel and students
   1. Research Assistant Professors, Post-doctoral fellows, Technicians, PhD students and MS Thesis students (i.e. the research personnel paid on grants as well as the graduate level trainees working in the space).
   2. MS Non-thesis students and Undergraduate and Graduate students enrolled in DIS/DIR.
3. Past History of funding. Annual average research dollars over the past 5 years (both direct and indirect) will be considered.
4. Additional criteria that may be considered: need for space contiguous to other investigators, space needs related to the specialized nature of the research methodology, including safety requirements that may be specific to individual labs, and space needs related to funded collaborative or interdisciplinary research supporting the college’s strategic plan.

Space Matrix