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Washington State University
Washington State University Office of the Provost

Decision Making Criteria

The following criteria are considered in determining whether or not to add, to keep, upgrade or delete a general classroom as it relates to:

  1. What other GUC’s are available
  2. A college, area, or departmental request for reassignment of a GUC to their department for a different use of the space;
  3. Campus and state space utilization goals. The criteria are also used in decisions about when and if to renovate or upgrade a specific room or set of rooms.

Utilization (min. 2 yrs. history)

  • Size and Capacity: Total sqft of the room and seating station capacity amount for room scheduling.
  • Hours Occupied: Utilization in terms of student contact hours in scheduled classes per week.
  • Fullness Ratio: Actual number of students in room compared to total capacity of the room.
  • Target Comparison: Overall actual utilization compared to target utilization level.
  • Replacement Availability: Are other classrooms available to absorb displaced classes?

Quality (of classroom)

  • Furnishings: Amount, type, quality of furnishings (seating, white/chalkboard, window treatm., etc.).
  • Configuration: Arrangement of seating, depth/width of room, entry/exit locations, location in bldg, etc.
  • Environmental: Air quality, HVAC, lighting, windows, acoustics, etc.
  • Maintenance: Historical, current and projected maintenance required by Fac. Ops. and users.

Building

  • Site: Consideration to location site in a region or zone in terms of entire campus.
  • Proximity: Proximity and site relationships with other classrooms in the building or on campus.
  • Configuration: Bldg. configuration and classroom location in relation to non-classroom spaces in the building, e.g. restrooms, stairs, elevators, hallway congestion, traffic flows, etc.
  • Renovation: Potential Consideration of potential future major capital project for the building.
  • New Construction Effect: Consideration of potential future major cap. projects for other bldgs. affecting this one.

Equipment

  • Type: Type, style and capability of audio/visual equipment.
  • Amount: Total amount/level of audio/visual equipment in the classroom.
  • Quality: Quality and functionality of audio/visual equipment.
  • Utilization: Historical and projected use of A/V equipment in the classroom.

Users

  • Students: Student preferences.
  • Faculty: Instructional faculty preferences.
  • Historical: Historical user departments/disciplines and classes scheduled in the classroom.
  • Department: Proximity Location site in terms of proximity of departments historically scheduled in the room and departments that might potentially use the classroom in the future.

Accessibility

  • ADA: Is building ADA accessible? Is classroom ADA accessible? Does classroom provide existing or potential capability for ADA services (for hearing impaired, visually impaired, other.)

Available Budget

Impact on State Standards