Space Allocation Process 

All space at Sonoma County Junior College District / Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) belongs to the District and is allocated by the District to meet the needs of the District. Space is a limited resource and consequently must be managed in a responsible manner to best advance the District’s mission and strategic priorities. Flexibility is needed to respond to changes in District priorities, curriculum, instructional practices, inter-program coordination, and workflow. As such, decisions about space allocation need to be made carefully, be data and planning driven, involve consultation with all affected stakeholders and be consistent with District guidelines in the support of students. Space will be allocated to ensure occupants have the physical environment best suited to their role in the organization and to the benefit of SRJC. Final decisions affecting space will be made by the Superintendent / President or designee. This process is intended to be used when a department is requesting moving into new space that they are not currently occupying.    

Guiding Principles 

The following guiding principles will be used in conjunction with the space allocation process: 

  • All space requests will be reviewed on a best practice basis that will support the overall educational mission and strategic priorities of the District’s academic programs and support services and within District’s facilities and strategic master plans. 

  • All space is owned by the District and assigned for a particular work-related need. 

  • The District will endeavor to provide each program with sufficient space to carry out its mission. 

  • Every effort will be made to allocate District space equitably. 

  • Space allocations are made to administrative and academic divisions, not specific individuals. 

  • Space assignments will be made with full attention to health, safety, security, and accessibility issues. 

  • A division or department will not generally be required to submit a space assignment request in cases where new employees are being assigned to the same space(s) as their predecessors. 

  • Repurposing of instructional space for non-instructional use (i.e., converting a classroom to office space) is discouraged and generally should occur only on a last-option basis. 

  • Whenever possible, programmatically similar or supporting departments will be in a proximate or contiguous fashion to optimize shared resources and synergies. Similarly, proximity of a management team member to their supervised staff should be attained whenever possible. 

  • Whenever possible, space allocations should meet functional design requirements with the goal of minimizing renovations, alterations, and associated expenditures. 

  • To efficiently maximize space usage, common use spaces (e.g., conference rooms, meeting rooms, storage areas) must be shared among departments and be made available to other departments. 

  • Space that is specifically allocated to a department on a time-limited basis shall be vacated and returned to the District as unassigned space when the time has ended. 

  • Individual faculty members and administrators will not generally be assigned more than one private office. 

  • Space will be assigned to functions in the following priority order: 1) instruction; 2) student services; 3) operations; 4) administration; and 5) community uses unless a necessary exception can be clearly identified and thoroughly evaluated. 

Space Allocation Approval Process 

All allocation of workspace, office moves, and relocations must be approved prior to any occupation of space. Approval is complete only after completing the application process and the application form is fully executed. 

The procedure for planning and receiving approval for space is as follows: 

  1. Requestors shall prepare and submit a Space Allocation Move Request form. Requests should also be included in the PRPP. The completed form shall be submitted to the requestor's supervising administrator. 

  1. Space request(s) may be considered by the supervising administrator if the space allocation request meets one or more of the approved criteria. Supervising administrators are encouraged to submit multiple request forms at one time if a move or reallocation involves more than one department. 

      The following are approved priority criteria for new space allocation or changes to space allocation: 

  • Meet the needs of students  
  • Medical or ADA accommodation (as approved by the Vice President, Human Resources) 
  • Safety and health requirements 
  • New hire and/or expansion of program 
  • Operational efficiency as it pertains to the strategic master plan, educational master plan, enrollment management plan and facilities master plan. 
  • Personnel related matters (as approved by the Vice President, Human Resources) 

  1. Upon review, consideration and approval by the requesting supervising administrator, the Space Allocation Request form will be forwarded to the area Vice President (Executive Dean for Petaluma) to bring to the Vice Presidents for consideration. 

  1. Upon approval from the Vice Presidents, the Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services will review the request in consultation with all affected operating departments including Information Technology, Media Services, site managers and Facilities Operations. 

  1. Once feedback is gathered, the Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services will bring back to the Vice Presidents for discussion and to make a recommendation to the President’s Cabinet. Final authorization will be made by the President’s Cabinet.  

  1. Once approved, operating departments responsible for carrying out the moves will agree upon and determine the dates of the moves. Whenever possible, faculty leaving for break will be notified of their approved move one month prior to the end of the semester to allow sufficient time to prepare for the move. 

  1. Once a space reallocation is completed any vacated space shall remain vacant and shall not be occupied until a new space allocation request is fully approved. 

Exigent Circumstances 

Should there be an urgent need to reallocate an individual or individuals for safety, code compliance issues, construction or other urgent need, the Vice President of Finance and Administrative Services may provisionally authorize the move on a temporary basis until the issue has been resolved or a permanent space allocation request form is approved. 

Space Allocation Costs 

If it is found that a reallocation of space will cause costs beyond physical labor and planning of SRJC operations employees, packing materials and minor space upgrades such as painting, carpet cleaning, revamping and management of existing cabling and telecommunications equipment, the cost will be borne by the requesting department. 

The exception to this is when the move is required as part of a capital project and approved as part of that project budget.