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FACILITIES SERVICES ALLOCATION

One of the goals of RCM is to develop a plan that fairly allocates facilities costs to all Responsibility Centers. This benefits the University by requiring Responsibility Centers to include the cost of space in their decision making process. The University has opted for a simple allocation methodology over complex ones. Under the current structure, UNH Facilities Services functions as the primary provider of facilities management, and that arrangement will continue. UNH is better served by one service provider for each type of service currently offered by Facilities Services; however, this provider must be expected to provide competitive rates for services. In some circumstances, a portion of those duties will be delegated to specific to RCM units (e.g. COLSA for Farm Properties). Delegation decisions rest with the Vice President for Finance and Administration.

Facilities Services comprises the following major operations:

In general, net facilities services costs are charged to units on a net square foot basis. Net costs of the above operations are divided by total net square footage for the University (as defined below) to arrive at an assessment rate per square foot. This option provides the simplest, most equitable method of charging facilities costs to RCM units.

Net square foot defined:
Net square footage equals gross square footage less common areas such as halls, bathrooms, stairways, and foyers, as documented in the UNH space management system.
Exceptions to the standard allocation rate:

Classrooms
 The majority of classrooms are controlled by the Registrar’s Office. A small number of labs or large conference rooms are controlled at the Academic Unit level. Maintaining classrooms centrally provides for scheduling flexibility at the campus level. Net facilities costs for classrooms controlled by the Registrar’s Office will be allocated to the Registrar’s Office based on the square footage of those classrooms. Charges for classrooms or laboratories under the control of a specific RC unit will be levied directly against that unit.

Quality of Space
The University has refrained from subjectively rating the quality of space. One could argue that a "poor" space should receive a discount on the cost per square foot charge or, conversely, that it should be charged additionally for requiring more maintenance and electricity than newer, more efficient spaces.
To avoid this ambiguity and the debate about "quality," we have chosen to simplify the model by averaging facilities costs across all square feet regardless of quality. Equitable, efficient, and manageable, this approach should be used in conjunction with decentralized budgeting.

Changes in space ownership
See attached procedure: "Space Management Under RCM"

Changes in space usage
Any significant changes in space usage must be approved prior to the change by SARRC. An example would be conversion of a classroom to a laboratory.

Space rental/leasing
Under RCM, each RC unit is charged for its share of the costs of physical space. While these units are responsible for managing their assigned space in cooperation as needed with the Facilities Division, they are not owners of the space. Hence, units are not permitted to lease, rent, or otherwise provide their assigned space to other RC units or outside agencies. The Space Allocation/R&R Committee (SARRC) is the University governance body charged with assigning space, on both a temporary and/or permanent basis. Requests for changes in space allocation should be endorsed by the President or appropriate Vice President and forwarded to SARRC for review and approval.

Level of Service Provided
Facilities Services has issued a summary of "standard" services to be provided to RC units for the square footage allocation. Any services provided to a RC unit per its request that are not listed as "standard" by Facilities Services will be charged to the unit based on a negotiated rate.

Separate Cost Pools
Business Affairs auxiliaries are responsible for funding their own facilities service pool. A separate pool will be set up for the aggregate of units under the square footage allocation. Funds placed in that pool can only be used on work pertaining to the units that funded the pool, therefore no cross-subsidization exists. Excess funds would remain in each pool for future use.

Repairs and Renovations
Funding for Repair and Renovation projects will be the responsibility of the Space Allocation Repair and Renovation Committee (SARRC) and will not be influenced by RCM allocations.

Central Budget Committee
The Central Budget Committee (CBC) comprising users from each unit (deans, directors, faculty and staff) will assure that the Facilities budget and cost allocation method are equitable and feasible. Reviews will be done on a periodic basis.

Space Management under RCM

Corvey Memo on Transfers of Space "Ownership"

Because RCM attaches a cost to each net square foot (NSF) of space, it is anticipated that some units may want to consider relinquishing space while others may want to consider acquiring space. All units must adhere to the following procedures regarding changes in space to ensure that the space file reflects current RC unit control and that negotiations and disputes are properly resolved:

General:
All changes in space must be reported by RC Units to Facilities Business Service Center by January 31 for the changes to be reflected in the coming fiscal year's facilities services allocation pending approval by SARRC (see procedures below). Any changes received after that date will not be reflected until the following fiscal year. For example, a change received on February 1, 2004 will not be reflected in the facilities services allocation until Fiscal Year (FY) 2005.

Relinquishing of Existing Space:
1. RC units wishing to relinquish space must contact the Facilities Business Service Center and provide a complete description of the space they intend to relinquish.

2. The Facilities Business Service Center will forward the details of the relinquishment request to SARRC which will review and consider the request for approval. SARRC will evaluate requests based on condition of, potential use of, and access to the space.

3. If approved by SARRC, Facilities Business Service Center will be notified and will update the space file to reflect the change.

4. Facilities Business Service Center will notify the RC unit of the change and the effective date of vacancy.

5. If not approved by SARRC, Facilities Business Service Center will be notified of the reasons why and in turn notify the RC unit.

Acquiring Existing Space:
1. Requests to acquire space should be made by RC units to the Facilities Business Service Center specifying the amount of space (NSF) required and the type of space (lab, office, etc.) desired. The Facilities Business Service Center will forward such requests to SARRC along with available space. SARRC will approve space acquisitions.

2. A unit relinquishing space may have identified a potential new user of the space. The request to transfer space to another user must be sent to the Facilities Business Service Center who will then forward to SARRC for consideration.

3. If space acquisition is approved by SARRC, the Facilities Business Service Center will be notified and will update the space file to reflect the change.
4. The Facilities Business Service Center will notify the RC unit of the change and the effective date of vacancy.

5. If not approved by SARRC, the Facilities Business Service Center will be notified of the reasons why and in turn notify the RC unit.

Acquiring New Space:
From time to time, new square footage will be added to the campus. Minor square footage additions will follow the procedures outlined above for existing space. This section is applicable for capital projects (construction of new buildings or major expansions/renovations). New space will also be subject to facilities space allocation beginning with the next fiscal year. The following procedures apply to new space:

1. SARRC is responsible for space assignments in the new building. Space assignments must be communicated to Facilities Business Service Center.

2. Facilities Business Service Center is responsible for measurements and drawings for the new space. The characteristics of the new space will be recorded in the space file database once all measurements are confirmed.

3. The space file Net Square Footage at 1/31 of any given year will be used as the basis for the Facilities Services allocation to all units under RCM for the following fiscal year. This means that the space file as of 1/31/03 is used to calculate the allocation for FY04. If new space is added on 4/1/03, it will not be added to the allocation base until the following fiscal year (FY05). New space will not be added to the allocation base until the square footage can be reasonably estimated.

4. There are incremental costs that will be incurred by Facilities Services to maintain the new space - utilities, maintenance and housekeeping. To the extent they can be forecasted, they should be built into the fiscal year budget. As an example, a new 18,000 GSF building is due to be on line in the Fall of FY04. It can be estimated that there will be about $90,000 (18,000 GSF * $5) in additional Facilities operations costs associated with this space for FY02. This should be built into the FY05 budget to be reallocated to all NSF RC units based on NSF as of 1/31/04. As such, all NSF RC units will share in the costs of new space for the first year (if on line after 1/31). For the second year and beyond, new space will become part of the allocation base and will be aligned with costs. If the building is a Business Affairs building, the additional costs will be passed on to Business Affairs and not redistributed to NSF RC units.

5. All costs associated with "swing space" is assigned to Facilities Services and are reallocated to the RC units using the NSF and contract (in the case of Business Affairs) methodologies. This is because use of this space is not permanent and units should only be charged directly for "permanent" use of space.
6. In addition, the following must be considered by a unit when evaluating the creation of new space:
If construction of a new building is State-funded, the University will include in its request to the State funding for incremental Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs. The Central Budget Committee will determine the adjustment (increase) in the RC units' permanent University Fund allocation necessary to offset incremental increases in the RC unit's Facilities Services allocation.

Appendix 1

Facilities Services Calculation by RC Unit

This is a detailed methodology of how Facilities Services net expenses are distributed to RC units.
Calculation of Facilities costs by RC unit: