2.11.2 Physical Resources

Core Requirement: The institution has adequate physical resources to support the mission of the institution and the scope of its programs and services.

X  Compliance
     Partial Compliance
     Non-Compliance

Narrative:

Georgia State University (GSU) with about 27,000 students (head count) is the largest institution of higher education in the metropolitan Atlanta area and the second largest in the state of Georgia. It has about 5.6 million square feet of space in over 50 buildings [1]. While the majority of these buildings are located in downtown Atlanta, GSU also has facilities at North Metro Campus (Alpharetta, Fulton County), Brookhaven, Buckhead, Panthersville (DeKalb County), Henry County, and Mt. Wilson (California).

Georgia State enjoys the benefits and challenges of an urban institution. The campus environment is an essential and integral part of the university’s teaching, learning, research and service functions.

As a part of Georgia State University’s continuing striving for excellence, the University routinely updates its Master Plan. The most recent review shows that the university continues to operate at a deficit of facilities space even with the recent additions of the Aderhold Building, the Student Center, and the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

The university has a space deficit of nearly 600,000 assignable square feet (ASF). Based on growth projections through 2015, the physical plant will need to be doubled in size. Outdated buildings such as Kell Hall and Sparks Hall will need to be demolished and replaced. Other facilities, such as those at 35 Broad Street will need to be renovated for different uses to meet the projected demand. Requests have been submitted to the Board of Regents (BOR) of the University System of Georgia to assist with the deficit. And, to help with the growing need, the university has put in a request to the BOR to purchase the Citizens’ Trust Building located on Piedmont Road and with the assistance of the University Foundation will also have space in the SunTrust Office building located at Peachtree Street.

The university is a collection of largely disconnected individual properties. Many of the buildings were existing facilities acquired for instructional use. Today Georgia State occupies more than 40 buildings on 15 blocks in downtown Atlanta. The university continues to expand its facilities along with student enrollment.

Capital Planning Process

Every year in March, in response to the Office of Board of Regents (BOR) request, the Facilities Management Services Division (FMSD) prepares and submits a Five-Year Major and Minor Capital Request, and Annual Major Repair and Renovation (MRR) Funding Request. All the major and minor capital requests are prepared using BOR guidelines [2] and are based on the 1999 Main Street Campus Master Plan [3]. This Campus Master Plan was updated in 2006 to address the future building needs of the university. It projected a student enrollment of 32,000 by 2010 and 36,000 by 2015. The last FY 2008-2012 Capital Request for major projects totaled to $ 146 million, minor capital projects to $24 million and public/private partnership projects to $4.6 million [4]. For FY 2007 the University requested funding of $8 million for nineteen MRR regular and regulatory projects [5] & [6]. All these requests were reviewed, discussed and prioritized by Capital Budget and Space Allocation Committee (CBSAC), and the MRR Joint Planning and Development and Budget Committee (University Senate Sub-Committees of the Committee on Planning and Development).

CBSAC is responsible for approving all capital expenditures (if more than $25,000) and space changes and allocations across the campus [7]. It consists of members from the University Senate and the Student Government.  The Provost serves as the Chair of the Committee and it meets once every month.

Classroom Facilities Council (CFC) meets once every month to discuss the conditions and the technological needs of all classrooms across the campus. The Classroom Facilities Council, which is appointed by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, provides university-level coordination of planning, renovation, maintenance, equipping, and scheduling of general inventory classrooms by bringing together on a regular basis designated representatives of administrative and University Senate units with responsibilities for those classroom facility functions. The Classroom Facilities Council reports to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Maintenance and Operations:
The Facilities Management Services Division (FMSD) is responsible for planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation of all facilities at GSU. The goal of FMSD is to provide safe, clean, attractive and energy efficient buildings that are conducive to teaching, research, living and recreation activities. The FMSD meets its goals through a program of preventive maintenance and a customer focused system for response to specific customer requirements.  FMSD maintains and updates all the space and room inventories across the campus and provides this data to BOR and other constituent groups as required.

The preventive maintenance process is centered on a prioritized listing of critical equipment and represents approximately 54% of the department’s direct labor and material expenditures.  This process is used for those 50 major facilities located at the central campus area in downtown Atlanta and also for remote academic, research and recreational facilities.  The North Metro campus located in Alpharetta has all maintenance services provided through a private contractor.  The combination of preventive maintenance and recent major capital equipment replacements has resulted in a significant improvement in the working environment for students, faculty and staff.  Maintenance services are provided through an in house work force and selective contract services for roof repair, elevator maintenance, fire alarm systems, building environments controls, automatic door maintenance and fire protection systems.   Customers can place requests for special needs or report problems in their facilities through the customer center.  This single point of contact allows the customer to place their request for maintenance, design or construction services.  The customer center then channels the request to the appropriate branch of facilities while creating a computer record of each customer request for tracking and performance measurement purposes.

Through the various programs and committees in the University, every effort is made on a continuing basis to meet the physical resources of Georgia State University in support of its mission and vision.

 

Supporting Documentation:
  1. Georgia State University Building Space Data.
  2. Instructions for Preparation of Comprehensive Facilities Funding Request, Office of Facilities, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
  3. Georgia State University Main Street Campus Master Plan
  4. Georgia State University - Summary List of Requests for Five-Year Capital Projects (FY 2008- FY 2012), Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
  5. Georgia State University - Summary List of Requests for Major Repair and Renovation (Regular) Projects -FY 2006, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
  6. Georgia State University - Summary List of Requests for Major Repair and Renovation (Regulatory) Projects -FY 2007, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
  7. Georgia State University Capital Budget and Space Allocation Process.