5.6 Data Analysis and Reporting

The array of building, room/space, function, and academic discipline data elements described previously enable an institution to generate and analyze a wide variety of information for analysis, reporting, planning, and decisionmaking. Following are examples of the types of internal (intrainstitutional) reports that can be generated from these types of data, and the types of questions to which such reports can provide answers.

1. Reports by building:
   1. Detailed space-by-space listings for each building. This report will answer questions such as:
      1. What is the use of each space?
      2. What is each space’s floor area and number of stations?
      3. To what institutional organizational unit is it assigned?
   2. Summaries for each building by space use category, by functional category, and by organizational unit. These summaries can answer such questions as:
      1. How many spaces are there in the building by each space use category? How many square feet of space are there in each space use category for that building?
      2. How many spaces are assigned to each organizational unit in the building by each space use category?
      3. How many spaces are assigned to each academic discipline or functional category in the building by each space use category?
      4. How many square feet does each organizational unit have in the building?
      5. What is the ratio of net assignable area to gross area in that building?
      
      Figure 5-2 illustrates a report of a campus summary by space use category, formatted in the same manner as figure 3-1, Conceptual framework for analyzing building space, in chapter 3.
2. Reports by organizational unit (and/or by academic discipline and functional use):
   1. Detailed list of each space by the organizational unit to which it is assigned. This report can address such questions as:
      1. What spaces are assigned to this organizational unit, by space use category?
      2. In what buildings are those spaces located?
   2. Summaries by space use category and by building. These summaries can answer questions such as:
      1. What is the total area assigned to each organizational unit, by space use category?
      2. What is the total assignable area assigned to that unit and the percentage of each building that it occupies?
      3. What is the total area assigned to each organizational unit in all buildings?
3. Reports by space use category:
   1. Detailed list of all spaces by space use category. This report can answer such questions as:
      1. How many classrooms (or laboratories, or offices, etc.) does the institution have?
      2. What is the area and number of stations in each?
   2. Summaries by space use category. This report can answer a question such as:
      1. What is the area of each space use category within the institution?

Figure 5-2. Sample campus summary, by space use category

4. Comparisons of the capacity of the facilities with their actual utilization. Note: These reports depend on being able to link the facilities files with current utilization records. These reports can answer such questions as:
   1. For each type or size of classroom or laboratory, what percentages of each type of spaces are in use at each hour of the day? How many hours per week are certain spaces in use, and for what purposes? Are there “valleys” in the utilization pattern that could be better scheduled?
   2. For classrooms or laboratories with different numbers of stations, what percentages of the stations are used at each hour? Where could more students be accommodated?
   3. Based on standards or criteria the institution or system wishes to use, how many students (or weekly student contact hours) can be accommodated in the existing physical plant? Does the institution have enough space? Too much? What categories of space are needed to accommodate additional students or program changes?
5. Uses of the facilities inventory database for space management and facility management decisions, to answer such questions as:
   1. What are the options for finding space for Professor X?
   2. With the shift in enrollment patterns, can some of the space assigned to Department Z be made available to Department Y?
   3. If I plan to repaint all classrooms every 8 years but complete whole buildings one at a time, how can I best schedule all the buildings, knowing the number of classrooms and approximate square footage and stations available?

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