Policy and Guidelines

Charge

The Classroom Committee is a standing committee of the University Facilities Planning Board (UFPB) and the activities of the Committee include:

• Review classroom utilization trends.
• Assess the competing demands for instructional space including but not limited to number of classrooms, size of classrooms, configuration, and technology available in classrooms.
• Review and analyze classroom sizes and make recommendations as to future campus needs.
• Conduct condition assessments of campus centrally scheduled instructional spaces.
• Provide oversight and recommendations of classroom upgrades/maintenance needs on campus. Assist in the development of systematic long-range plans to prioritize and implement facility renovations, upgrades, and technology improvements.
• Develop and recommend classroom technology standards.
• Develop and recommend campus classroom design and construction standards which include but are not limited to finishes, furnishings, ADA requirements and recommendation, etc.
• Consult with various constituents regarding classrooms (For example, Registrar Office staff, Facilities Services custodial and maintenance staff, Campus Planning Design and Construction department staff, faculty, students and branch campus staff and faculty as appropriate).
• Report to UFPB, Space Management Committee (SMC), the Provost, President's Executive Council and/or Budget Council, and other boards and committees as needed.
• Report the committees work and success to key constituents such as faculty, students, administrators, and other committees.

Definitions

• Classroom: Please reference FICM definition for 110 Classroom.
• Class Laboratory: Please reference FICM definition for 210 Class Laboratory.
• Instructional Space: A general term referencing all space where instruction occurs, regardless of FICM code.
• Registrar-Controlled Classroom: Instructional space whose schedule is maintained by the Office of the Registrar.

Activities Requiring Committee Approval

Unless otherwise directed by the co-chairs, the following activities require the committee’s approval:

• Changes to the following within existing classrooms and Class Laboratories:
  • Furniture Type
  • Orientation
  • Capacity
  • Technology
• All other renovations that may change the pedagogy of the of the existing classrooms and class laboratories.
• Construction of new classrooms and class laboratories with designs that does not align with the current design guidelines.
• Changes to MSU’s Classroom Design Guidelines

Activities Requiring Classroom Committee’s Consultation (Informational)

• Partial or complete furniture replacement through warranty, replaced in kind, or repaired.
• Classroom maintenance such as refresh of finishes, or minor renovations that do not impact room’s furniture type, orientation, capacity, technology, or overall pedagogy of space.
• The addition of ADA furniture and technology, regardless of current room configurations

Membership

*Non-voting members.

Membership Responsibilities

Members are responsible for attending all meetings to the greatest extent possible. When members cannot attend a meeting, notifying the Co-Chairs in advance of the scheduled meeting and, if possible, sending a proxy on their behalf if desired. Members who miss meetings recurrently without reasonable notification of absence or sending a proxy can be dismissed from the committee at the direction of the Co-Chairs and replaced with a new member.  

• Co-Chairs (Voting Members)

The Co-Chairs are the presiding agents over MSU’s Classroom Committee. Their responsibilities are to preside over all meetings and represent MSU’s Classroom Committee at various councils/boards, design meetings, and other events relative to the committee’s work.

• Faculty Members (Fixed-Term Voting Members)

Six (6) appointed faculty members, the Committee will seek to have diversity of colleges, faculty positions, and years of tenure at the university represented on the committee. Each faculty member shall serve for a term of three (3) years with two (2) positions being appointed each year. Upon expiration of the term, Classroom Committee staff support will solicit new appointments through an open call to all college Deans for faculty interested in serving on the Classroom Committee.

Faculty members’ primary role is to represent faculty’s instructional design preferences and needs. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Report committee work to their respective colleges’ deans, department heads, and other appropriate avenues.
• Organize and solicit feedback from faculty on classrooms.
• Occasionally participate in committee-related events such as condition inventories, design charettes, surveys, etc.

• ASMSU Student (Fixed-Term Voting Members)

One (1) ASMSU member or ASMSU appointed students shall serve on classroom committee at any given time. The ASMSU member to the committee shall define their length of membership, which cannot be less than the length of one academic semester nor exceed two years. When an ASMSU membership expires, Classroom Committee Staff Support will contact the ASMSU program manager to appoint a new student to serve on Classroom Committee.

ASMSU students’ primary role is to represent students’ instructional design needs and preferences. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Reporting committee work to ASMSU.
• Organizing and soliciting feedback from students on committee work
• Occasionally participating in committee-related events such as condition inventories, design charettes, surveys, etc.

• Academic Technology & Outreach (ATO) (Voting Member)

Academic Technology & Outreach shall serve on Classroom Committee as a voting member. ATO’s primary role is to recommend and maintain classroom technology standards. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Maintain an inventory of technology in classrooms and class laboratories.
• Coordinate technology improvements with classroom and class lab maintenance projects

• University Registrar (Voting Member)

The Registrar shall serve on Classroom Committee as a voting member. The Registrar’s primary role is to recommend instructional capacities and needed instructional programming on campus. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Provide utilization rates for classrooms and class laboratories.
• Inform the committee of whether rooms can be blocked for maintenance and renovation activities.
• Maintain inventory of centrally scheduled instructional spaces.

• Director of the Office of Disability Services (Voting Member)

The Director of the Office of Disability Services shall serve on Classroom Committee as a voting member. The Director’s primary role is to identify ADA barriers within classrooms and class laboratories. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Report to ADA Advisory Committee of Classroom Committee work and ADA improvements
• Recommend ADA design standards within classrooms and class laboratories.
• Identify ADA barriers preventing access to the classrooms.

University Architect (Voting Member)
The University Architect (UA) shall serve on Classroom Committee as a voting member. The UA’s primary role is to advise the committee on the technical design of university projects, such as classrooms. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Review the design of new construction and renovation of existing classrooms to ensure they adhere to relevant design guidelines and best practices.
• Facilitate, in conjunction with the Planning division of PDC, the committee’s review of classroom design of new construction and renovation projects.
• Support the Planning division of PDC with their classroom condition surveys and other information gathering efforts.
• Maintain the committee’s classroom design guidelines.

• All Staff Council Representative (Voting Member)

All Staff Council shall provide one (1) representative to serve on classroom committee as a voting member. Their primary role is to bring diverse perspectives from departments across campus which are not represented by the other membership and share information from Classroom Committee back to those groups.

• Staff Support (Non-Voting Member)

Classroom Committee’s staff support are assigned by Planning, Design, & Construction. Staff Support provide administrative, planning, and technical assistance for Classroom Committee work and are non-voting members. Additional responsibilities include the following:

• Prepare committee staff reports and presentations.
• Coordinating work as directed by the committee (i.e. condition inventories, planning events, etc.)
• Maintaining the instructional space inventory with current capacities, utilization rates, furniture type, renovation history, etc.
• Maintain Classroom Guidebook
• Maintain the Classroom Committee Policy and Guidelines including committee memberships.
• Scheduling meeting locations and times
• Distributing meeting agendas
• Maintaining meeting minutes and attendees
• Maintaining committee website
• Other duties as assigned.

General

• Classroom Committee is responsible for acting on the following types of registrar-controlled spaces, as defined by their FICM code in Space Management’s system of record, FM Systems:
  • Classroom (110)
  • Class Laboratory (210)
• Classroom Committee is not responsible for acting on other types of instructional spaces classified in FM Systems such as computer labs (except for registrar controlled computer labs), conference rooms, outdoor classrooms, etc.
• Classroom Committee is not responsible for acting on departmental-controlled spaces.
• Other committee responsibilities include maintaining MSU’s Classroom Design Guidelines, organizing design feedback for the construction of new and renovation of existing classrooms and class laboratories, and recommending renovation and maintenance priorities.

Procedures

• Classroom Inventories & Assessments
  • Classroom condition inventory data is used by Classroom Committee to identify and prioritize recommendations for classroom renovations maintenance.
  • With the help of Staff Support, Classroom Committee shall update the inventory of all registrar-controlled Classroom 110 and Class Laboratory 210 on a biennial cycle.
  • Classroom inventories shall maintain at a minimum the following attributes: building; room number, square footage, capacity, condition, ADA status, furniture type, and technology.
• Classroom Renovations & Maintenance
  • Classroom Committee shall submit a current priority list of classroom renovations and a current priority list of maintenance recommendations to the University Facilities Management AVP every year for consideration in the Capital Improvement Program and regularly scheduled classroom maintenance.
  • With the help of Staff Support, Classroom Committee shall update this priority list biennially in conjunction with the Classroom Inventory.
  • Departmental-controlled instructional space upgrades will only be considered by the committee if the department agrees to submit their space as a registrar-controlled instructional space.
• Classroom Guidebook
  • The Classroom Guidebook is a resource for faculty to access room information and attributes.
  • With the help of Staff Support, Classroom Committee shall update the Classroom Guidebook in conjunction with the Classroom Inventory and as new rooms come online from university construction projects.
  • The Classroom Guidebook shall maintain information about room size, room design and layout, accessibility, and technology.
• Classroom Design Guidelines & Design Review
  • The University Architect is responsible for drafting the Classroom Design Guidelines.
  • The University Architect and their design team shall update the Design Guidelines once every five years or three classroom inventory cycles.
  • Classroom Committee holds the responsibility of recommending changes to the classroom design guidelines and reviewing and approving any changes to the guidelines.
  • The University Architect is responsible for determining if a classroom renovation, maintenance project, or new construction do not fall within the design guidelines and should therefore be presented to the Classroom Committee for approval during the design process of the project.

Meetings

• Classroom Committee meetings are public, and the committee values input from all the campus community to inform the classroom environment.
• Classroom Committee shall meet monthly, as a need is identified by either of the Co-Chairs
• A quorum (qty 7) is required for Classroom Committee approval items.
• If deemed appropriate by the Co-Chairs, a vote for approval may be handled over email.
• The agendas are approved by the Co-Chairs and distributed by staff.
• All members of the Classroom Committee and the public may submit agenda recommendations to the Co-Chairs for consideration.

Classroom Committee Operational Guidelines & Policy Management

• This document shall be approved by Classroom Committee
• Changes to this document must be approved by Classroom Committee
• A current list of Classroom Committee members, with membership start and end dates shall be maintained in Appendix A of this document.

APPENDIX A

Current Membership

*Non-Voting Member