Educational Plant Survey
Overview of process as conducted by the Board of Governors Office for the State University System of Florida Section 1013.31, Florida Statutes, requires that, at least once every five years, each Board shall arrange for an educational plant survey to aid in providing physical facilities necessary to accommodate its academic programs, students, faculty, staff and services during the next five-year period.
Designation of Responsibility
The University to be surveyed appoints a Survey Team Coordinator to work with team
members from staff of other universities not being surveyed in that same year and
BOG staff, if requested. Typically, representatives from a University to be surveyed
in the next fiscal year as well as a representative from a University surveyed in
the previous fiscal year should be asked to participate, for continuity and consistency
of the final report.
Student Enrollment Projections
The survey uses capital outlay full-time-equivalent student enrollment projections
provided to the university to be surveyed from the BOG Office of Planning, Budgeting
and Policy Analysis based on university projections approved by the BOG. Projections
are provided for all credit activity at each officially designated site for which
facilities are required. Enrollments are identified by discipline group within level
of student. The projection out-year for the survey is the fifth year beyond the fiscal
2005-06; the out-year is 2010-12.
Educational Programs and Services
The survey uses projections for programs approved by the Board of Governors through
the academic program review process for the State University System. The basic mechanism
used to determine the facilities required to accommodate educational programs and
services is the SUS Space Needs Generation Formula. The Formula identifies space needs
for instructional and research programs, and for academic and institutional support services.
Inventory Validation Segment of Survey
The first segment of the survey is the Inventory Validation, whereby the physical
facilities inventory is evaluation by the survey team. The Inventory Validation is scheduled
three to four months before the Needs Assessment segment of the survey.
University Identification Needs
University to be surveyed administrators and staff prepare lists for each of needs
identified by the University for site acquisition, development, improvement, and remodeling, renovations,
and new construction. Outdoor physical education facilities are included as site improvement.
Because all previous survey recommendations expire at the beginning of a new five-year survey,
the lists of needs may include items recommended in the prior survey which have not
been started or funded through construction, but still are needed.
Survey Workbook
University staff prepares a survey workbook for use by survey staff during the Needs
Assessment segment of the educational plant survey. The workbook contains documentation related
to receding items 2, 3, 5 and 5, along with general background information about the University.
It is supplemented by a current University catalog as well as available information regarding
long-term plans for the institution, such as the master plan or other long-range planning documents.
Financial Information
The Survey Team Coordinator provides particular financial information pertaining to
capital outlay allocations by fund source and capital outlay allocations by project
type for inclusion in the Survey Report.
Needs Assessment Segment of Survey
The Survey Team Leader and University to be surveyed make arrangements and reimburse
travel costs and pays standard state per Diem for members of the needs assessment
team. However, the BOG staff will pay their own expenses.
Survey Recommendations
The survey team makes recommendations for site acquisition, development, and improvement;
and remodeling, renovation, and new construction for officially designated sites and facilities.
Written Survey Reports
The University to be surveyed prepares the draft and the final written report of the
findings and recommendations of the survey team for review and approval by the University Board
of Trustees. After approval by the UBOT, an official copy is submitted to the Chancellor
for the Board of Governors.