AiM Spaces

This category aggregates classroom facilities as an institution-wide resource even though these areas may fall under different levels of organizational control. The term "classroom" includes general purpose classrooms, lecture halls, recitation rooms, seminar rooms and other spaces used primarily for scheduled, non-laboratory instruction.

Total classroom facilities include support rooms that serve the classroom activity. A classroom may contain various types of instructional aids or equipment (e.g., multimedia or telecommunications equipment) as long as these do not tie the room to instruction in a specific subject or discipline.

A laboratory is a facility characterized by special purpose equipment or a specific room configuration that ties instructional or research activities to a particular discipline or closely related group of disciplines. These activities may be individual or group, with or without supervision.

Laboratories may be found in all fields of study. Lab facilities can be subdivided into three categories:

• Class laboratories are used for scheduled instruction.
• Open labs support instruction but are not formally scheduled.
• Research laboratories are used for research, experimentation, observation, research training or structured creative activity to support extension of a field of knowledge.

Office facilities are individual, multi-person or workstation space specifically assigned to academic, administrative and service functions. An office is typically assigned to one or more persons as a station or work area. It may be equipped with furniture, computer workstations or other equipment.

Conference rooms are rooms serving an office complex and used primarily for staff meetings and departmental activities.

Study spaces are classified into five categories: study room, stack, open-stack study room, processing room and study service. A study space may contain equipment or materials that aid the study or learning process, such as computers or multimedia, and that do not restrict the space to a particular academic discipline or group.

A study room may appear in almost any type of building on campus but stacks, open-stack and processing rooms are typically located in central, branch and departmental libraries.

Special use facilities include room uses that are sufficiently specialized in their primary activity or function. Areas and rooms for military training, athletic activity, media production, clinical activities (outside of separately organized health care facilities), demonstration, agricultural field activities, and animal and plant shelters are included. Although many of these special use facilities provide service to other areas, their special use or configuration dictates that these areas not be coded as service rooms.

General use facilities are characterized by a broader availability to faculty, student, staff or the public than are Special Use Facilities, which are typically limited to a small group or special population. General use facilities comprise a campus general service or functional support system, such as exhibition, dining, relaxation or day care, for institutional and community populations.

Support facilities provide centralized space for various auxiliary support systems and services of a campus. These spaces help keep all institutional programs and activities operational. These areas provide a continuous, indirect support system to faculty, staff, students and the public.

Support facilities are centralized in that they typically serve an area ranging from an entire building or organizational unit to the entire campus. Included are centralized areas for computer-based data processing, shop services and general storage and supply.

This series provides space use classifications for patient care areas that are located in separately organized and budgeted health care facilities, including:

• Student infirmaries and centers
• Teaching hospitals
• Standalone clinics run by these hospitals
• Veterinary and medical schools

Space codes and definitions apply to both human and animal health care areas. Excluded are clinic facilities located outside of separately organized and budgeted health care facilities.

Residential facilities include housing for students, faculty, staff and visitors to the institution. Hotel or motel and other guest facilities are included in this series if they are owned or controlled by the institution and used for purposes associated with defined institutional missions, excluding commercial investment.