Update on Allocation of Space for Administrative and Support Staff

Dear Colleagues:

Following several months of data gathering and analysis, we want to share with the university community the initial results of our review of administrative and support staff space challenges. This review confirmed a serious deficit of on-campus space and also identified a number of units as potential candidates for off-campus relocation based on the principles outlined in Chancellor Leland's October campus update. After analyzing the suitability of available off-campus space for these units, cost factors and efficiencies gained through relocation, we have unanimously agreed to a series of space moves, which will occur in the coming months.

In order to support our growing needs, additional office space has been leased at the Promenade, which currently houses Physical Planning, Design and Construction staff. Over the coming weeks, we will relocate the following units to the Promenade: Academic Payroll; Administrative Operations; Budget; Capital Planning; Human Resources; and Institutional Planning and Analysis.

Human Resources is already located off campus, but we believe their relocation to the Promenade will provide a more central point of access for our employees, reducing the number of trips Human Resources staff make to campus and decreasing the travel time for employees who need to utilize Human Resource services.

Concurrent with the reassignment of the above units, the Sponsored Projects and Research Compliance groups will move to the Mondo Building in downtown Merced, and many of our Admissions staff will shift from campus to our facility at the Castle Airport and Aviation Development Center, where we soon expect to deliver additional space for staff growth.

Collectively, these moves will provide much-needed space for the expansion and decompression of administrative and student support functions on campus and will allow for on-campus expansion of several units, all of which provide direct services to undergraduate or graduate students. The details regarding these moves will be developed in coordination with the affected units. We expect to complete these moves as expeditiously as possible. Also, a handful of off-campus space assignments remain to be determined but will require some additional consultation and assessment before final decisions can be made.

We hope the entire university community will join us in thanking everyone affected by these moves for their cooperation and understanding. Many of you have been partners in the creation and development of the campus and have a meaningful connection to it. We wish we had the ability to provide sufficient space to house all of our functions on campus, but such is not the reality of the current stage of campus development. The space moves we have collectively agreed to will provide units — both those moving off campus and those remaining on campus — much-needed space to operate more efficiently and develop their functions as our campus continues to grow.