Inside Iowa State

Dec. 12, 2008

How much does your space cost

by Erin Rosacker

Custodial and building maintenance services are costing units a combined $6.37 per net square foot (nsf) this year, said vice president for business and finance Warren Madden in a presentation to the Faculty Senate last month.

ISU has more than 10 million nsf of assigned square footage in the new resource management model.

"In general, our levels of service we're providing to people are acceptable. Our cost comparisons show that our costs are fairly low," he said. "We hope the budget model will provide people with an incentive to utilize space."

ISU has more than 12.8 million gross square feet (gsf) of building space. That includes the Board of Regents' Iowa Lakeside Laboratory in northwest Iowa (53,926 gsf). Madden said classrooms make up about 5 percent of ISU's total, "a relatively small piece of the Iowa State enterprise."

He said that roughly 100,000 square feet of space has been added each year during his decades-long tenure. Since 1997, ISU spent nearly
$1 billion ($952.9 million) on facilities construction, including projects currently in the design phase.

Staff-to-space ratio

Someone has to take care of that space. The average amount of space ISU's maintenance, custodial and grounds staff members are responsible for ranks among the highest when compared to peer schools, Madden said.

Each full-time equivalent maintenance position averages nearly 120,000 gsf of building space to maintain and repair. Each FTE custodian averages more than 50,000 gsf to clean and service.

With 1,984 acres of campus -- which contain 34 miles of sidewalks, 23 miles of street and 162 acres of parking lots -- each FTE grounds staff member averages more than 50 acres.

"We think we do things reasonably well, but we may not be able to respond as quickly as we'd like because we just don't have the staff," Madden said. "We think the core services are being done."

"Our cost comparisons show that our costs are fairly low. We hope the budget model will provide people with an incentive to utilize space."

Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance