Frequently Asked Questions
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Space Manager - Inventory Update
If the employee is paid primarily by start-up funds or department research, the room type should be administrative (e.g., 312, 316).
But if they are paid by NIH or grant sponsored, the room type should be assigned as research (e.g., 261).
Room type 255, Research Laboratory Service.
Room type describes the primary use of a room (e.g., classroom, computation dry lab, faculty office)
Room function describes the activity taking place in the space (e.g., instruction, organized research, joint use)
Each room can have only one room type or primary use. Each room can have multiple room functions.
Space Survey
A space survey is the process of determining what percentage of campus space is used for organized research. This includes determining in which rooms organized research occurs, assigning budget numbers and occupants, and calculating the amount of time spent on major University functions such as organized research and instruction. The results of the space survey are used to help allocate costs within the Facilities and Administrative (F&A) rate development process.
Shared Space is defined in one of two ways:
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Research lab shared by multiple PIs/multiple departments (room types 250, 260, 261, 262, 264); Occupants need to be assigned by those departments participating in the Space Survey only.
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Service rooms with shared equipment/instrument/cold/freezer/microscope (room type 255); Occupants do not need to be assigned
WebSpace - Inventory Process
As part of the WebSpace inventory process, departments will need to review the room type (also referred to as a primary use code) to ensure it reflects the primary use of the space correctly. The assignable square footage (ASF) should also be reviewed for accuracy and updated as needed. Some room types will require all the occupants identified that used the space during Fiscal Year 2023 to serve as the basis for completing the survey.
The Dean’s office would need to add or remove rooms from a department’s inventory. Send any rooms identified for potential addition or removal to the Dean’s office for disposition.
Yes, any room currently coded with room type 590 Unassigned, in on-campus leased spaces need to be updated to a more appropriate room type in WebSpace. A list of all room types will be available in WebSpace and can also be downloaded here - https://maps.uw.edu/geosims/room-type-definitions.html. Off-campus leased spaces will not impact the F&A Rate and do not need to be updated in WebSpace.
If the mail room is not managed by a specific department, the mail room should be assigned to 208020800 Creative Communication.
If the new department is known, use the Edit Room process in WebSpace to reassign the room by selecting the new department from the list. If the new department that uses the space is not known, use the Remove Room process in WebSpace to indicate that the room does not belong to your department.
Send an email with the building and room that you are missing to FAHelp@uw.edu. The F&A team will try to locate the requested room and assign to your department, if found. Additional information may be needed.
WebSpace has been updated with Space Manager data, as of November 30, 2022. Any updates made in Space Manager changes after November 30, 2022, will also need to be made in WebSpace.
Yes, information can be updated in WebSpace until the data has been reviewed and approved by MAA and closed for any further updates.
Recharge or service centers will be identified by marking the box within “Recharge” column during Inventory, via the Edit Room process. The survey of these rooms will be done based on billings related to this Recharge/Service Center.
If shared space has been identified in Space Manager, it will be reflected in WebSpace in the following format: <room_number>^<sequence number>. Additional shared space can be designated using the Edit Room process in WebSpace. Rooms can be shared across multiple departments and /or PIs.
Yes, If there is a PI or a Lab Manager (Primary Occupant) is assigned to the research room. If no one is assigned to supervise the lab, leave the PI designation blank. If the cluster concept applies to a group of labs, a PI or a Primary Occupant will need to be designated.
WebSpace - Survey Process
The WebSpace cluster feature allows you to save time by grouping rooms with a single PI and the same list of occupants. This can be used for a suite of labs even if some labs are located on different floors or in different buildings. The step can only be performed once the related rooms are inventoried. More detailed information on clustering can be found in the WebSpace training guide located in the help section of WebSpace.
Recharge/service center space in WebSpace will be automatically surveyed based on the billing information associated with the center. For example, the percentage of the total revenue that is associated with external sales will be applied to Other Institutional Activities. To mark a center as recharge center space within WebSpace, select the recharge box from the edit page during the inventory step and select the Recharge/Service Center from the reason drop down. The associated recharge budget will also need to be entered to calculate billing percentages.
255 Service Rooms will be functionalized using the weighted average of the activities of the rooms they support – an automated calculation performed within WebSpace. Recharge centers will be functionalized based on their billing information – using data available in WebSpace.
Please contact FAHelp@uw.edu for further guidance and assistance.
The faculty/staff’s time working at a hospital should not be included as part of the % of time reported for the individual when surveying a research lab. The hospital space is not a part of the F&A Rate calculation for the UW. As a result, any individual who spends time at the hospital or other non-UW facility should not have 100% of time reported in the research lab.
Instruction (as part of Instruction & Departmental Research), as receiving course credit for their time and not being paid from a research grant.
If the Unpaid Volunteers spent any significant amount of time in research rooms, then need to be added as occupants using Add Manually option in WebSpace. The same process applies to undergraduate students, high school students, graduate students, visitors or agency employees.
If a person does not have a UW EID (Employee ID), use the Add Manually option in WebSpace to reflect the individual as an occupant.
The same way as space occupied by outside persons and paid by external entities or organizations (e.g., external researchers). If they have an UWID, you will be able to search for their name and add them as an occupant, however, since they are not paid by UW their activity will automatically be defaulted to Other Institutional Activity (OIA).
The space survey is used to determine the Facilities portion (“F”) part of our F&A rate. Administrative (“A”) related rates are capped by the Federal government at 26%, while the Facilities rates are not.
All of the space occupied by the department should be functionalized regardless of how long a department occupied a given space.
If a space is occupied by different occupants during the year, space functionalization should take into consideration use of all occupants during the base year. The current owner/assignee should coordinate with all prior occupants of the space.
Full Year Vacancy: Space should be functionalized as Vacant only if it is currently vacant or under renovation and expected to be vacant for the full 12 months of Fiscal Year 2023 (7/1/22-6/30/23).
Partial Year Vacancy: If space was occupied for part of FY 2023, that space should be functionalized according to how the space was used when occupied.
This may occur but in a minority of the SLU space. If there are questions as to budget funding, the department should follow-up with the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP).
Departmental research includes research, development, and scholarly activities that are not separately budgeted and accounted for (e.g., bridge, start-up funding). Departmental research is funded from budgets that are not restricted to a specific project. Space used to conduct departmental research should be functionalized as departmental research as part of the Instruction & Departmental Research function (IDR).
Organized research projects required a proposal or other application to obtain funding, have a defined scope of work associated with the project, anticipate a "deliverable" result, and require that periodic financial and progress reports be submitted to the sponsor. Space used to conduct organized research should be functionalized as organized research (OR).
1. Research grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements sponsored by the Federal government and Non-Federal agencies and organizations (e.g., states, cities, foundations, corporations, etc.).
2. University funded research separately budgeted and accounted for on a specific project basis (e.g., Royalty Research Funds).
3. Sponsored research training of individuals in research techniques (or research training).
4. Federally sponsored clinical trials. Note, Non-federally funded (or industry funded) clinical trials are considered Other Sponsored Activity (OSA).
5. Research cost sharing related to organized research projects and included on effort reports.
WebSpace will be updated on a recurring basis during the Space Survey (January-April 2023). The new project/budget should be available within that time-frame so that the space can reflect latest project/budget activities.
If unpaid, only represent FTE that you can confirm with high-confidence level. If paid, be careful not to lose sight of instruction when trying to assess the type of work being performed.
They should be listed in each lab occupied during the year, wherever they are doing rotation work for a reasonable length of time (e.g., quarter or pay period).
The lab should be split by amount of recharge and amount of research. This can be done by allocating % by room based on use of space usage (E.g., # workbenches, # hours/days of week).
No, a PI should only be listed as an occupant, when performing work in that space. A PI should not be listed as an occupant if providing management and/or project oversight only.
No. This is because an individual may spend time in room(s) not related to research (or part of the Space Survey), which would leave them with a % of total time less than 100% in WebSpace.
Adjust % of time by room to add up to 100%. Federal guidance limits a person to 1.0 FTE; the 100% of time aligns to 1.0 FTE
UW spaces used for Organized Research (OR) need to allocate related F&A costs, which drives the need for specific site (South Lake Union-SLU, Applied Physics Lab-APL) and (OFFR) Off Campus Research designations. These separate ways to capture F&A data are important but sometimes complex. If you have further questions, please contact FAHelp@uw.edu.
WebSpace - The Tool
WebSpace is a web-based space survey tool developed by Maximus that will be the system of record for the space survey a part of the 2023 F&A rate proposal.
WebSpace can be accessed using the following link: Maximus with your UW NetID. Ensure you requested access to the system and attended the training.
Each department can have up to 5 individuals with the department administrator role. In addition, rooms can be selected and assigned to anyone with a UW NetID. This can be useful to assign suites of labs to a lab manager or program coordinator who is more familiar with the space.
The MAA F&A team used Space Manager as of November 30th, 2022. Department updates through that date will be reflected in WebSpace.