OLD DOMINION LEADS STATE IN SPACE UTILIZATION, SCHEV STUDY REPORTS

According to an annual study by the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia, Old Dominion University's use of classroom space is the highest in the state. Old Dominion, on average, uses each classroom 45 hours per
week, up 20 percent from just a few years ago.

The SCHEV Space Utilization Report, which is used to assess the physical productivity of Virignia's public higher education institutions, provides an overview of how well state institutions make use of classrooms and laboratories.

The university has increased its space utilization efforts over the years, partly due to Weekend College, TELETECHNET and even the diminishing number of small classes, according to President James V. Koch.

"This indicates that we are using existing classrooms well," Koch said. "And it makes a strong argument for the need for an Engineering and Computational Sciences Building."

The SCHEV space utilization guidelines are composed of the criteria employed in assessing capital outlay requests. The study also rated occupancy of laboratories, which Old Dominion uses nearly 27 hours per week, ranking third in the state. The SCHEV standard for classroom use is 40 hours a week, while laboratory use is 24 hours per week.

In addition, the study reported guidelines for the percentage of "seats" used during the week, with 60 percent for classrooms and 75 percent in labs as the standards. Old Dominion again exceeded SCHEV criteria, filling 75 percent of classroom seats and 125 percent of its lab seats.