Office hours are one of the most common support mechanisms found in courses. Despite the prevalence of office hours in life sciences classes, there has been little investigation of how science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students perceive office hours, particularly at non--research intensive universities or other institutions where a…

The author reports on the reigning economic calculus that helps to drive constant expansion and poor utilization of space on many campuses. The author states that colleges could charge for utilities, which might encourage departments to save energy. Most American colleges do not charge for space--in part because doing so would raise the hackles of…

The Reedley College (California) counseling staff, before their new counseling center was built, undertook a survey of 63 community colleges in California to obtain information on actual and desirable counseling offices, counseling hours, and facilities. The optimal office size was found to be 10 x 11 1/2 feet. Size, however, depends on the…

The process used by California to revamp its college and university space and utilization standards is described. It involved establishing four space utilization and planning principles (simplicity, flexibility, accountability, consensus) and developed square footage formulas for four space types (classrooms, teaching laboratories, research space,…