ECC currently has a total of 887,174 net assignable square feet (NASF) of space between its three campuses, distributed as follows:
• North Campus: 356,909 NASF (40.2 percent of all ECC space) • City Campus: 269,844 NASF (30.4 percent)
• South Campus: 260,421 NASF (29.4 percent)
The State University of New York (SUNY) uses 15 specific categories to define space on college campuses. The table in Figure 6.13 provides a breakdown of ECC’s space by SUNY category and by campus.
Figure 6.13 - Campus Space Inventory
SSpace Category ECC Total NASF Percent ECC Total Space North Campus NASF Percent North Campus Space City Campus NASF Percent City Campus Space South Campus NASF Percent South Campus Space Instructional 438,407 49.4% 194,026 54.4% 98,817 36.6% 145,564 55.9% Organized Research 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% Public Service 6,627 0.7% 0 0.0% 6,627 2.5% 0 0.0% Organized Activity 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% Instructional Resources 11,574 1.3% 4,619 1.3% 1,471 0.5% 5,484 2.1%
Electronic Data Processing 4,803 0.5% 2,067 0.6% 2,736 1.0% 0 0.0%
Library 48,127 5.4% 33,184 9.3% 9,596 3.6% 5,347 2.1%
Health & Physical Education 143,318 16.2% 19,261 5.4% 89,607 33.2% 34,450 13.2%
Student/Faculty Activity 73,899 8.3% 27,027 7.6% 20,878 7.7% 25,994 10.0%
Student Health Services 4,013 0.5% 2,388 0.7% 877 0.3% 748 0.3%
Assembly & Exhibition 12,596 1.4% 6,554 1.8% 6,042 2.2% 0 0.0%
General Administration 79,487 9.0% 27,273 7.6% 21,957 8.1% 30,257 11.6%
Central Services 51,577 5.8% 34,243 9.6% 5,865 2.2% 11,469 4.4%
Building Services 5,432 0.6% 2,211 0.6% 2,113 0.8% 1,108 0.4%
Inactive Space 7,314 0.8% 4,056 1.1% 3,258 1.2% 0 0.0%
887,174 100.0% 356,909 100.0% 269,844 100.0% 260,421 100.0%
The pie chart in Figure 6.14 is a graphical representation of the average space distribution at six of the largest New York State community colleges, including ECC. The other five colleges have enrollments and space totals comparable to ECC. Figures 6.15 through 6.18 present ECC’s existing space, as shown in Figure 6.14, in the same format.
Figure 6.14 - Space Distribution, ECC and SUNY Community Colleges of Similar Size
Average space distribution of: Onondaga, Hudson Valley, Westchester, Erie, Monroe, Nassau
Instructional Space
Classrooms/Lecture Class Laboratories Independent Study Labs Research Support Faculty Offices General & Special Use Organized Research Public Service Organized Activity Instructional Resources Electronic Data Processing Library
Health & Physical Education Student/Faculty Activity Student Health Services Assembly & Exhibition General Administration Central Services Building Services Inactive Space
Figure 6.16 - Space Distribution, City Campus
Instructional Space
Classrooms/Lecture Class Laboratories Independent Study Labs Research Support Faculty Offices General & Special Use Organized Research Public Service Organized Activity Instructional Resources Electronic Data Processing Library
Health & Physical Education Student/Faculty Activity Student Health Services Assembly & Exhibition General Administration Central Services Building Services Inactive Space Flickinger Center
Figure 6.18 - Space Distribution, South Campus
On average, 44.4 percent of net assignable square feet at the six large campuses is dedicated to instructional space, which includes classrooms, class labs, faculty and academic staff offices, and related support space. Classrooms at these colleges, like the majority of community colleges in the state that were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s, were sized based on 16 NASF per student. As noted earlier in this section, 20 to 25 NASF is the current recommended standard. This provides sufficient space to accommodate new modes of teaching, technology in the classroom, and more comfortable seating for today’s students.
If classrooms at the six large campuses were right-sized to 20 NASF per student, instructional space would represent closer to 46.2 percent of all campus space. That is still less, however, than the 54 percent and 56 percent instructional space occupies on the North and South Campuses, respectively. The reason for ECC’s higher percentage of instructional space is largely due to the fact that a majority of the programs offered at the two campuses require large amounts of dedicated space that cannot easily be shared with other programs, such as Dental Hygiene and Architectural Technology. There are fewer of these space intensive programs offered at the City Campus. The North Campus houses many of ECC’s high tech programs, such as CNC Precision Machining, Mechanical Technology, Industrial Technology, and Culinary Arts, which
The difference between the amounts of HPE space at each campus is striking. The large community colleges have an average of 11.5 percent of their space dedicated to Health and Physical Education (HPE). The Flickinger Center, a gift from the State to the College and the community, represents 16.2 percent of ECC’s total space (89,600 net square feet). A comparison among the three campus indicates that HPE space is unevenly distributed, representing 5.4 percent of North Campus, 13.2 percent at South Campus, and 33.2 percent at City Campus. If City Campus did not have such a large percentage of its space tied to the Flickinger Center, its proportion of instructional space would appear much larger. North Campus, with roughly half of the total ECC population has significantly less HPE space than City or South Campus.
The data also indicate that overall ECC overall has less dedicated Library space than the average large NYS community college. North Campus has a proportionately larger share of this space, which means the City and South Campuses have less dedicated Library space than other community colleges. This is particularly apparent at City Campus where there are no group study rooms and an insufficient amount of student study space, in general.
New York’s community colleges, the majority of which were built during the 1960s and 1970s, all face similar challenges when assessing their space needs. The issue is not always whether or not there is an adequate amount of space on campus; it must be space that is available and appropriate for the institution’s needs. Changes in technology, pedagogy, and the type of programs that are offered at 21st century community colleges require investments in state-of-the-art, high-tech facilities and equipment to provide the quality education students demand.
Funding limitations have made it difficult for ECC to keep up with the repair and replacement of systems and components in their aging buildings. Poor facility conditions detract from the teaching and learning environment and reportedly have a negative impact on attraction and retention of students.