Centrally Bookable Venuespolicy

UCT Administrative Documentation

Centrally Bookable VenuesPolicy

Document summary

Effective date / Draft not implemented yet / Last updated / 22October 2014
Document owner / Space Allocation Committee (SAC), a subcommittee of the University Building & Development Committee (UB&DC) of Council on which representatives of all faculties serve
Approved by / OpsMag / Reviewed by / SAC/UBDC
Enquiries / Systems Manager, Properties and Services
(currently Belmira Carreno, , X5626)

Purpose and scope

Guiding principles

Definitions

Applicable to

Policy summary

Policy details

Policy violations

Purpose and scope

The allocation of space at UCT falls under the responsibility of and is governed by the Space Allocation Committee (SAC).

This document sets out the University’s policy in respect of the booking of those venues that have been defined as centrally bookable by the Space Allocation Committee (SAC). It should be noted that any centrally bookable venues that have been upgraded during the Classroom Renewal Project will remain in the centrally bookable venue pool for a minimum of 5 years after completion before it can be considered for return to a departmental venue.

The attached flowchart depicts the process involved (see: Attachment 1).

The use of formal meeting rooms in administrative buildings (Bremner, Masingene, Meulenhofetc) are managed by the relevant PASS departments. In like manner, the use of dining halls and other venues in University residences and the Sports Centre fall under the jurisdiction of the relevant sections of the Department of Student Affairs (DSA) viz. Student Housing and Sports Administration. Requests for the use of these venues must be referred to the relevant sections.

Guiding principles

To ensure that teaching activities take precedence over non-teaching activities;
To ensure that students are taught in the most appropriate teaching accommodation;
To minimise student and staff travel across campus;

To provide easy access to timely and accurate room booking information via the web;
To optimise utilisation of the University's teaching space.

Definitions

Term / Definition
Academic department owned venues / All lecture theatres, classrooms and other venues that are managed by the owning department.
Centrally bookable venues / All lecture theatres, classrooms and other venues that are managed by P&S.
Classroom Support Services (CSS) team / A team within the ICTS department responsible for provision, maintenance and support of audio-visual teaching equipment in centrally bookable venues. See also: About classroom support
Venue Booking Office (VBO) / An office within the Properties and Services (P&S) department’s Systems Management section;
Space Allocation Committee (SAC) / A subcommittee of the University Building & Development Committee (UB&DC) of Council on which representatives of all faculties serve.

Applicable to

This policy applies to all UCT staff members, students and third parties wanting to book centrally bookable venues at UCT.

Policy summary

Teaching spaces fall into two categories: UCT Centrally Bookable Venues and academic department owned venues.
Teaching timetabling
Allocation of venues for teaching activities.
Timetable and venue changes.
Rules for booking of venues for ad-hoc/non-teaching activities.
Fees/rates for the use of venues for ad-hoc/non-teaching activities.

Policy details

Teaching spaces
There are two categories of teaching space:
UCT Centrally Bookable Venues, which are managed and allocated by the Venue Booking Office (VBO) within the Properties and Services (P&S) department’s Systems Management section; andacademic department owned venues.
In both cases, as a general rule, optimum utilisation of space is encouraged.
Centrally Bookable Venues:
Refer to all lecture theatres, classrooms and other venues that are managed by P&S.
These spaces, which are primarily used for teaching activities, are bookable only through the VBO.
They may, however, also be used for non-teaching activities such as departmental meetings and student society meetings once all teaching requirements, including tests, have been met.
Academic department owned venues:
Are bookable only through the department concerned;
Although they are used mainly for departmental activities, owning departments are strongly encouraged to allow external departments to use their space should there be spare capacity.
All venues on the Health Sciences campus are deemed to fall into this category.
The provision, maintenance and support of audio-visual teaching equipment:
In centrally-bookable classrooms, this is the responsibility of the Classroom Support Services (CSS) team which is part of ICTS. Calls should be logged with the CSS helpdesk in the event of equipment failure. All other problems relating to lighting, carpeting, desks, chairs, air-conditioning, chalk and dusters must be logged with the P&S: Maintenance helpdesk.
In departmentally-owned venues is the responsibility of the owning department.
Teaching timetabling
University core teaching hours are Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:00.
All classes should commence on the hour and finish at least ten minutes before the next hour (to allow time for the necessary changeover).
Teaching should not be scheduled in the meridian (13:00 to 14:00) on Thursdays and Fridays. On other days of the week the meridian may be used for teaching where there is no alternative. Where teaching is required in the meridian on a Thursday or Friday, approval must be obtained from the University Timetable Committee.
Academic departments are required to load their departmental teaching offerings on the Class Scheduling module of PeopleSoft (PS), the University’s Student System, by the prescribed dates set annually by the Registrar’s Office. Departments are able to either select and book one of their own venues for a timetabled activity or request a centrally bookable venue
Priority for venue bookings from Monday to Thursday will be given to teaching over tests in the 8th and 9th periods and that where tests (in particular large-class class tests) cannot be accommodated in the 8th and/or 9th periods, bookings for class tests will be accommodated in and as from the 10th period (18:00).
Senate charged the Timetable Committee with deciding which courses/classes scheduled for periods when there would be insufficient venues, to be moved to the 8th and 9th periods, provided that this was done with due regard to the needs of the large Mathematics and Statistics courses.
All teaching activity requests for venues outside of normal teaching hours are regarded as ad-hoc bookings and must be made via UCT’s Web Room Booking System ( Make-up lectures, tutorials and tests are considered ad-hoc bookings and cannot be booked during core teaching hours. They may however be booked during the meridian from Monday to Wednesday. This ruling may be reconsidered after all semester teaching activities have been finalised (normally two weeks into the semester)

Allocation of venues for teaching activities
Teaching activities in Centrally Bookable Venues take precedence over non-teaching activities. Due to the high demand for Centrally Bookable Venues, no other requests will be approved until the teaching timetable has been finalised
Wherever possible, classes are allocated the preferred venue or zone
After hours bookings of a Centrally Bookable Venues is only permitted in the following buildings: Leslie Social Science lecture theatres, Kramer, NSLT, John Day, Molecular Biology, Humanities building, University Avenue level venues.
Access for students with a disability is a priority and will be accommodated wherever possible. The VBO needs to be alerted by the Admissions Office or Disability Unit in advance for any special requirements
In the allocation of venues, larger classes will take precedence over smaller classes. [Note: This does not apply to ‘eleventh hour’ requests for venues]
Lectures from 08:00 to 13:00 for regular full semester bookings take precedence over single or sporadic week bookings. Similarly, teaching following the normal UCT single period lecture pattern takes precedence over variations e.g. double period lectures. Exceptions to the above will be considered for afternoon lectures
Activities requiring specialist facilities will have priority access to specialist teaching spaces.(However class size takes precedence if there is a lack of venue choice within that teaching period) [Note: This does not apply to ‘eleventh hour’ requests]
Where a suitable centrally bookable venue cannot be found the VBO will either suggest that every effort be made by the department to find a departmental venue, or will suggest an appropriate room and time. In the event that the time of the activity is fixed and the VBO is unable to guarantee the same venue for all of the lectures, it is the responsibility of the department to either make alternative arrangements or to check the availability of venues owned by other departments;
Class sizes may not exceed the size of the venues allocated. The VBO is responsible for adhering to the published seating capacity limits for all venues; exceeding these limits contravenes the Occupational Health and Safety Act;
Where the VBO is unable to resolve a conflict the matter will be referred to chairperson of the University’s Timetable Committee;
The University does NOT permit venues to be booked for the offering of private lessons and tutorials
Timetable and venue changes
Requests for changes to the timetable after the dates prescribed by the Registrar’s Office for the loading of course information for class scheduling:
Should be avoided as far as possible (in order to minimise disruption to the venue allocation process); and
Must also first be approved by the Timetable Committee.
It is critical that departments advise the VBO immediately of any changes that have been made to the class scheduling module in PS after the cut-off dates.
Once the venue allocation process has been completed:
Departments will be requested to check the information and to advise the VBO of any modifications that may be required.
Where subsequent changes are made by the VBO as a result of such submissions, the affected department/s will be advised of the relevant venue changes.
Departments are responsible for notifying all staff and students affected by any changes to the original room allocation.
Rules for booking of venues for ad-hoc/non-teaching activities

The University’s requirements for booking of venues and facilities takes priority over any requests from external persons, groups or organisations.
The booking of Centrally Bookable Venues does NOT include permission to use the audio-visual equipment. Permission for the use of such equipment must be made with CSS.
Generally non-teaching ad-hoc bookings will not be allowed during normal teaching times (see 2.1) until finalisation of the timetable.
Requests for venues to conduct activities that may be noisy or disruptive will not be permitted. It is specifically recorded that cooking is not permitted in any teaching venues.
Registered UCT student clubs, societies, Residence House Committees/Associations and Student Development Agenciescan book Centrally Bookable Venues provided that such bookings:
are made only by the President / Secretary / Secretary-General
relate to the activities of said club/society/House Committee
do not conflict with any core UCT teaching activities
clearly define the nature of the activity intended (risk assessment may lead to the declining of the booking request)
do not exceed the registered number of the members of such club/society/House Committee. Where the booking numbers are likely to exceed the registered membership, the club/society/House Committee will be charged (see 6.1)
comply with UCT’s General Rules and Policies (refer to “Rules on the use of UCT venues”)
The use of UCT Centrally Bookable Venues by external clients may also be considered provided that the activity concerned:
does not conflict with any core UCT activities and that no changes have to be made to the University's teaching timetable to accommodate such external event
is an academic event (i.e. conference, congress, seminar, symposium, workshop) that is sponsored by a UCT department, faculty or unit and formally approved by Senate. Queries in this regard must be referred to the UCT Communications and Marketing Department (CMD) who will require the completion of the relevant application form
is linked to a UCT department, faculty or unit
is linked to an event arranged and approved by the Student Housing section of DSA
Venues required for upgrading or maintenance purposes must also be booked

Fees/rates for the use of Centrally Bookable Venues for ad-hoc or non-teaching activities (conferences/symposiums/congresses/seminars/workshops)
The table below sets out the applicable rates for 2015 (which are exclusive of VAT for internal clients).Thesewill be adjusted annually by the VBO.

Venue seating capacity / Daily rate / Half day rate
1-30 / R1500 / R1050
31-100 / R1750 / R1225
101-150 / R2500 / R1750
151-200 / R3500 / R2450
201-300 / R5000 / R3500
301+ / R6000 / R4200
Jameson Hall (1200) / R13500 / R9450
Molly Blackburn / R3000 / R2100
Foyers and quads / On request / On request

6.2.The University does not charge departments or student clubs/societies/House Committees/Student Development Agencies for

6.2.1.the teaching of formal University academic programs

6.2.2.the hosting of conferences/meetings/seminars/workshops by the relevant department/club/society/House Committee and for which no charges are levied to participants.

6.3.Venues booked via departments or faculties will be charged at 50% of the venue booking rates provided that the activities concerned can be directly linked to the department/faculty concerned failing which the full rate will be charged.

Departments/faculties making bookings will be required to provide fund numbers and cost centres (for charging purposes) at the time of booking. The VBO will process the applicable charge via a journal entry.

Where a booking is cancelled within a month of it having been confirmed a full refund of the booking fee will be processed by the VBO.Department/faculties understands and agrees that the reserved venue/s will not be available to any other parties for the dates and times booked. In the event that the department/faculty cancels the bookings, for any reason, the VBO shall suffer losses that are difficult to ascertain. As such, the department/faculty agrees that, in the event of the cancellation by the department/faculty, the extent of refunds permitted for bookings cancelled after a month of the booking, will be determined on the basis of the period of time for which the booking was held; it should be noted that instances may arise for which the full booking fee may be forfeited and paid to the VBO as liquidated damages and not as a penalty. VBO and department/faculty agree that such amount is reasonable.

6.4.As a general rule UCT student clubs/societies/House Committees are exempt from paying booking fees where the events concerned are restricted to their own members. Where the requested capacity of the venue/s exceeds membership numbers, the club/society/house committee will be charged the half-day rate for such venue via their University fund number and cost centre.

6.5.Venues booked via the Student Housing department on behalf of external clients will be charged at full rates (plus VAT).

Policy violations

Violations of the above policy will be referred to the Chair of the SAC

Approval and version history

Review period: Every five years

Version / Amendments / Approved by / Signed / Date
0.1 / Transferred into UCT policy template by JW. / 2014-08-11
0.2 / Amendments to include Opsmag 2014-08-15 comments / 2014-08-21
0.3 / Amendments to include CSS comments / 2014-10-06
0.4 / Amendments to include TTC comments / 2014-10-22

2014-10-24UCT Venue Bookings Policy_v41

Centrally Bookable Venuespolicy

Document summary

Table of Contents

Purpose and scope

Guiding principles

Definitions

Applicable to

Policy summary

Policy details

Policy violations

Related links

Approval and version history