| The institution operates and maintains physical facilities, both on and off campus, that appropriately serve the needs of the institution’s educational programs, support services, and other mission-related activities. |
Judgment of Compliance
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Narrative
Sam Houston State University (SHSU) is committed to providing and maintaining appropriate and adequate physical facilities by continually assessing needs, monitoring quality, and improving operations and maintenance. The university operates and maintains physical facilities, both on and off campus, that are adequate to serve the needs of the institution’s educational programs, support services, and other mission-related activities.
Development and maintenance of the physical plant at SHSU is under the supervision of the Vice President for Finance and Operations [1]. The Associate Vice President for Facilities Management [2] manages the day-to-day operations and has administrative and strategic planning responsibility for preventative maintenance, resource management, facility alterations, new construction, and master planning.
Physical Facilities
In the fall 2013, the SHSU campus contained 237 buildings encompassing more than 4,235,935 gross square feet of space [3]. Total acreage of the university is approximately 2,558 acres, of which 400 acres are considered improved and maintainable. Of these buildings, 92 buildings, valued at $497,513,000, are dedicated to educational and general functions. The remaining 145 auxiliary buildings are valued at $519,749,000. A map of the campus is included in the supporting documents [4].
Although most of the buildings are located on the main campus just south of downtown Huntsville, SHSU also has an observatory facility (2 acres) north of the campus off State Highway 19 [5]; the Gibbs Ranch (1,584 acres) north of the campus off of State Highway 75 [6]; University Camp [7] (345 acres), a recreational facility off of State Highway 19; the Agricultural, Sports, and Educational Center (33 acres) off of College Farm Road and bordering along the Interstate 45 North access road; the Fish Hatchery Field Station (247 acres) off of Fish Hatchery Road on the northern edge of the city limits; Raven Nest Golf Club [8], an 18-hole golf course (157 acres) along Interstate 45 South across from the Agriculture Center; and the recently added The Woodlands Center [9], a 7-acre site on the Lone Star College Campus where SHSU has constructed a 143,904-square-foot educational building, a 743-space parking garage, and a 189-space surface parking lot to serve the student population to the south of Huntsville.
SHSU had a total of 1,229,929 assignable square feet (ASF) of educational and general space in the fall of 2013. A space deficit of nearly 333,427 ASF was projected in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Fall 2013 Space Model [10]. To supplement the institution-owned ASF, the university holds classes at various off-site locations. Classroom space at these off-site locations may be rented and/or granted free, temporary use by various educational entities. SHSU currently leases five classroom spaces, four offices, and a reception area from Lone Star College District at its University Park location at 20515 State Highway 249, Houston, Texas. Classrooms and offices available at University Park are comparable to those found on the main SHSU campus. The classrooms have full internet capability (including wireless), multimedia projection capability, and teaching/presentation tools. In addition, SHSU University Park courses are supported by instructional television functionality. Facilities maintenance and technology infrastructure and support at University Park are contracted to Lone Star College District. In addition, SHSU works closely with local K-12 school districts in the delivery of its undergraduate and graduate education degrees. Classroom space is often temporarily allocated by K-12 schools and administrative school district offices to SHSU for use to offer classes to cohorts of district personnel. These classroom facilities are comparable to those found on the main SHSU campus and are maintained by the respective school districts.
Residential Facilities
SHSU has 8 residence halls, 17 small houses (occupancy of 30-48), and one apartment complex [11]. In 2011, the university constructed Lone Star Hall (87,840 square feet) to serve 298 students on the north side of campus. In addition, construction on a 238,000-square-foot residence hall, which will accommodate 700 beds, will begin in early 2015. The combined capacity of existing facilities is 3,288 students. Included in these facilities is a house reserved for Honors College students, a facility for Criminal Justice majors, and other specific areas reserved for Bearkat Learning Community students, a freshman living-learning cohort, Terry Scholars, and Smith-Hutson Scholars. All halls and houses are provided security through a card-access system, with the exception of the Bearkat Village apartments and White Hall, in which rooms open directly to the buildings’ exteriors. All facilities receive 24-hour maintenance coverage and are inspected and repaired as required on a continual basis [12]. Most maintenance is handled by an in-house 13-person team; however, occasional assistance is provided by the university’s Facilities Management staff or outside contractors. ADA compliant rooms and apartments are available for students requiring special facilities. Custodial services for the facilities are provided by a private contractor. Students are encouraged to give feedback regarding their living situation via an annual student housing survey [13].
Recreation Facilities
SHSU operates and maintains a variety of recreational facilities that enhance the educational mission of the institution [14]. It maintains one shared 150,000-square-foot recreation facility comprised of basketball courts, an indoor running track, racquetball courts, multipurpose rooms, weight and conditioning rooms, locker rooms, an outdoor swimming pool, and academic space. It also maintains a 100,000-square-foot coliseum used for academic and non-academic purposes. Outdoor recreational facilities include five outdoor multipurpose sport fields; one 1/4-mile jogging/running track; two outdoor sand volleyball courts; eight lighted tennis courts; and University Camp, a 345-acre camp used for outdoor pursuits, new student orientations, student leadership development programs, and other university initiatives. All facilities are ADA compliant and are open to the student and university population seven days per week throughout the academic school year. Students are solicited every semester through electronic and paper surveys to provide input into the decision-making processes that govern the management of the recreational facilities both on and off campus.
Dining Service Facilities
The university contracts with Aramark to provide dining services on campus. The university’s main dining facility, Old Main Market, was constructed in 2010 with seats for 600 patrons and additional meeting-room space with 140 seats. Aramark serves, on average, 6,113 meals a day during the fall and spring semesters. Aramark also maintains two fast-food areas: Paw Print, located in the Lowman Student Center, and South Paw, located on the south side of campus [15]. In addition, satellite concession operations serving drinks and snacks can be found in five locations within our educational buildings. A new 28,900-square-foot south dining facility is scheduled to begin construction in late spring of 2015. Construction cost for this facility is estimated at $9.25 million, and seating capacity will be approximately 600 indoors with another 150 outdoors.
Master Plan and Campus Planning
As a part of SHSU’s continuing effort to plan responsibly for campus growth, the university completed an update to the Campus Master Plan in January of 2013 [16]. The last Campus Master Plan was completed in 2008 and has provided the road map for several projects completed and currently underway. Since 2008, 28 facilities projects were undertaken, completed, or are in progress at a cost of $155,440,000. Although the last Campus Master Plan building progress has been on course, campus growth, new academic initiatives, and space utilization initiatives prompted the university’s new administrative team to undertake a Campus Master Plan update. The planning effort included an in-depth examination of demographics, future enrollment, and space utilization to understand future needs [17]. The update also addressed the infrastructure system to execute the elements of the 2012 update and required an analysis of the central heating and cooling systems, the electrical distribution system, and the surrounding storm-water collection system [18], [19].
The Campus Master Plan and the Strategic Planning Process are the instruments used by the university to provide continuous capital project planning. The university adheres to the policies and procedures developed by the Texas State University System (TSUS) to ensure projects are appropriately planned, programmed, designed, and budgeted for approval [20]. Capital projects are received by the Office of Facilities Planning & Construction, where they are retained in a 6-year Capital Improvements Program (CIP) [21]. Each spring semester the projects are reviewed and coordinated with the campus administration, resulting in a list of prioritized projects that are submitted for approval to the TSUS Board of Regents at their quarterly May meeting. Thereafter, SHSU follows the CIP as a roadmap for construction, renovation, maintenance, and demolition projects for the next year. Following approval of the CIP, SHSU submits a Capital Expenditure Plan (MP1) Summary Report to the THECB each July [22]. The report includes projects that are planned within the following five years, regardless of funding source: new construction projects costing $1,000,000 or more; repair and renovation projects costing $1,000,000 or more; information resource projects that cumulatively would total $1,000,000 or more in one year; and property purchases that cumulatively would total $1,000,000 or more in one year.
To provide for recurring maintenance and repair projects as well as deferred maintenance, the Office of Plant Operations continually updates a database of planned maintenance, deferred maintenance, and adaptation projects referred to as the Campus Condition Index Report (CCIR). In October of each year, this information is reported to the THECB via the CCIR [23]. Deferred maintenance is broken into two components: Critical Deferred Maintenance (CDM) and Deferred Maintenance (DM). CDM is defined as the physical condition of a building or facility that places the occupants at risk of harm or the facility at risk of not fulfilling its functions. DM comprises existing or imminent building maintenance deficiencies from prior years that need to be corrected or planned maintenance tasks that were not performed because other tasks funded within the budget were perceived to have a higher priority status. SHSU recently reported $3.6 million in DM. SHSU is currently reporting no CDM.
Maintenance and Operations
Facilities Management [24] is responsible for the maintenance and operation of all facilities at SHSU and seeks to provide safe, clean, attractive, and energy-efficient buildings that are conducive to teaching, research, living, and recreation activities. Facilities Management Plant Operations uses a full-scale computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) to record, track, and complete all customer requirements for maintenance or building improvements. The Office of Space Management within Facilities Management maintains and updates all the space and room inventories across the campus and provides this data to the THECB as changes occur. The accuracy of the inventory is confirmed annually each November, allowing the THECB to calculate classroom and class lab utilizations for all universities in Texas. The results for SHSU can be compared with results from other state institutions, as well as the standards set by the THECB [25].
A comprehensive preventive maintenance (PM) program assigns daily a list of tasks to each shop for building equipment or components under its responsibility [26]. Each shop task may have one or more buildings or pieces of equipment included in the task. The tasks are automatically generated by the CMMS according the period of recurrence established for each task. The PM program is considered high priority as the philosophy of a good preventive maintenance program is to reduce unscheduled repair work orders. Implementing a strong preventive maintenance program reduces building and equipment failure, extends the life expectancy of buildings and supporting infrastructures, and maximizes the availability of campus facilities for the support of the SHSU mission. Preventive maintenance work orders receive the highest priority for shop scheduling after emergency repairs. After hours call-outs, overtime for repairs, and replacement of parts is minimized by maintaining a good preventive maintenance program.
Facilities Management provides campus services through an in-house work force of 161 personnel consisting of planning and construction, crafts, grounds, custodial, vehicle, sanitation, and administrative personnel, as well as through selective contract services for chiller maintenance, elevator maintenance, fire alarm inspections, sprinkler system inspections, fire extinguisher maintenance, and pest control services. Customers can request service or report problems in their facilities through the Work Control center of Facilities Management in one of several ways. They may call, fax, or use the CMMS automated system to request assistance. After hours and on weekends, service is obtained by calling the University Police Department, who contacts the responsible craft. Facilities Management office of Work Control reviews all requests and routes them to the appropriate shop or office for further action. All work orders are entered into the CMMS tracking, reporting and billing purposes. Each month auxiliary departments are billed for maintenance performed in their respective buildings.
Through the structured handling of requests for service and the use of building liaisons in all buildings of the University, every effort is made on a continuing basis to meet the physical resources of SHSU on a continuing basis.
Technological Infrastructure
SHSU manages and supports a sophisticated and scalable technological infrastructure in order to make adequate and suitable provisions for the purposes of delivering quality distance and face-to-face education [27]. The various technology solutions and services managed and/or administered by SHSU are appropriate to the nature and objectives of the university’s academic education programs and courses delivered via a fully face-to-face, a fully online, and/or hybrid modality.
Some of the most prominent components of the technological infrastructure include the Learning Management System (LMS), a university-wide proctoring solution, various web/video conferencing options—including Blue Jeans, Blackboard Collaborate, Go to Meeting, Go to Assist, interactive television (iTV), Kaltura, and Tegrity, a recording studio, and a host of third-party applications that augment the online and face-to-face teaching and learning environment by providing rich options for engagement, learning, and assessment in educational programs. These components will be discussed in greater detail in the following paragraphs.
In addition to the general provision of an adequate, sustainable, and scalable technological infrastructure, SHSU also manages the safeguarding of data as it relates to the teaching, learning, and testing experience for faculty and students. Working together, IT and the Distance Education and Learning Technologies for Academics (DELTA) Center make every effort to secure academic data amassed through course modalities. Further, SHSU provides suitable physical facilities for administrative staff in support of its Distance Education Center, which supports all education programs and courses for the institution.
All university-owned properties are part of the same computer network and domain, which allows the computing experience to remain the same at the Huntsville campus or The Woodlands Center. Both facilities have classrooms equipped with technology, as well as academic computing laboratories that are used for face-to-face lectures and lecture capture. For off-site location contracted spaces (e.g., University Park) or remote access, local non-SHSU resources are used to support the core desktop computing functions. SHSU students, faculty, and staff can access a majority of SHSU computing resources through the SHSU website or by establishing a remote desktop connection to SHSU. Additionally, SHSU has partnered with software vendors to provide academic discounts to our students on commonly used software titles.
Learning Management System (LMS)
The DELTA Center manages the installation of Blackboard Learn (release 9.1.201404.160205). A managed hosted environment, the Blackboard Learn platform provides a state-of-the-art, robust course delivery system fully capable of supporting the technological requirements of all fully online and hybrid courses for SHSU. Utilizing a combination of redundant security protocols, the managed hosted platform also provides a safe and secure online environment for students, faculty, and staff across the institution, offering database security, multiple server redundancy, administrative accounts, and roles management through the institutional hierarchy system, privilege management, and vulnerability management. Additional security measures include the provision of: (a) the Security Awareness Training Program (provided by IT) [28], (b) the Adequate Use Policy Enforcement—Policy Compliance IT-00 (provided by IT) [29], and (c) the System Administrator Account Usage Statement [30].
Additionally, in conjunction with IT’s Centralized Authentication Service (CAS), the Blackboard Learn platform employs Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) utilization (cryptographic keys) and user authentication with single sign-on. The DELTA Center also employs a full-time system administrator for the LMS, ensuring the ongoing maintenance, support, and administration of the LMS on behalf of the university.
University-Wide Proctoring Solution
As part of the technological infrastructure provided, managed, and maintained by the DELTA Center is the utilization of a university-wide proctoring solution. ProctorFree is an academic support software solution designed to employ cutting-edge technology for student identity verification and exam proctoring. ProctorFree authenticates students’ identities using a sophisticated facial recognition algorithm and maintains continuous identity verification throughout the exam. By leveraging a fully customizable, secure browser, ProctorFree allows students the flexibility to access certain web pages or applications throughout the duration of an exam, provided that such access has been allowed by the instructor. Additional security features provided by ProctorFree include: (a) recorded testing events; (b) government ID authentication; (c) facial recognition; (d) lockdown browser; (e) no copy, no print, no download; and (f) algorithm to detect anomalies.
Web/Video Conferencing Options
The DELTA Center also manages and supports the creative utilization of remote software solutions—including Blue Jeans, Blackboard Collaborate, Go to Meeting, and Go to Assist—as part of the technological infrastructure supporting distance education for SHSU. These web/video conferencing solutions provide distance education faculty ample choices to create collaborative, engaging, and rich educational experiences in extended learning environments.
iTV
DELTA Center also maintains iTV as part of the technological infrastructure supporting distance education efforts at SHSU. Providing state-of-the-art panoramic cameras, large projection and television monitors, and intuitive sound equipment, iTV classrooms allow for two-way communication between locations.
Recording Studio and Lecture Capture Software
The DELTA Center employs four full-time Video Production and Technologies Team members, who produce state-of-the-art lecture recordings, student recordings, and on-site videos for a variety of educational purposes. In addition to the Video Production and Technologies team, the DELTA Center provides a complete physical facility for a recording studio on the main campus, as well as a van for the transportation of video equipment to be used for academic recordings in support of distance education courses and programs.
For remote faculty who do not have geographical access to the studio, the DELTA Center provides management and ongoing support for lecture-capture software options, including Kaltura and Tegrity, which are widely adopted across online and hybrid courses to introduce engaging multimedia to the online learning environment.
Third-party Applications
As part of the overall technological infrastructure supporting distance education, the DELTA Center also manages the overall processes that govern the effective usage and application of abundant third-party learning technologies, which are utilized to create efficacious online learning environments for students and faculty and to promote an awareness and understanding of the impacts of technology on learners and organizations. These third-party educational applications include, but are not limited to, (a) Respondus, (b) Respondus LockDown Browser, (c) Turn-it-in, (d) Enterprise Surveys, (e) Adobe Presenter, (f) Articulate, (g) Skype, (h) Dropbox, (i) GoogleDocs, (j) Turning Point 5, and (k) various web 2.0 tools.