Purpose
The purpose of this SPG policy is to:
- Consolidate existing facilities’ protocols (policies or guidelines).
- Emphasize the safety of people and property.
- Provide guidance regarding facilities use by external groups.
- Establish a reporting process for the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (EVPCFO).
- for unaffiliated parties only
Procedure for Use of Facilities Submission
- Review Standard Practice Guidelines (SPG)
- Ensure familiarity with the University’s Standard Practice Guidelines (SPG) relevant to facility use.
- Confirm Compliance with Facility Use SPG
- Verify that your unit’s current facility use guidelines or policies include the following provisions:
- Unaffiliated parties must not:
- Violate any laws or University protocols.
- Disrupt University activities, operations, or the lawful activities of others.
- Obstruct human or vehicle traffic, including pathways, stairs, aisles, and other access points.
- Fail to cooperate with Division of Public Safety and Security officers or other University-authorized officials.
- Use facilities for purposes other than those designated by the University.
- Unaffiliated parties must not:
- Verify that your unit’s current facility use guidelines or policies include the following provisions:
- Upload Your Current Protocol (Policy or Guideline)
- Submit a copy of your current Facility Use Protocol (policy or guideline) using the submission tab on this website.
- Use the Template if No Current Protocol (Policy or Guideline) Exists
- If your unit does not have a current guideline or policy, your unit can use the provided template in the facilities use submission tab to create one.
- Include a Facilities Use Agreement
- Ensure your protocol includes a facilities use agreement to be signed by both parties. If you do not have one, your unit can use the template provided in the facilities use submission tab or contact Office of the Vice President and General Counsel (OGC) to create a customized agreement.
- Submission Review
- Submit your protocol for review to ensure it includes all required elements as per the SPG.
- Annual Review and Submission
- Conduct and submit a review of your facilities use guidelines annually. An email will be sent yearly in July to remind you of the requirement.
- Protocol (policies or guidelines) Updates
- Note that protocol (policies or guidelines) can be updated or changed at any time during the year.
- Contact for Questions or Concerns
- For any questions or concerns, email: [email protected]
Submit Facilities Use Protocol
Unit protocols must include language that states unaffiliated parties may not:
- Violate the law or University protocols.
- Disrupt University activities or operations or disrupt the lawful, authorized activities of others.
- Obstruct human or vehicle traffic, ways of ingress and egress, paths, stairs, aisles, and the like
- Fail to cooperate with Division of Public Safety and Security officers or other officials authorized by the University to act on behalf of the University
- Use facilities in a way that the University has not made available for that purpose
View previously Submitted Protocols here.
If you do not have a facilities use protocol (policy or guideline) already established, please use this template to create your unit specific protocol.
If you do not have a facilities use agreement, please use this template to create your unit specific contract.
Use of Facilities SPG FAQ
An overarching facilities use policy will:
- document our facilities-use policy architecture;
- strengthen the University’s legal posture by clarifying our policies for internal and external audiences;
- confirm our institutional commitment to freedom of speech, equality, and fairness;
- facilitate communications when units drift from expected practices; and
- add, as a general practice, an expectation that units will use lawful, pragmatic contracts when permitting unaffiliated parties to reserve space on campus.
Very little. With two exceptions, the SPG describes what is already the case on our campuses. That is, this policy reflects the current practices and processes of the University of Michigan. One new element is that this SPG adds an expectation that units will use lawful, pragmatic contracts when permitting unaffiliated parties to reserve space on campus. The templates for these contracts will be created in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President and General Counsel. The second change will require units to seek authorization from the Chief Financial Officer before they can make the facilities they steward available to be reserved by unaffiliated parties. It is not that the CFO would review each reservation, but that units would need general clearance from the CFO to make their respective facilities available for unaffiliated-party reservation. This will enable the CFO to steward the process for unaffiliated use and reservation with an eye toward consistency, safety, financial prudence, and institutional objectives.
No, it does not mean that. It is neither the purpose nor effect of this policy to regulate the lawful speech of the myriad speakers on our campuses. Ideas that are celebrated, decried, or both will continue to happen in campus facilities.
As is the current practice, the University uses a decentralized, cascading authority rubric to make these kinds of determinations. Usually, the unit or sub-unit most closely associated with a facility determines—consistent with University policy and law—the most appropriate policies, practices, and processes for a given facility. Of course, as is currently the case, individuals or units with superseding authority may make determinations about protocols for a facility over the objections of those with less authority (e.g., a dean has more authority than a department chair within that dean’s school or college). Where there are conflicts between decision makers who are not in the same administrative lines—e.g., an associate dean and a building manager—a final determination can be worked out (as is the current practice) along each decision maker’s chain of authority (i.e., they can take the matter to their respective supervisors or administrators).
No, nor could there be. Some spaces, such as ‘the Diag’ on the Ann Arbor campus, benefit from having detailed protocols written out and available online. Other spaces, such as the walls of a professor’s office are less likely to have detailed protocols. This is not to say that a unit could not establish more explicit and detailed protocols for faculty offices, if that unit deems it useful or necessary. In all cases, policies, procedures, and practices shall be neutral, generally applicable, enforced equitably and with reason, and consistent with this SPG and other University policies.
No, being a public institution does not mean that facilities are freely available to the general public. While public institutions are subject to a broader range of laws and have a greater responsibility to the interests of the public, this does not mean that the public may have unfettered access to University facilities. The University has the exclusive authority to determine how its facilities may be used, under what circumstances, and by whom. No individual or group has a right to use Universities facilities beyond the confines of University policy or the University’s lawful discretion and practices.
The University may, at times, make some of its facilities available to members of the general public, even on a regular basis. However, University facilities are not open to the public in the same way as municipal or state parks, streets, and sidewalks because the University’s purpose and educational, research, service, artistic, and operational objectives are distinct from those of traditional public forums.
All properties and facilities that are owned, controlled, rented, leased, managed, or operated by the Regents of the University of Michigan are ‘facilities’. This includes a broad range of spaces, grounds, paths, buildings, structures, rooms, halls, walls, doors, windows, and the like.