1 ISEC Building Use Guidelines 2023-2024 At Northeastern

ISEC Building Use Guidelines

2023-2024

At Northeastern University, partnerships drive progress. Our Interdisciplinary Science and

Engineering Complex (ISEC) brings together industry leaders, innovators, public agencies, and

global scholars to create impact and shape the future of humanity.

As a beacon and resource for our community, ISEC has become one of the most widely used and

sought-after spaces on Northeastern University’s Boston campus. The following guidelines have

been drafted in order to ensure all members of the university’s community can access the space to

participate in collaborative research and learning. When looking to use access different spaces

within ISEC, or to learn more about how to support the upkeep of the building, please refer to the

information in this document.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you in ISEC!

Table of Contents

ISEC Event Space

Reserving ISEC Event/Classroom Space

25Live Guidelines

Using ISEC Classrooms and Auditorium

ISEC Security

Conference Rooms

Conference Room Overview

Conference Room Guidelines

Conference Room Housekeeping

Use of Audiovisual Software

Keeping the Building in Top Condition

Ads, Fliers, and Posters on the Wall

ISEC Offices

Facilities Work Requests

Bicycle Room

ISEC bike room policy

Recycling

Animals / Pets in ISEC

Common Areas/Shared Space

Mailroom

Kitchen/Lounge/Balcony on Each Floor

Communal Kitchen/Housekeeping

Northeastern Alcohol Policy

Shower Rooms

Laboratory Shared Space

ISEC Loading Dock

Vendor Access

ISEC Event Space (Atrium/Auditorium/Classrooms)

Reserving ISEC Event/Classroom Space

The ISEC auditorium (102), atrium (101), and classrooms (136, 138, 140, and 142) are available for

events, but must be reserved through the Office of the Registrar.

To reserve these locations, log into your me.northeastern.edu account, click on Resources, Campus Space

& Events, Academic Classroom Scheduling. This will take you to 25Live, our classroom assignment

software. You can begin by checking space availability by date or location, then proceed to create an

Event. Once you have added the event to 25Live, it will be reviewed, and a determination will be made if

the venue is available and/or appropriate. You will either receive confirmation or a request for further

information. If you need further assistance, directions for 25Live are available by going to the

25Live Guidelines

• Reservation policies, space available, and cost estimates can be found on the Registrar’s webpage.

Using ISEC Classrooms and Auditorium

• If you would like to move furniture in the classroom or atrium, you must submit an Event Services

Request to Facilities prior to your event. Only Facilities is authorized to move furniture in ISEC.

• The ISEC café space is not part of the lobby event space and may not be used for any events.

• Food and drink are not allowed in the ISEC classrooms or auditorium. If you would like to serve

food, you must also reserve the ISEC atrium.

• Music is not allowed in the atrium, even soft music - ISEC researchers are hard at work, even on the

weekends, and we cannot disrupt them.

• If you would like to set up a table anywhere in the ISEC lobby (such as a welcome or registration

table), you must also reserve the ISEC atrium, which will incur a fee.

• The ISEC catering kitchen is only used for the ISEC atrium events and should not be used for any

other purpose.

• Outside caterers can use the ISEC catering kitchen, by arranging with the ISEC/EXP Operations

Team, prior to your event.

• All ISEC event drop-off and pick-up deliveries (catering, linens, furniture) need to be coordinated

within the window of your event reservation (including the allotted set-up and break-down time).

There is no space in ISEC for event storage; please plan accordingly with vendors.

• It is the responsibility of the event coordinator to make sure that outside caterers clean up and clear

out the kitchen before leaving ISEC at the end of the event.

• Event organizers are responsible for their guests during an event.

• All events must fall within the proper use protocols set forth by Northeastern University, which can

be found here: https://www.northeastern.edu/policies/

• It is the event representative’s responsibility to make sure that any third-party vendor has a certificate

of insurance on file with the University per Risk Services and the Office of the University Counsel.

ISEC Security

ISEC entrances are open Monday to Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. but closed Sundays. ISEC lab users

have key card access 24/7 to ISEC entrances. ISEC lab users should not open ISEC entrances for

unauthorized individuals and make sure all doors are closed and latched after they enter ISEC building

during off hours.

Vendors need to follow the current Facilities access approval process and fill out the corresponding

paperwork to get on the University’s list of approved vendors, etc. Scheduling of the vendor’s service

shall be coordinated via the relevant Department Safety Officer or responsible Departmental point of

contact. Finally, the Department Safety Officer will communicate with their Faculty members and

students so that the occupants will be aware of any service that will be happening in and/or impacting

their laboratory areas. Vendors need to enter via the loading dock and take the freight elevator. The

Department Safety Officer or responsible Departmental point of contact can coordinate with the vendor

on arranging for someone (DSO or designated personnel in the relevant department, OARS Co-op

student, etc.) to meet them and show them to the exact work area, and to show them out when the work is

completed. Without a vendor badge, they would need to be met by an escort who can take them from one

area to the next until the work is done, and then escort them out.

The security of the laboratory spaces is crucial and all ISEC occupants and laboratory users are

accountable for maintaining it. Vendors and other visitors to the laboratory should only be let in by the

person who is responsible, or who has been delegated as responsible, for coordinating with the vendor or

visitor (DSO or designated personnel in the relevant department, OARS Co-op student, etc.). These

arrangements should be made in advance, and back-up points of contact in the respective laboratory group

and/or department should be designated.

ISEC Conference Rooms

Conference Room Overview

There are over 100 research groups in the building. The ISEC conference rooms are used by ISEC faculty

and development. Thus, there is a high demand for ISEC conference rooms. For that reason, there is a

need to implement the following guidelines, with the shared goal of an efficient room reservation system.

There are three conference rooms on most of the floors: X05, X01, and X32, each with different seating

capacities: X05 can accommodate 5 people, and X01 can accommodate 12 people. The largest conference

room X32 can hold 12 people around the table, and an additional 6 people can sit in second-row chairs

without a table.

Conference Room Guidelines

• ISEC conference rooms are available for ISEC faculty but must be reserved through the

ISEC/EXP Operations Team.

Any ISEC conference room reservation request should have the

following information: the meeting title, name of the research group; number of attendees, date,

time, and duration of the meeting; copy of the meeting’s Zoom or Teams link.

• ISEC conference rooms are used ONLY for research meetings and cannot be used for office

space or lab equipment demonstrations.

• All conference room doors in ISEC are unlocked Monday to Saturday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. On

Sundays the conference rooms are locked for cleaning.

• ISEC conference rooms are reserved for the use of faculty and research groups whose labs are

currently in residence within ISEC. Unless a lab has its primary space in ISEC, they are not

considered a resident ISEC lab.

• Recurring reservations are valid only for the current semester.

• Weekly research group meetings should not exceed 2 hours per week, except if more than one

ISEC research group is involved in the same meeting.

• ISEC conference rooms cannot be used to teach a class.

• ISEC conference rooms cannot be used for events (e.g., group lunch or any group party).

• Meetings directly related to research will be given priority.

• ISEC conference rooms cannot be reserved by graduate students.

• Office hours or capstone projects are not allowed in ISEC conference rooms. Faculty can reserve

a classroom through the Office of the Registrar using 25Live via me.northeastern.edu

for these

purposes.

• For any meetings needing to last more than 3 hours (e.g., outside agency that is reviewing a grant,

etc.) please contact the ISEC/EXP Operations Team

to help coordinate.

• Due to the high demand and limited availability of conference room space in ISEC, particularly

for larger groups, the ISEC/EXP Operations Team books conference room spaces strategically,

based on the room capacity and the requester's expected numbers of in-person attendees. If the

requester reserves a large conference room for a large group, but only uses the room with a few

people (ex. 2-3 in-person attendees), the ISEC/EXP Operations Team reserves the right to

relocate these smaller groups from a larger conference room into any available smaller

conference room that can accommodate the smaller group size.

There are additional parameters for use of the conference rooms already established by the Provost’s

Office/University:

• The Dean’s office of colleges represented in the ISEC can request a conference room for events

of strategic importance to the College.

• Other elements of the university can schedule conference rooms for events of strategic

importance to the university.

• The conference rooms are otherwise not generally available for booking request from outside of

ISEC.

• ISEC conference rooms cannot be reserved in advance for students, but Northeastern students can

walk-in and use any conference room to study if it is empty / available. Students can reserve

conference room in other spaces at Northeastern through

https://nuflex.northeastern.edu/study-

spaces/.

Conference Room Housekeeping

Please keep in mind that the next meeting in this room could be with a potential donor for your research,

your department, or your college.

• Be sure to turn off the lights and close the door when leaving the conference room.

• Do not leave anything behind.

• Please clean the markerboard and leave the room looking neat, with chairs pushed in.

• Do not remove anything that you find in the conference room, including chairs, door stops, any

computer accessories, whiteboard markers and erasers.

• Please do not disconnect or change the setting of the camera or other AV connections.

• Food in ISEC conference rooms is only permissible for meetings of strategic importance to the

university. Due to the high volume and demand of these types of meetings in ISEC, we need to

ensure cleanliness and seamless transitions between meetings. However, if you are hosting a

meeting of strategic importance to the university and will be serving food in a conference room:

please be aware that food scents will linger, as the conference rooms were not designed for food

consumption and cannot properly ventilate scents out of the room. Please choose food with little

to no smell (such as deli sandwiches or salad) and remove all food packaging and food waste

from the room immediately after the meeting. The trash bins in the conference rooms are small,

so please use the kitchen trash bins for this purpose.

Use of Audiovisual Software

Audiovisual systems in the ISEC Auditorium, classrooms and conference rooms are supported by

University IT Services.

If you have any questions or need assistance with any AV trouble shooting, contact IT Service Desk for

help. Call 617. 373.HELP [4357], email help@northeastern.edu, or submit a request through the Tech

Service Portal: https://service.northeastern.edu/tech

ISEC conference rooms are equipped with Microsoft Teams Collaboration Rooms, which support

collaborative meetings through video and content sharing devices, where everyone can be included

regardless of their location. To get started, just invite the room to be a participant in any meeting, call, or

presentation. Direct link about using ISEC Microsoft Teams Collaboration Rooms conference room:

https://service.northeastern.edu/tech?id=kb_article&sys_id=c8409b9e1bbf345457dea755604bcb29

Keeping the Building in Top Condition

Any changes to the physical building may only be made with approval by the ISEC/EXP Operations

Director and by submitting a Space and Capital Project Request (SCPR). This includes furniture orders,

renovations, painting, etc. Please check in with the ISEC/EXP Operations Director, before submitting the

SCPR to initiate this process.

Lab samples, packages, or hazardous materials are not allowed in ISEC passenger elevators. ONLY the

service / freight elevator should be used for those materials.

Ads, Fliers, and Posters on the Wall

No ads, fliers, posters, or banners may be affixed to walls, glass, doors, or railings. The fliers will be

removed by Facilities. Materials may be posted on easels only for events. Please contact the ISEC/EXP

Operations Director, for approval.

ISEC Offices

The vision for the ISEC building was to create a center for interdisciplinary collaboration through visual

connectivity and transparency between spaces. It is for this reason that the building is designed with clear

glass walls instead of solid partitions. Each office has been furnished with a clear glass sidelight, and it is

building policy to have NO window treatment on office sidelights or any partition that blocks the glass to

maintain integrity of the open and transparent building concept.

Items placed on offices and labs windowsill are not allowed, as it will damage the very expensive shades

and change the glass transparency. Equipment and furniture against glass walls between the write-up

spaces and the labs are not allowed.

The following items are not allowed in ISEC offices or write up spaces: Sun lamps, space heaters,

halogen lamps, decorative lights, electric percolators, and all other electric cooking equipment including

hot plates, panini press, toaster ovens, toasters, microwave ovens. Lights that directly assist in reading or

other work functions are permitted.

Storing food in write up spaces is discouraged – perishable meals for the day can be stored in the

communal kitchen refrigerators; the researchers should use lockers or under-desk cabinets to store

personal size snacks. Refrigerators, water coolers, bikes and scooters are not allowed in the lab write up

spaces.

Facilities Work Requests

When should I submit a work request?

Submit a work request through me.northeastern.edu

for any office or lab maintenance issue, for example:

Key card reader needs battery replacement; bad smells; cleaning issue; HVAC issue; and need for soap or

paper towel refill in the labs and the kitchens.

How do I submit a work request?

Go to: me.northeastern.edu

> Resources > Campus Space and Events > Facilities & Residential Life

Work Request

Bicycle Room

Short-term bike parking is available in the ISEC bike room on the first floor or designated outside areas

with bike racks. Door access to the bike room will be given to ISEC faculty, staff and graduate students

who use their bike for commuting upon request.

ISEC bike room policy:

• The ISEC bike room is only available to ISEC occupants doing work in the building. If they are

not on the Boston campus their bike cannot be in the ISEC bike room. No other bikes may be

stored in the ISEC bike room.

• ISEC bike room users should check the weather in the morning, if there is a storm that they will

be unable to ride their bike at the end of the workday, they should not bring their bike to ISEC.

• Bikes should not be stored overnight in the ISEC Bike Room.

• No bikes are allowed in the corridors, entranceways, lobby, labs, elevators, or common area nor is

it permitted to lock them in other parts of the building.

• All bikes should be marked with the owners’ contact information or ISEC bike tag.

• The ISEC bike room will be checked daily and any bike that is in violation of the above

guidelines will be removed without notice.

Recycling

Empty cardboard boxes must be recycled and should not be left in any ISEC common spaces. Each floor

has a recycling hamper (near the freight elevator). Cardboard boxes must be flattened and broken down

before they are placed in the cardboard recycling hamper. Empty cardboard boxes should be removed

from the lab regularly.

A work request should be submitted if there are many cardboard boxes after a lab cleanout or for removal

of wooden pallets. Wooden pallets should not be stored in the write up spaces or in the lab. Pallets are

not permitted in write up spaces. Pallets are permitted in lab spaces only for the immediate purposes of

either receiving or removing lab equipment. A work request for removal of the pallet shall be placed

immediately after the lab equipment is removed from the pallet.

The ISEC battery collection bin is located at ISEC basement near the services / freight elevator. For more

info, please go to https://facilities.northeastern.edu/materials-recycling/recycling/

Animals/Pets in ISEC

For full information on the University’s policies on pets on campus, please read the

Policy on Pets on

Campus.

Common Areas/Shared Space

Mailroom

ISEC does not receive mail directly from any carriers (e.g., FedEx, Amazon, UPS, etc.). Northeastern

University has two central mail and packages receiving facilities: Mail Services and Transportation.

Northeastern University’s Boston Campus mailing address should be used; do not use the ISEC street

address.

Please note, ISEC mail delivery is only available for faculty whose primary lab is located in ISEC. All

other mail will be re-directed back to campus mail for re-routing through Transportations/Mail Services to

the appropriate primary lab location. The ISEC/EXP Operations Team will not continue to track the status

of packages once they have left ISEC. In addition, all bulk orders for event purposes (water, soda, juice

etc.) need to be delivered to the warehouse (1 Marbury Terrace), not the Columbus Place mail room. Mail

services does not have the capacity to delivery bulk orders to ISEC.

Please contact ISEC/EXP Operations Team

for more information about ISEC packages and mail

receiving, and shipping process.

Kitchen/Lounge/Balcony on Each Floor

The kitchens and lounges are common areas intended to serve the building’s users: Northeastern faculty,

staff, visitors, graduate students, and undergraduate students. These spaces are not designed to be used for

events; they are not large enough to host events without disrupting the intended use by the occupants and

students. Hosting an event in these spaces could exceed the maximum occupancy allowed and violate the

fire code. The ISEC lobby is the only space that can be booked for events. It can be reserved through the

Registrar office using 25Live (See Event section of this document). The following items are not allowed

in ISEC kitchen: Hot plates, panini press, toaster ovens.

Communal Kitchen/Housekeeping

• Communal kitchen and refrigerators are not for long term food storage, but only daily use.

• Raw meat, poultry and seafood are not allowed in the communal kitchen’s refrigerators and

freezers. Any raw meat, poultry and seafood that is found in the communal kitchen’s refrigerators

and freezers will be discarded.

• Wet dishes should not be left to dry on the kitchen counter, this will damage the countertops.

• Any personal dishes and utensils left unattended on the kitchen counters will be discarded.

• No food should be disposed in the kitchen sink, as there is no disposal, this will clog the sink.

Northeastern Alcohol Policy

Per Northeastern Alcohol Policy, serving alcohol is not allowed in ISEC open kitchen or any common

spaces, “Alcohol may only be served on campus in locations that are deemed by NUPD and/or Office of

Risk Services to have controllable access”. For more details, please see https://cpb-us-

w2.wpmucdn.com/sites.northeastern.edu/dist/8/805/files/2020/09/alcohol-guidelines.pdf and https://risk-

services.sites.northeastern.edu/alcohol-guidelines/

Shower Rooms

ISEC showers are shared space, with card access. If you need access, please contact the

ISEC/EXP

Operations Team. Any items left unattended will be discarded. Towels and personal items must be

removed after leaving the room. Users should leave the shower room neat and clean exactly as they find

it.

Laboratory Shared Space

Laboratories, offices, other physical space, and equipment supporting Northeastern University activities

are valuable and limited resources requiring active management and continuous stewardship. Shared

resources among university members can be assigned to address diverse space related needs in the

university including enabling efficiency in activities that require common resources, fostering

collaboration between interdisciplinary activities, enabling close working relationships between university

members, using and sharing common equipment, addressing the reality of shortage of space, among

others. Support by the university, its colleges and its departments for the shared resources should result in

better safety, community, and efficacy in the shared investments as faculty and staff can focus on the

intended scholarship, teaching, and service. The Faculty Senate of Northeastern University has passed

multiple resolutions for charters that create an efficient and equitable agreement concerning the use and

operation of shared resources. For example, the College of Engineering Research Space Policy requires a

shared space charter that addresses operational, cost and personnel related topics, such as: lab rules,

guidelines and procedures for lab access, safety, OARS and ECOS requirements, normal operations,

equipment scheduling, repairs, supply stocking, and cost sharing. The Shared Space Charter Template is

available from the Faculty Senate Research Policy Oversight Committee and the Provost Office.

For any given collaboration between researchers or research groups in ISEC, the corresponding

Department and/or College Administrators (e.g., Department/College Safety Officers, Department

/College Financial Administrator/Point of Contact, etc.), are responsible for assisting the ISEC research

collaborators in the creation of a shared resource charter as described above. Individual shared resource

charters created for collaborations internal to ISEC do not supersede and therefore must abide by the

following: the ISEC Building Use Guidelines outlined in this document, as well as all Northeastern

University policies. A shared resource charter for a collaboration in ISEC may only encompass spaces

that have already been assigned to the research groups involved in the charter.

ISEC Loading Dock

When using the loading dock, advance communication with the ISEC/EXP Operations Team

is required.

Include the date and time that use of the loading dock is needed, as well as the purpose. All reservations

should be made at least 48 hours in advance to provide effective coordination. Reservations made with

less than 48 hours of advance notice will be accommodated on an as-able basis, but may not be approved

if the dock is otherwise reserved. If you have not made a reservation to use the loading dock with the

ISEC/EXP Operations team, the dock may not be available for use at the desired time.

• Nothing should be left on ISEC loading docks even for a short period of time.

• Do not back into the loading dock until you are ready to load/unload the equipment. After

loading/unloading pull out of the loading dock.

• Make sure the overhead door is always closed unless backing in or pulling out.

• Anything left unattended on the loading dock will be discarded.

• Do not block the main entrance of the loading dock. All unauthorized vehicles will be towed.