Frequently Asked Questions

ASPIRE is Michigan Tech's Space Management And Inventory tool, as well as providing financial reporting.  Space management is important for use in audits, facility and administration (F&A) rate calculations, capital outlay, classroom scheduling and space usage.  It also provides an easy way to access expenditure information, conduct research projections, and see what equipment is in each room across campus.

Contact aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu and we will be glad to assist you.

No, ASPIRE is not going away.  The system is in the process of being updated to new input and output screens.  We will still need the help of Space, Department, and Equipment Coordinators to keep the space data up-to-date and accurate.

Email aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu to request an in-person training session.

ASPIRE is a snapshot of the current state and past information is not currently available.  However, we might have records of past transaction through emails or prior space surveys.  If there is a specific question, please contact aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu.

To access ASPIRE, you will need to access the Finance, HR and Student Banner modules. To request access complete a Banner Access Form for each area requested.  For student information access, complete the Student Information Access Request Form and submit it to sais@mtu.edu.  For Finance access, complete the Finance Access Request Form and submit it to Finanical Information Systems.  For Human Resources access, complete the Human Resources Access Request Form and submit it to hris@mtu.edu.

When accessing ASPIRE, use your ISO username and password to log in. If you are still having problems, please contact aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu.

On the room information screen, the function code for emeriti faculty is 12.0 Other Institutional Activities and the functional usage percentage would be 100% Other Institutional Activities. You should also add the basic attribute "EMTS" (Office - Emeritus/Emerita) to the room.  In the comment field you can make a note of their name and that they are in emeriti status. 

On the room information screen, the function code for a visiting scholar is 12.0 Other Institutional Activities and the functional usage percentage would be 100% Other Institutional Activities. You should also add the basic attribute "VSTG" (visiting scholar) to the room.  In the comment field you can make a note of their name and that they are a visiting scholar. 

To print ASPIRE data, you can right click on the screen and select "print" or copy and paste into a spreadsheet or word document to print from there. 

1. Users must have separate access to Perceptive Content. Equipment coordinators can request access to the Perceptive Content Equipment Photos through Financial Services and Operations.
2. ASPIRE must be open in Internet Explorer. Sorry, other browsers will not work with the Perceptive Content application plans.
3. ASPIRE must be open to the "Room Information" page. The equipment information is pulled up by the location.
4. Open Perceptive Content and click on the drop down arrow next to Applications
5. If the building number is 0-99, choose the Perceptive Content Application Plan: ASPIRE-Equip-bldgs < 100.
   If the building number is 100 or greater, choose the Perceptive Content Application Plan: ASPIRE-Equip-bldgs >99.
6. Double click on the desired item in the list to open the pictures in the Perceptive Content viewer. If there is only one item in the list, the viewer will automatically open the images(s).
7. Perceptive Content's related document feature will also allow you to view the asset's PO and/or invoice (assuming they exist in the Perceptive Content system). In Perceptive Content Viewer window (with an Equipment Photo open), under View, choose Related Documents. Then in the Related Documents drop down, choose Eq Photo to Invoice or Eq Photo to PO to locate the invoice or PO.

• A primary room is defined as the room where an employee does most of their work or would like to be listed in an MTU directory.
• If an employee has only one room in which they work, it is their primary room. These occupants require no special attention.
• Student groups can be created for a term or longer to avoid the need to reselect them for additional meetings or work assignments.
• Rooms with multiple occupants (more than 1) are indicated in ASPIRE with a plus sign (+) to the right of the room number.
• Multiple rooms situations are easily managed using the methods shown below.

Adding a secondary room (or multiple rooms) for an employee:

• If the new room is NOT the primary room, just click the room number link and add the occupant to the new secondary room.
• If the new room is the primary room, add the occupant and click the occupant link to indicate the new room as the primary. Click a radio button followed by the gold Update button.

Changing an employee from having multiple rooms to a single room:

• Delete their secondary room(s), leaving just the primary room OR
• Change their primary room first (from the occupant name link) and then delete the secondary room(s).

Changing the Primary room for a multiple room occupant who will remain a multiple room occupant:

• Click on the occupant name link and change the primary room using the radio buttons and the update button Then delete or add any secondary rooms, if necessary.

Choose "Show All of the People" for a complete list of employees and graduate students to find and select the occupant. 

If you have a room on your space list that you currently do not have stewardship of anymore, send a request for change to aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu. Include an approval of the space change by the department chair or department director.

If you do not have a room on your space list that you currently have stewardship of, send an email request for change to aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu. Include an approval of the space change by the department chair or department director.

No. A workstation is a physical location where one primarily does his or her work. It does not need to have a computer or phone or even someone currently working there to be considered as a workstation. For example, your department may have a workstation which is currently unused because of a hiring freeze. Since someone could still be working there, it should still be reported as a workstation. 

Key to this definition is the word "primarily". A person may have a desk at which most of their work is completed, and may also have a large table at which they periodically sit at to sort papers, etc. Because most of the person's work is completed at the desk, the desk is to be reported as a workstation while the large table will not.

E-mail to aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu and state which building and room it is. We will then determine what the proper square footage should be and make the change in our system.

Function Codes are data items that are used to group space by function as defined by the Post Secondary Education Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual.

Functional Use Percentage is an Uniform Guidance data item (government cost principals for educational institutions) which are used for determining the space when calculating the F&A rate (facilities & administration).

We are looking at the fiscal year rather than the academic year.  Since this functional use of space study looks at the activity of a room for the entire fiscal year, the summer time room use should be weighted into your percent allocation computation.

Each Banner index is color coded as to whether it is Organized Research (OR) or Departmental Research (DR). Assign the activity according to the color coding. The color coding scheme is OR is gold, DR is tan, and OSA is blue.

General Administration is the central administrative offices, like Purchasing, Payroll, Accounts Payable, and Accounting/Financial Services.

Departmental Administration is used primarily for academic administration. For example, Departmental Administration includes academic department chairs.

Distance Learning is considered "Instruction."

No. This column is only to be used for the Van Pelt and Opie Library.

Set the room functional use percent to 100% Other Institutional Activity (OIA).

Rooms with salary & wage (S&W) research related activity should have all of the account/index numbers assigned to it. Remember, the University Space Committee is now using this data for space allocation purposes. Therefore, you want to give your department the proper credit for the work that is done in a given room.

Indexes are not required for the OIA activity, such as residence halls and Daniell Heights.

Only one department can be the controlling organization for a room. One additional department can be indicated as "user" of the space by contacting aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu with the request.

There is a 12 month rule for future use. If the space is not currently occupied, but you know a research project is going to be in that space in the future, then put the project down in that space. Keep in mind the timeframe of activity that we are looking at.

All equipment is fed from Banner into ASPIRE and that data is entered by the Property and Plant Fund Accounting Office.  Any inaccuracies should be reported to aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu and to the Property and Plant Fund Accounting Office.  Provide the equipment tag number, the incorrect room number that is listed, and the room number where the equipment is currently located.

All equipment related questions can be emailed to the Property Office at property-l@mtu.edu.

First speak to IT (it-help@mtu.edu or 487-1111). If still not resolved, email aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu).

Email aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu stating the space error and the ASPIRE administrators will work with Facilities Management to update the floor plan. 

Telcom drawings require additional software called Autodesk Viewer to open the files. Ask IT to install it for you.

Email aspirehelp-l@mtu.edu stating the door plate error and the ASPIRE administrators will work with Facilities Management to determine if the door plate will need to be replaced.