Rickes Associates (RA) conducted a classroom utilization assessment of 46 classrooms accommodating 356 courses. As of Fall 2000, there were 1,803 seats in IWU's 46 general-purpose classrooms, serving 2,000 undergraduate students.

The analysis used three utilization guidelines: weekly room use hours, seat occupancy, and average square footage per student station. RA distributed and analyzed a paper survey of the faculty, asking questions about most- and least-liked classrooms, seating configurations, and technology. Additionally, RA compared IWU to a selection of institutions in a peer benchmarking study. Specific areas of comparison included campus infrastructure and classrooms, as well as residential and dining space.

RA's recommendations centered on "right-sizing" classrooms and increasing schedulable hours to more closely resemble the desired utilization guidelines. An additional 11 right-sized classrooms were proposed for consideration. (2002)