Re: Core Facilities McCabe, Jeanne 25 Feb 2000 10:43 EST
Hi all! As the Research Administrator for the University of Iowa College of Medicine, I am administratively responsible for eight core research facilities. There are many issues that come up with regards to the facilities, including those mentioned below. I have to say that in reading A-21, A-110 and any NIH/NSF information, I don't feel like there are really any guidelines that are explicit enough to provide much guidance. Based on our experience several years ago with a federal audit on our various recharge centers, we did establish Recharge Center policies & procedures. The web link is: http://www.uiowa.edu/fus/manuals/recarpo3.htm <http://www.uiowa.edu/fus/manuals/recarpo3.htm> However, the actual management and decision making process of core research facilities is more complicated than any single policy can encompass, in my opinion. There are different services provided by each facility, and while some tend to be relatively cost effective, many of the equipment intensive facilities can't possibly break even and require considerable subsidization. In the "good old days" when medical schools were able to earn profits, that wasn't a huge issue. With the BBA, medicare cuts and managed care issues facing our practice plan, that is no longer the case. So, I am quite interested in starting a dialogue, and perhaps even a sub-group of SRA or NCURA, to discuss how different universities finance core research facilities. Would anyone else be interested in a sub-group? If so, I will try to do a little investigating into how SRA/NCURA sub-committees are formed. Sincerely, Jeanne McCabe Research Administrator University of Iowa College of Medicine 224 CMAB Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1101 319-353-5513 xxxxxx@uiowa.edu -----Original Message----- From: Stephen Erickson [SMTP:xxxxxx@BC.EDU] Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 8:59 AM To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG Subject: Re: Core Facilities Tony, these are exactly the points we are working on now with regard to users from outside the university. We feel strongly that the internal research and instructional use of the facilities has absolute priority. External users, frankly, will come last in terms of scheduling. Since our facilities a located within two specific departments, we are leaving it to the Depoartment Chairs to schedule facility use. The rate structure is difficult. We are in the process of assessing anticipated costs and, in effect, coming up with perhaps a loaded hourly rate. Unfortunately, we are very likely not to know exactly what an accurate rate should be until we gather some experience with external users to see, for instance, what kind of staff support they need etc. Your suggestion on the NSF/NIH programs is a good one and I will follow up on that. Steve Anthony Boccanfuso wrote: > Jane: > > Good question - > > I think there are alot of issues (both financial and non-financial) tied up in > how these core research facilities operate. > Steve raised on of them when he mentioned whether or not these will be made > available to external users. Let me suggest several other: > > 1 - Time management - who determines who has access to these machines? Does > everyone in the department (or school or university or system..) have the right > to access a facility that was purchased with state and/or federal funds? I think > that this issue is becoming more prevalent especially as there is more > translational research today than ever and there is a larger pool of retired but > "active" faculty. > > 2 - Financial - are they going to operate as service centers? As you know, this > raises a whole host of issues. Who determines the rate structure ? Will > departments be given a certain amount of credit so they can use the machines > without paying out of their operating budgets? > > 3 - Organizational - Who will these units report to? the VPR?? the dept > chairs?? the deans?? > > I think one really good place to look for guidance is the operating procedures > for NIH and NSF shared instrumentation or core facilities. These centers (or > large equipment) must have strong policies and procedures that address these > types of questions. Perhaps someone who has one of these at their institution > could provide you a copy of their P&P. > > Tony Boccanfuso > > "Youngers, Jane" <xxxxxx@UTHSCSA.EDU> on 02/24/2000 04:28:52 PM > > Please respond to Research Administration Discussion List <xxxxxx@hrinet.org> > To: xxxxxx@HRINET.ORG > cc: > Subject: Core Facilities > > Here's a new topic (I think) for the list. We are looking at how we might > better manage our existing core research facilities and develop guidelines > for establishing new ones. By core research facility, I mean a facility > that provides support to many researchers on your campus. The classic core > research facility is the animal facility. But I am not really interested in > how you finance and manage that. What I am interested in is how you > identify, finance, and manage your other core facilities such as protein > structure cores or DNA sequencing cores or microscopy cores. Do you have > definitions of what consistututes a core facility; how are they typically > managed. how are they typically financed. Any other guidelines or > policies/procedures you might have. Just a website address would even help. > > Thanks. > > Jane > Jane A. Youngers > Director, Grants Management > Mail Code 7828 > University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio > 7703 Floyd Curl Drive > San Antonio TX 78229-3900 > phone 210.567.2333 > fax 210.567.2344 > email xxxxxx@uthscsa.edu > > ====================================================================== > Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including > subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available > via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists") > ====================================================================== > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which > it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. 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