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Re: Animal Care Costs Herbert B. Chermside 16 Mar 1998 13:42 EST

At 09:03 AM 3/13/98 -0800, you wrote:
>We are reevaluating our animal care costs in view of contracting use of our
>animal facilities to nearby commercial firms.  Is there a source where I can
>find the average costs of animal care nationally?  Are there liability
>concerns that others have had experience with?
>
 At VCU we have at times contracted to provide animal care services to
local for-profit research groups.  A senior executive felt it important to
do this to increase our interaction with the companies (we're helping
develop a research park, and this convenience was expected to be an
inducement for the companies to rent space there!).  I tried to ensure that
all direct costs were recovered, including a vehicle to serve them across
town, and a little premium  for uncalculated costs.  Indirect costs were
originally planned at our on campus research rate, but significan
reductions were insisted upon by that high executive as additional part of
the inducement.

Were we not trying to induce further interactions, I'd be rather hesitant.
First, we, a public institution, might be accused of competing with private
enterprise.  Second, that market is less likely than in-house researchers
to be stable.  But I might try to get a small contract if we had a known
temporary reduction in utilization and wanted to keep the staff employed
for the "bridge" time.

Chuck

Herbert B. Chermside, CRA
Director, Sponsored Programs Administration
Virginia Comonwealth University
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