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Policy:

The AARC operates as a university recharge center. As such, a fee structure for use of AARC instruments has been developed following federal cost accounting principles and the mission, goals and principles of the AARC.

Users with more than one project will not be permitted to utilize those projects to create multiple
simultaneous reservations on a single instrument. Users should not reserve times for others but for his/her own work; failure to follow this policy can result in restrictions to reservation.

UPDATED AARC USER POLICY – February 6th, 2020

All users must pay for instrument time.

Fees:

Data Retention

Due to limited hard drive space, AARC encourages users to remove data from equipment after sessions or as often as possible.  AARC staff will routinely remove old data in order to free up space and are not responsible for loss of user data.  When possible, notifications regarding data removal will be sent in advance.

Buehler Prep Equipment

This equipment has an internal rate of $5/hr and a commercial rate of $20/hr.  Users are asked to provide consumables on this equipment.

A $50 per hour additional fee applies when staff assistance is required.

Please contact the AARC Manager for information regarding instrument training and usage rates.

A $100 fee will be applied for APT-FIB training

Due to the complex and specialized nature of APT specimen preparation, additional training for users with previous FIB experience will be required. Please review the information provided here:  APT-FIB Specimen Preparation

Vibratory Polisher:

Because this piece of equipment is used frequently by multiple groups and has, at times, not been properly cleaned, the need to monitor access and usage has warranted listing this equipment through the FBS. While the polisher will be free to use, please review and adhere to the following policy regarding usage: Polishing Guidelines

Billing schedule:
Billings are sent on a monthly basis to departments who distribute them to advisors. All users should have AARC accounts with current billing information.

Disputable charge:
Users may contact the facility director to discuss any disputed charge. Any adjustments must be completed within 90 days to comply with the university’s rule.

Reservations:
Reservations can only be made in hourly and half-hour time increments (e.g. 9:30-12:00).

Daytime and evening:
There are currently no billing distinctions between day and evening use.

Flexible start/end time:
Start/end time is calculated to the second so that you are billed for the actual instrument time you have used.

Extended usage:
If reserved time is extended, the user will be charged according to actual usage.

Unused reservation:
If user does not show up within 30 minutes after reserved start time, the reservation will be cancelled and another user may use the time period. The user who made the reservation will be charged a $20 no-show/late cancellation fee.

Cancelled reservation:
User will not be charged if a reservation is cancelled more than one day (24 hours) before reserved time begins. User will be charged the equivalent of one hour usage if reservation is cancelled within the same day because other users are unable to make reservations when there is a standing one.

Forgetting to logout:
User will be charged for time logged in. If the user forgets to logout overnight, they will be charged until they log off.

Report forgotten logouts:
If any user finds that the previous user forgot to logout, he/she should report to facility manager as soon as possible. The facility manager can log the user out via the administrative account. Please note, the current user’s experiment might be interrupted if the previous user logs off while the instrument is being used.

Technical assistance and training fee:
Technical assistance and training fees are entered manually by AARC staff. Charges depend on assistance or training provided and time spent.

Machine downtime:
Users will not be charged if the machine is marked as down, even if he/she has reserved the machine. Users may also request reset of charge if the machine is faulty but not marked as down.

Report of equipment problem:
When logging off equipment in ARMS, user should check “problem” or “down” if there was problem during the experiment. Facility managers will receive email notice and fix the problem as soon as possible. Facility managers will also evaluate whether the usage charge should be reset due to the problem reported.

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