Post COBRE and INBRE Funding: Best Practices to Sustain Critical Resources

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Post COBRE and INBRE Funding Best Practices to
Sustain Critical Resources

• 4th Northeast Regional Meeting
• August 10-12, 2011
• Salve Regina University
• Newport, Rhode Island

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Tim Hunter University of Vermont Core Director
VGN Microarray Facility Core Director, VCC DNA
Analysis Facility Core Director, Advanced Genome
Technologies Core (AGTC) Asst Director,
Translational Technologies Unit, CCTS
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What We Have Learned Common Issues

• Some NCRR-funded cores are isolated
• No easy access to medical schools (ID)
• Sometimes difficult to hire specialized staff
• Some cores want to do outreach but dont know how
• Information does not get to them, need a central
  place
• Most were not aware of the opportunities for
  networking in the Core Community
• Very few attendees are aware of federal
  regulations regarding core fees structure where
  is the information?
• Most had never developed chargebacks or a
  business plan to sustain critical core activities
  beyond NCRR funding.
• No formal standards on how core charge back
  should be implemented.
• Need for a workshop on core management (Best
  Practices)?

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Why Implement Best Practices

• Transparency
• Increase Visibility of Core
• Establish and maintain High Quality Services
• Professional Development
• Benchmarking (www.abrf.org)
• Promotes User confidence, Education, and
  Awareness
• Open Houses, Workshops, and Tutorials
• User Oversight
• Sustainability
• Sustaining technologies/services crucial to
  Research Institute

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Best Practices Short List

• Developing a Business Plan
• Developing a full cost recovery Budget
• Evaluate Impact of Core Facility on Research
  Competiveness
• Marketing/Customer Relations (Steve, Jim, Jackie)

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Best Practices Longer List

• 3-5 Year Business Plan
• Developing full cost recovery Budget , regardless
  of subsidies
• Make sure technologies/services are congruent
  with the organizations mission and vision.
• Financial benchmarking internal and external
• Access/ Utilization (user friendly)
• Technical benchmarking internal and external
• Educational outreach internal and external
• Impact and Outcomes (tracking)
• Local and Global Oversight
• Communication and promotion

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Developing a Business Plan

• Clear Mission
• Organizational Structure
• Inventory of resources
• Maintenance plans
• Operational Plan
• Staffing, delivery of services (QC,QA, user
  relations), LIMS
• Marketing Plan
• Financial Planning
• Technology Assessment
• 3-5 Year outlook of future needs
• Technology Assessment, Financials

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Web Resources Business Planning

• OMB Circular A-21 Basics
• http//www.aucd.org/docs/urc/A21basics.pdf
• OMB Circular A-21 Cost Principles for Educational
  Institutions
• http//www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/
  circulars/a021/a21_2004.pdf
• Business Plan for a Startup Business Including
  narratives and several financial worksheets( from
  SCORE)
• http//www.careerramblings.com/pdf/cr_business_pla
  n.pdf
•  
• (Request for comments on) FAQs to Explain Costing
  Issues for Core Facilities
• http//cancer.osu.edu/research/cancerresearch/shar
  edresources/Documents/NIH20-20Core20Facilities
  20FAQs.pdf
•  
• SCORE Free Small Business Advice,
  How-to-Resources, tools
• http//www.score.org/

All Posted on NICL website
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Developing a full cost recovery Budget

• The Crash Course

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Developing a full cost recovery Budget

• Project Utilization
• Define service/billable units
• Effort of each staff dedicated to delivery
• Determine true cost of service (Direct)
• Service contract, consumables, reagents
• Indirect Cost
• Administration, consulting, space costs,
  communications
• Instrument Depreciation
• Fully loaded chargeback
• Applying Dept, center, college subsidies

Must be Circular A-21 Compliant
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Direct vs. Indirect (F A)

• Direct Costs can be identified specifically
  with delivery of a particular service/technology.
  i.e., labor, operating supplies and materials,
  service contracts, depreciation on non-federally
  purchased equipment.
• Indirect Costs Costs that are incurred for
  common or joint objectives and cannot be readily
  identified to a specific service/technology.
  i.e., space, administration, travel,
  communications (phone, copier), deficit recovery

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Developing a full cost recovery Budget

• Service Utilization
• Define Service

• Annual Survey
• Email solicitation
• History
• i.e., Fragment Analysis
• Billable Unit Injection
• Std and Titration provided

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Developing a full cost recovery Budget

• Determine direct efforts for each staff

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Developing a full cost recovery Budget

• Service cost analysis (S)
• Direct (SL) cost for delivery of defined service

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Developing a full cost recovery Budget
Direct
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Core Operating Principles Best Practices in
determining chargebacks

• The costs of providing service are allowable,
  allocable, consistently applied and reasonable.
• The rates are established to recover these are
  documented and systematically evaluated against
  actual cost and revised on a regular basis to
  reflect actual costs (A-21 J.47)
• These rates are charged to all users on a
  consistent basis, regardless of funding source(s)
  and employing a principle of one service, one
  rate.

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Evaluating Impact of Core Facility on Research
Competitiveness Essential Metrics

• Kinds of services provided
• Staffing  
• Grant proposals and (by PI, dates of submission
  or funding, title, and agency)
• Funded grants that used data from the facility.
• List of publications that used data from the
  facility.
• Numbers of completed projects for internal
  faculty and students sortedby college or school
  (the units of a project will vary by facility)
• Numbers of clients outside Institute, if any

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Essential Metrics

• Budget Information
• Financial benchmarking internal and external
• Access/ Utilization
• Technical benchmarking internal and external 
• Educational outreach internal and external
• Impact and Outcomes 
• Local and Global Oversight 
• Communication and promotion
• Professional Development (Expertise)

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Funding Landscape Post COBRE
?????? Lots of Lingering Questions ??????

• Movement of IDeA States Programs to NIGMS

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NIH/NCRR Meetings on Efficient Core Management

• The Efficient Management and Utilization of Core
  Facilities
• July 14 15, 2009

• Moving Forward in the Efficient Management and
  Use of Core Facilities
• November 15 16, 2010

• managing core facilities
• issues of cost efficiency, management and access
• finding and accessing core facilities
• government policies governing managing and
  reporting
• training core directors
• quality improvement

• updates on maximizing the use and efficiency of
  existing NIH-funded research core facilities
• developing effective training programs for core
  facility directors
• exploring software options for enhancing
  administrative management of core facilities
• creating a national registry of core resources
• standardizing compliance with OMB Circular A21

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NISBRE 2012

• What workshops or presentations would be of
  greatest value to the NICL community?