1. SEA Organization

    1. The SEA Board
      This is a group of faculty and staff members who serve three-year terms. They are appointed by the dean's in consultation with the chair of SEA. This organization must approve by a 2/3 majority in two consecutive meetings any instrument addition to SEA, user fee policies, and any instrument sell-off. Members cannot vote unless they attend the meetings.

    2. Instrument Working Groups
      These small groups will be chaired by at least one member of the SEA board and will include graduate students and post-docs who are heavy users. They will meet frequently every fall to write/review user policies and training procedures for individual instrumentation, as well as offer suggestions for user fee structures. The SEA board will solicit the research groups who are users of the instrument for nominations of interested users.

    3. Faculty Instrument Administrator
      Each instrument or instrument group will have a faculty administrator (FIA). This person must arrange for service calls, train SEA staff in instrument operation, and oversee super-user check-out procedures. Ideally, the FIA would offer annual short courses to keep all users up-to-date on the latest in instrument operations. To compensate for their time, these individuals will receive 2-4 weeks of free instrument time depending on the demands of the position.

    4. Super-Users
      In order to assist in user training and smooth machine operation, a set of students/post-docs/other faculty who are experts in specific instruments will be designated super-users. The FIA will be responsible for assigning super user status to individuals. This group will have the authorization to train new users of the instrument and handle service calls under the direction of the FIA. People being trained will pay double user fees for their time, which will be used to offset the fees paid by their research group.

  2. SEA Instrumentation
    SEA oversees a portfolio of diverse equipment originally purchased through a variety of single investigator, collaborative and institutional grants. This section details the mechanisms by which instruments are added to SEA's list.

    1. Candidate Instruments for SEA Stewardship

      1. Initial Dean's List
        In 2001, a list of equipment to be considered by SEA was provided by the deans of science and engineering. This instrumentation was originally purchased through a variety of individual, collaborative and institutional grants. In most cases, equipment was included on this list because it had not been managed financially and its upkeep the responsibility of the divisions.

      2. External Nominations
        Any faculty member, department or dean can recommend instruments for SEA stewardship; also, in some cases SEA may actively pursue an instrument for inclusion in the portfolio. In either case, each nomination must provide for each instrument information concerning its age, user history, financial history and status, maintenance costs and prior support. In addition, the nomination must designate a staff member or faculty to be the faculty in charge (FIA) of the instrument.

    2. Guidelines for accepting instrumentation into SEA

      1. The Decision-Making Process
        The SEA board will consider each request at two consecutive meetings. In order to be added to the SEA list, an instrument must receive a 2/3 majority vote at each meeting.

      2. Guidelines for Deciding to Accept Instrumentation

        • Is the instrument currently a shared resource or likely to become one within a year? 'Shared' means:
          a) used by more than two faculty members
          b) and also, used by faculty in more than one department.

        • Is there adequate physical access to the instrument? If it is located in a individual research group's lab, what are the provisions for after-hours access if any?

        • Has this machine been self-supporting through user fee revenues? If not, is there a plan in place for making it self-supporting within two years?

        • Is there a motivated faculty or staff member committed to overseeing the instrument and its user group?

      3. Reduced User Fees for Capital Equipment Contributors

        • The policy of SEA is that no deal will be given to faculty on user fees for any instrumentation: in other words, even if faculty individually contributed to the capital cost they still must share maintenance fees equally with the user group. This is done to ensure that instrumentation can raise its own maintenance fees. In addition, SEA provides a great service to faculty with special interest in instrumentation by carrying the management burden for the machine.

        • Faculty in charge of instruments and faculty housing shared equipment in their lab space may receive special scheduling consideration.

        • The only exception to this rule may be when individual funds are used to purchase instruments which are SEA machines from their arrival on campus. In these cases it will be customary to provide a free year of usage to each contributor.

    3. Demoting Instruments Out of SEA.

      1. The Decision-Making Process
        The SEA board will consider each request at two consecutive meetings. In order to be removed from the SEA list, an instrument must receive a 2/3 majority vote at each meeting.

      2. Guidelines For Deciding To Remove Instrumentation From SEA’s List.

        • Has the instrument become used by only 1 or 2 research groups?

        • Has there been little to no investment of SEA money in the instrument’s maintenance?

        • Is there a motivated faculty or staff member committed to overseeing the instrument and its user group if removed from SEA management?

  3. SEA Stewardship Responsibilities
    SEA is responsible for the general management of shared equipment, including assessment of user fees and drafting user policies. Much of this work is done annually by the instrument working groups as described below:

    1. Setting Internal User Fees
      The board will review financial information on each instrument, including maintenance costs and user history. Fees will be set so as to pay the necessary maintenance costs. All instrument fees will be held in a single pool, and can be used for the maintenance of any SEA machine. However, records of each instrument's contribution will be recorded to guide in resource allocation.

    2. Setting External User Fees
      External users will be allowed to use instruments on a case by case basis. The working groups will be charged with investigating the legal issues surrounding external use of machines, and setting fees accordingly.

    3. Collecting User Fees
      For the first year, CBEN staff will collect user log's monthly and assess research groups user fees. Ultimately, instrument sign-up and user fee assessment will be automated through web-based logon files.

    4. Setting User Policies
      Each working group will write/review on an annual basis the user policies, training regulations and instrument manuals for their machines. These documents will be reviewed and disseminated by the SEA board. A general rule is that no Rice individual can be excluded from using a machine if they have met training policies and if they are in good financial standing with the SEA.

    5. Ensuring Functional Instrumentation
      The operation of each instrument is the responsibility of the faculty administrator, and ultimately the SEA board. If an instrument is broken, SEA will take immediate action to see that it is fixed in a timely basis.

    6. Reviewing Shared Instrument Grants
      Large collaborative grants and specific instrumentation grants will affect Rice for years to come. SEA will review such grants to decide whether there is a tenable, long-term management plan. In addition, cost-sharing promises will be evaluated for their impact on stewardship issues.

  4. Resource Allocation for SEA Instruments
    The SEA board has the responsibility to see that its instruments become self-sufficient financially. Its financial resources include user fees, funding from interdepartmental center grants, and institutional monies. Any request for instrument support must be approved by a 2/3 majority of the SEA board in two consecutive meetings. Only those present at the meeting are allowed to vote. The guidelines for these decisions are given below:

    1. Maintenance Contracts
      SEA will consider annually whether to continue maintenance contracts. In the event that an instrument's user fees do not exceed the cost of the maintenance contract, the SEA board will consider a variety of options:

      1. Purchasing the maintenance contract using surplus SEA funds.

      2. Allowing the contract to lapse for several months so as to build up a reservoir of user fees.

      3. Removing the instrument from SEA.

      4. Selling the instrument.

    2. Replacement of Key Components/Parts
      When instruments require emergency repairs or maintenance which require an amount greater than $1000, the SEA board will consider whether to provide support. To ensure quick turnaround, these requests will be dealt with in a single meeting.

    3. Selling SEA Instrumentation
      The SEA board can sell instrumentation if it is allowable under the funding regulations. This course of action will be automatically pursued for any instrument that has not been used in more than a year; the board may also consider selling instruments based on the suggestions of the user community. Any proceeds from a sale go into the general SEA fund.

    4. Removing SEA Instrumentation
      A fourth option is to remove an instrument from SEA oversight.

    The board will consider the annual assessment of each instrument (see next section) when allocating resources from the SEA general fund. The overall health of the instrument, and its ranking within all instruments in SEA, will be of paramount concern during any debate over instrument allocation. For any instrument in the bottom 25% of the rankings, the board must unanimously approve any investment of the SEA general fund. In addition, any instrument which has not broken even financially for two years in a row will not receive any additional SEA support.

  5. Annual Instrument Assessment
    Because of the broad spectrum of departments and research supported by SEA, an annual assessment of each instrument's value to research, financial status and operations is crucial to the board's decision making. Thus, every year CBEN staff will conduct surveys of faculty members and instrument users to gauge the overall health of all instrumentation. Factors which will be considered:

    1. Prior financial history: user fees assessed versus instrument costs.

    2. Usage of machine: % usage capacity.

    3. User base- both size and diversity.

    4. User satisfaction.

    5. Faculty rankings of machine’s importance to their research.

    6. Enthusiasm of faculty administrator.

    7. Future plan for building user base.

    8. Ability of single/group of PIs to manage instrument.

    These results will be tabulated and the instruments ranked accordingly. The future of any instrument which has failed to break even financially for two years in a row, or has been utilized at under 10% capacity, will be considered carefully.
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