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RIC Facility Policies

RIC Facility Pricing

There are three tiers of pricing:
• single use (defined as a unit of time)
• heavy use for a week
• heavy use for a month (refer to Fees tables for single use time units and pricing)

Single use pricing is based on units of time defined for each instrument. Heavy use pricing is based on flat fees if a user exceeds a set dollar amount by the single use pricing system. Therefore, if an investigator requires the intense use of a certain piece of equipment a flat fee will be billed for that particular week, or for that particular month, which will allow unlimited use of that piece of equipment during the heavy use billing period. Each investigator will receive a monthly billing invoice which will have already been calculated to charge the lowest rate for each instrument according to the usage. Consumable items, i.e. FACS tubes and polyallomer tubes for centrifugation, etc., will be charged at cost. For billing purposes, a month will be divided into four weeks. The first week will begin on the first Monday of the month. The last week will include any days of the calendar month prior to the first Monday.

Why use the RIC Facility instruments?

Fees for instruments are instituted such that if an investigator were to use the instrument continually throughout the year, the cost to the user for that year would be about 3-4% of the purchasing cost for that piece of equipment. Thus the investigator would have to use the instrument continually for about 25 to 30 years before reaching the amount of money it would have cost to purchase the instrument outright at the beginning of the 30 years. In addition to purchasing costs, high-technology research equipment is often expensive to maintain, and complicated to use. If the instrument is not used frequently, an investigator may take weeks of valuable research time to become reacquainted with the equipment and may waste reagents and precious samples in the process of relearning equipment use. The RIC Facility maintains equipment, provides access for investigator use and operates any complicated equipment for the investigator. If an investigator takes into account expenses due to equipment purchasing cost, equipment maintenance cost, repair cost, and time, it is economically advantageous to use the equipment provided in the RIC Facility rather than to purchase, maintain and operate the equipment individually.

Investigator accounts

An investigator who wishes to utilize instruments and services in the RIC Facility is requested to contact the director or lab technician to set up a user account. The registration form documents the investigator’s choice for current account number(s) from which funds can be transferred at billing time. When the investigator wishes to use multiple account numbers for billing, the investigator may specify which account number will provide payment for which user and/or project of choice. Fund transfers will take place at the beginning of the month for the previous month and each investigator will receive a paper copy of the billing invoice.

Door codes

The main door to the RIC Facility will be programmed with a unique code for access by each investigator with an account. The internal door to the RIC Facility darkroom will be programmed with a unique code for access by each approved Zeiss AxioSkop investigator. Daily door access will be monitored. Each investigator is requested to protect the privacy and restrict the use of programmed door codes.

Recording instrument usage

Each instrument, service or consumable has a card for recording usage. Cards are readily accessible in the lab. At the time of service, individual users should sign the back of the card, fill out one row of information as indicated on the card and drop the card in the box near the door of the lab. Investigators are kindly requested to inform student users of these policies so that operations in the RIC Facility will run as smoothly as possible. The card system is not only functional for billing purposes, but is also utilized to track consumables for ordering and to track instrument use so that equipment can be regularly scheduled for routine maintenance services according to usage milestones.

Government Compliance

The RIC Facility will abide by the following items in order to comply with federal regulations.

Accounting software will track:
• Investigator accounts
• Equipment and consumable use
• Inventory
• Expenses
• Billing – including specific federal and non-federal grant numbers
• Facility summaries (for internal and external audits)

Funds will be used for:
• Lab Technician wages
• Standard equipment maintenance
• Equipment repairs
• Equipment upgrades associated with repairs
• Equipment Consumables and Reagents
• Promotional and Training expenses

Funds will not be used for:
• Acquisition of new equipment
• Personal Leisure or other expenses not allowed under federal regulations

As required by federal law, fees can not be subjected to discounts, negotiated prices or other alteration of prices for any internal (BYU) investigators. A separate billing structure (elevated prices) will be established and approved by BYU compliance for external (non- BYU) investigators whose accounts will also be tracked in the accounting software.

The RIC facility is classified as a Recharge Center. This means that the facility can not operate for profit and must abide by all federal and BYU recharge center regulations. The RIC Facility will conduct the required annual and optional semi-annual accounting reviews to determine any pricing adjustment. Any adjustments in prices will reflect a need for change due to differences in facility expense accounts versus income in accounts receivable.