[labnetwork] Onboarding new users - academic or government labs

[Sandrine Martin]

Hello Aimee,

Here
<https://lnf.engin.umich.edu/getting-access/new-external-us-academic-users/>
is our new external user intake procedure at the U Michigan / LNF. The
overall process is fairly similar for internal/external users, but varies
quite a bit depending on the specific project, admin circumstances etc.

*Initial project and processing discussion*
This can vary a lot depending on whether this is a brand new project, or a
continuation of an existing project. A few hours of technical user support
staff time is typical.

*Admin set up*
All users have to complete a form with all key information/fields/approvals
(paper or electronic, many groups now also use DocuSign for this) and we
manually enter it in our lab management system, set up lab access devices
etc. That's fairly straightforward and takes 30min-1h max per user overall.
For external users, it can sometimes take a little bit more time depending
on the external organization requirements (setting up UM as a vendor in
their system, POs, other arrangements etc). Our financial manager now takes
care of most of those cases, but I think it rarely takes more than 1h or so
of work.

*Onboarding*
Safety training is done via online modules (some from the university,
others LNF-specific) with online quizzes and we get most results
automatically/via email.
Technical user support staff hold virtual information sessions (1h30
weekly) via zoom. We are working on moving those to an asynchronous
delivery.
We use a google spreadsheet to monitor/track all prospective users and
their progress with required steps. This is still a work in progress (I
started this spreadsheet in 2011...) and we are still working on making
that tracking process more automated. I would say 30min-1h per user on this.
All users have to go through a 1-on-1 30 minute access interview, usually
with me.
Once they have lab access, users also attend a new user orientation inside
the lab, led by members of the user committee (users, not staff), 1h30
weekly for up to 4-5 people.

After then, the new user is ready to start equipment and process training
with their mentor, who can be a staff member or another lab user depending
on the circumstances.

So, on average, about 4-5h of staff time per new user is a good ballpark.
But again, it can vary *a lot* depending both on the project and the admin
requirements.
I hope that helps! Happy to chat more about any of these if you want.

Thanks
Sandrine

On Mon, Sep 25, 2023 at 5:33 PM Price, Aimee <price.798 at osu.edu> wrote:

> Lab Network,
>
> How much time (actual people hours) does your facility spend onboarding
> new users, per user on average? What is included in that time? I am
> specifically asking about getting projects set up (billing, contact info,
> contracts if applicable) and getting them through required initial training
> before they ever touch or train on a tool.
>
>
>
> Do you have automated systems to do this, or does it involve a staff
> member(s) interacting with the users personally, back and forth?
>
>
>
> I’d love to know your experiences as we continue to improve our own.
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Aimee Bross Price
>
>
>
> Manager, Nanofabrication
>
> The Ohio State University
>
> Nanotech West Lab
>
> Institute for Materials Research
>
> 1381 Kinnear Road
>
> Suite 100
>
> Columbus, OH 43212
>
> 614-292-2753
>
> Price.798 at osu.edu
>
> Nanotech.osu.edu
>
>
>
> Pronouns: she/her/hers
>
>
>
>
>
> Conference Chair, 67th International Conference on Electron, Ion, Photon
> Beam Technology and Nanofabrication (EIPBN)
>
> La Jolla, California May 28-31, 2024
>
> | https://eipbn.org |
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> labnetwork mailing list
> labnetwork at mtl.mit.edu
> https://mtl.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo.cgi/labnetwork
>


-- 

Sandrine Martin, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)

University of Michigan

LNF Managing Director

1246D EECS, 1301 Beal Ave

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Cell 734-277-2365

Fax 734-647-1781

www.LNF.engin.umich.edu <http://www.lnf.engin.umich.edu/>

@LurieNanofab
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