[labnetwork] PI funding gaps

[Iulian Codreanu]

Hi Michael,

I have not encountered the scenario you mentioned but I am providing 
some comments you may find useful.

Our reservation system "talks" to the University's financial system 
every time a user makes a reservation or enables a tool for usage. If 
the financial account the user has on file is out of money, expired, 
etc. the reservation system presents the user with the ability to 
proceed with using a "suspense code" (I am not sure why I agreed to that 
name). If the user makes that choice, an email is generated to provide a 
valid account at the earliest convenience. We have not had any 
situations where we did not get a valid account number by the time we 
completed our monthly billing cycle.

The bailing mechanism you mentioned would probably be a good way to 
handle this. I believe that charging some users but not charging others 
(for whatever reason) runs afoul of the federal service center rules our 
labs have to adhere to.

Cheers,

Iulian





iulian Codreanu, Ph.D.
Director, Nanofabrication Facility
University of Delaware
Harker ISE Lab, Room 163
221 Academy Street
Newark, DE 19716
302-831-2784
https://udnf.udel.edu

On 3/22/2024 9:45 AM, Johnson, Michael W wrote:
> How do other shared user facilites deal with a situation when a 
> regular user research group PI has a funding shortfall and can't pay 
> user fees?
>
> Is it typical to have some type of temporary waiver mechanism 
> enshrined in the shared user structure or does that PI appeal to their 
> department head to bail them out to bridge a gap?
>
> A waiver feels problematic because it would seem to violate basic 
> fairness in that one group could be getting "free stuff" and everybody 
> else has to pay.
>
> I would be interested to hear how other places deal with a sticky 
> situation like this.
>
>
>
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