Hi Matt -
My initial opinion is that the external company must pay to access the
technology. There are multiple principles that make me lean that way.
In general:
1. The company is essentially giving you equipment but asking you to “repay”
them by not charging them for normal service fees. This feels more like a cash
loan to purchase equipment with the repayment being made by “lost revenue” for
you.
2. Is this equipment important enough to your internal user base to make it
worth considering? (I have no understanding of your market analysis.)
Rates:
1. I assume your normal rates include the direct costs of providing the
service including staff salaries, reagents, maintenance costs (service contract
or self-funded repairs). Ownership of the equipment does not pay salaries.
2. I assume your rates DO NOT include University costs of housing the
technology including electricity, administration and other routine F&A costs.
Ownership of the equipment actually increases university costs.
3. Would the rates for use of the new technology include instrument
depreciation? If so, you could exempt the company from paying depreciation
(just like is done for equipment purchased on federal grants) but they should
still pay the remainder of the other components that make up the rate.
4. If the company does not pay for non-equipment fixed costs, those costs
get spread across the university users of the new equipment resulting in those
users paying the external company’s share of the fixed costs.
Mission:
1. The university, not the company, must bear the long-term risk of owning
the technology including maintenance, use of space, eventual disposal. If the
campus user base does not embrace the technology or it is too expensive for
them to use (not everyone needs a Lamborghini), you bear the burden of keeping
it.
2. Is the University is a public or private institution? Policies for
public universities may be more restrictive with regard to a focus on efforts
to assist for-profit companies in making money.
Please do ask if this raises more questions than answers. It was a bit of a
stream-of-consciousness response for me. ☺
All the best,
Rest of post
Julie
On 11/10/20, 8:10 AM, "Core Administrators Network Forum on behalf of Matt
DeVries" <email obscured> on behalf of <email obscured>> wrote:
This is an odd scneario I'm having a hard time getting my head around.
Scenario:
An external for profit company wants access to the expertise and resources
of a University's core facility, however they need the work done on a specific
instrument the core does not currently have. The company purchases the
instrument and gives it to the core/university. The core then assumes operating
costs and staffing needs for it. Core is free to roll excess capacity into
their normal operation.
Should the company get free access to that instrument until the original
purchase cost is paid for, or should they get free access to that instrument
forever?
Does the scenario change if the company retains ownership of the instrument
but keeps it on core property? --Matt
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