Operations

Find information regarding management of your University Core Facility below.

Proposed Language for Rigor and Reproducibility Guidelines

The guidelines below are open for comments through December 31, 2019. In order to provide comments, use this link to Core Facilities Rigor and Reproducibility Guidelines Feedback.

Service Cores Recommendations
(Cores to evaluate if each recommendation applies to their work):

Overall statement concerning rigor and reproducibility required on website
Cores should document how it verifies that the service meets the technical requirements of the requestor
Core should document principles of protocol development/optimization
Core should be able to provide traceability in process flow
- Materials
- Coding
- Procedures
Cores should document how people, equipment or new processes are certified prior to being offered on a fee for service basis
Cores should publish the QC procedures
Cores should have procedures to notify customer of limitations of data use
- Publication guidelines / requirements
- Data archiving expectations
- Limitations due to discovery of an issue after data return

Instrument Cores Recommendations (Cores to evaluate if each recommendation applies to their work)

Overall statement concerning rigor and reproducibility required on website
Core is responsible for evaluating fit for use of a technique before training a new user
Cores should provide a public SOP for each instrument
Core should develop a formal process with success criteria for certification of
- New instrument
- Instrument after failure
- New user
- New trainer
- New sub supplier
Instrument history should be tracked
Calibration and performance testing of instrumentation should be made available to end users

Expectations

It is expected that a Core Facility serves the needs of the research community at large extending across multiple departments and, ideally, schools. A substantial percentage of user fees received by the facility should be from investigators outside of a single department.
It is expected that a Core Facility will have a Faculty Director who oversees the operation and finances of the facility, and an Operations Director who handles the day-to-day management of the facility including technical support for the users.
It is expected that a Core Facility has a Faculty Advisory Committee that meets on a regular basis and provides advice for the Director(s). Members of the committee should be users of the facility and represent multiple departments. Ad hoc members of the committee include the Director(s) as well as faculty who are non-users with expertise in the technology or management of core facilities.
It is expected that a Core Facility will submit an Annual Cost Study and obtain approval from the Office of Cost Studies before the start of each fiscal year (see Cost Study section, below).
If relevant, it is expected that a Core Facility will submit information annually regarding Unrelated Business Income to the Office for Research (see UBI section, below).
It is expected that a Core Facility will submit an Annual Report to the Office for Research. Submission of a complete Annual Report is required of any facility that wishes to request support from the Office for Research.
Each year the Office for Research will conduct an annual User Survey of each Core Facility (see User Survey section, below). Results of the survey will be provided to each Faculty Director and Operations Director of a facility so that it can be incorporated into the Annual Report. The latter must include the results of the survey and address any major concerns by users and how such concerns will be remedied.
Based upon the User Survey and Annual Report, it is expected that the Faculty Director and Operations Director will work with the Office for Research to outline objectives for the coming year.
It is expected that the Operations Director will maintain an up-to-date website and database of users, income and expenditures.
It is expected that the Operations Director will regularly update the contact information and resource list in the database used by the Core Facilities Search Engine.
It is expected that the Faculty Director, Operations Director and core staff that submit equipment grant proposals will participate in the Core Facilities Review Panel when requested by the Director of Core Facilities.
It is expected that core will maintain an up to date Business Continuity Plan. Plan should be updated annually and submitted to Business Continuity Plan Upload Link.

Annual Reports

Any core facility that is supported by or plans to request support from the Office for Research should submit an Annual Report by May 1st (5:00 PM).

In the past few years, the annual report format has been revised, both at the narrative and data collection levels. These changes are in alignment with the Office for Research approach of strategic, proactive planning and data-driven decision making. This year a few additional changes have been introduced which will assist the cores with decision making, and illustrates achievements as well as areas that call for action. To reduce administrative burden on the cores in preparing the annual report, CFA will provide consolidated data in Smartsheet and the preparer will be asked only to review and update as appropriate.

This year, the FSM request for operating support is separate in order to simplify the FSM review process. To reduce labor for the cores, CFA will accept either the CFA report or the FSM request with a short addendum. Cores not requesting FSM support should use the CFA template. Instructions for completing both reports is located at: https://facilities.research.northwestern.edu/core-management/operations.html. Please note that if you are completing the FSM operating support, you will need to upload the report as instructed in the FSM narrative instructions and the CFA addendum instructions.

Note: When answering questions about the “past year” for the Usage Reports, please use the April 1st to March 31st calendar year (not fiscal or calendar year). For the Budget Projections, refer to the fiscal year calendar (September 1^stthrough August 31^st).

Guidelines and Instructions to Submit

Note that reports that do not adhere to page limits and guidelines will be returned without review.

Cores Submitting CFA Annual Report

Complete instructions are at this link.

Steps are:

Ensure you have access to Smartsheet.
Download following documents
In consultation with oversight committee, complete budget, review annual survey, develop plans for next fiscal year, including high level plans for rates, new services, operational requests and equipment acquisition plans.
Complete annual report, update all Smartsheet appendices, and upload relevant documents to: 2024 Annual Report Submission (CFA Template).
CFA Staff will verify report is complete.

Cores Submitting FSM Operating Support request and CFA Annual Report

Ensure you have access to Smartsheet.
1. Download narrative, budget, and utilization from the FSM Renewal of Funded Cores site.
2. Download CFA supplemental information request.
In consultation with oversight committee, complete budget, review annual survey, develop plans for next fiscal year, including high level plans for rates, new services, operational requests and equipment acquisition plans.
Submit the FSM Request for Operational funded using information at the FSM site.
Complete annual report, update all Smartsheet appendices, and upload relevant documents to: 2024 Annual Report Submission (FSM Template).
1. Note that there are extra Appendices in the CFA folders. These Appendices contain information that is also in the FSM tables. CFA staff will transfer data to avoid duplicative work for the core.
CFA Staff will verify report is complete.

Additional Information to Assist with Planning and Reporting

Dashboards with usage, financial, grants, publications information can be found at https://tableau.northwestern.edu/#/site/OR/projects/551 . Email Core Facilities Director if you are unable to access dashboards.

Publication information is provided to assist with report generation, but is not required for CFA reports.

Instructions on using Tableau to download data

Endnote Template for Publications

Endnote Template for Patents

Program Review

The process of program review is one of the most significant and successful collaborations between the faculty and administration at Northwestern University. Initially proposed by the faculty, the systematic review and evaluation of all academic and administrative units of the University has had a profound effect on University decision-making. Although the principal focus of program review is “evaluative,” its primary goal has always been the constructive improvement of all aspects of the University. In regard to core facilities, the process is organized and supported by the Office for Research and administered by the Director of Core Facilities and the Associate Vice President for Research.

User Surveys

The Office for Research in cooperation with the Feinberg School of Medicine conducts an annual university-wide User Survey of each core facility. Directors and Managers of core facilities will be notified in February of the survey’s availability and how to access it on the web. It is the responsibility of each Director or Manager to send out a request to their users to complete the survey in a timely manner (within two weeks). Results of the survey will be provided to each Director and Manager of a facility so that it can be incorporated into their Annual Report (due in May). The latter must include the survey results and address any major concerns of users and how they will be remedied.

NUcore

NUcore is a transaction processing system that permits core facilities to accept and track orders, and to bill for their services. NUcore was developed by the Feinberg Research Office in collaboration with the NU Office for Research and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (RHLCCC).

NUcore is available to all shared facilities at Northwestern University. Facilities that receive funding from the Office for Research, FSM Research Office, or the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center are highly encouraged to use NUcore or an equivalent program. If you are interested in using NUcore, the first step is to contact the appropriate office to schedule an overview presentation. This 90 minute introduction covers all aspects of NUcore, including the design and goals of the system, types of products that the system handles, workflow, billing, account management and the user experience.

To request support, please email nucore@northwestern.edu

For more information about NUcore, please visit this site.

NUcore Tech Talk Recordings

04/23/15 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p6icjtkf9fr/

07/07/15 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p5sh0sg47ig/

10/06/15 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p85wfhv95wg/

02/25/16 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p57k6re5513/

05/24/16 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p6b9fqyy7dh/

08/23/16 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p8wucepk1bv/

12/01/16 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p2614mzlsga/

03/02/17 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p1pddxullb3/

06/16/17 http://northwesternuniversity.adobeconnect.com/p51fc2ctvdre/