University leaders often falsely assume that core facilities are self-sustaining. While core facilities can collect user fees, these rarely cover their full operating budgets. In a recent survey of core administrators, nearly 80% of respondents said their core was partially subsidized (recovering some costs from user fees), while less than 5% of respondents reported their core needed no subsidies (recovering all costs from user fees), and less than 10% said their core was fully subsidized (charging no user fees). On average, user fees account for just over 50% of core facilities income, which leaves leaders to fill the gaps with alternative sources.
By convening a committee of faculty and administrators, university leaders can increase transparency and garner stakeholder buy-in for a central core facilities program. There are three components to setting up a successful committee:
Recruit a diverse range of stakeholders, including core managers and users Provide a clear directive that includes questions to answer and final resources to produce Signal leadership support through a memo or formal statement
In 2011, Harris Lewin—Vice Chancellor for Research at University of California, Davis—convened a core facilities committee and charged members with two tasks. First, he asked the committee to gather information about the equipment and recharge activities for…