Policies & Procedures

User Policies & Procedures

Requesting Assistance

• All users, new and experienced, are encouraged to meet with Laboratory Staff to determine the best choice of sample preparation, instrument, and accessories for your individual imaging needs. The staff is there to help!
• Please indicate if you will need assistance with your use of the instrument when first fill out the Access Request Form. Laboratory Staff will help any matter related to equipment malfunction, equipment operation, imaging technique, initial training, or retraining.
• If you require prolonged assistance (greater than 30 minutes), then you will incur a charge as stated on the fee schedule, except in the case of equipment malfunction.

Usage Guidelines

• If you need help, please ask! Laboratory Staff are willing to help, and basic help is always free.
• All users must complete safety training as specified by the Laboratory Staff. In general, all users must wear closed-toed shoes and clothing appropriate for a laboratory (e.g., long pants or dress, shirt or blouse that wholly covers the torso and upper arms, lab coat). Approved safety glasses may also be required.
• Do not tinker with or otherwise adjust the hardware without prior consultation with the laboratory staff. Tinkering may worsen the situation and could cause damage. Users will be responsible for paying for damage resulting from tinkering, negligence, or abuse of hardware, even if it is inadvertent.
• Please leave the instrument and surrounding areas as clean and order as you found them or better. In particular, please clean the objective lenses with approved lens paper, particularly if you use an oil-immersion lens.
• Please do not turn off hardware or shutdown software or services on attached computers. Logging out of your account will be sufficient.
• Please respect the time and needs of other users.
• If you encounter a problem with hardware or software, please report it to laboratory staff immediately. Unreported problems may cause problems for other users or your later use and could worsen over time.
• Repeated disregard for usage policies and best practices may result in suspension of usage privileges.

Scheduling

• All laboratory resources are available on a first-come, first-serve basis.
• Users must schedule instruments at least 24 hours in advance and, preferably, 1 week in advance. When scheduling time, please include time for setup of your specimens, configuration of the instrument, saving and exporting your data.
• Walk-in appointments are available at the sole discretion of the Laboratory Staff, but are largely discouraged, particularly for new users.
• Users who exceed their appointment duration or who arrive late to an appointment will not be granted extended time automatically. Additional time will be subject to approval to laboratory staff based on availability of the instrument and staff. Repeated disregard for appointment times may result in suspension of usage privileges.
• Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours in advance. Appointments are considered to be missed if the scheduled user does not arrive within 30 minutes of the scheduled starting time. Missed appointments will result in charges for the full duration of the scheduled time. Time from missed appointments will be given to the next user on the stand-by list. Please contact the laboratory staff if you will be late to enable alternative arrangements to be made.
• In the case of scheduling conflicts, the laboratory directory will have the authority to make the final decision.

Training

• Users will be divided into four categories based on their training and experience:
  • Level 1 User (Unrestricted Users): Level 1 users will have access to the instrument including business and after hours use without assistance of the trained laboratory staff.
  • Level 2 User (Restricted Qualified User): Level 2 users’ access to the instrument will be restricted to times when a trained member of the laboratory staff (level 1 user) is present on campus to deal with questions and problems that may arise during operation (typically during normal business hours).
  • Level 3 User (Unqualified User): Level 3 users’ access to the instrument will be restricted to times when a trained member of the laboratory staff (level 1 user) is present in the microscopy laboratory.
  • Level 4 User (Non-User): Level 4 users are those who have not undergone any instrument training but may submit requests for access to the instrument by contacting the instrument director (MRI PI) to discuss alternative methods for conducting their research.
• Users at Level 3 or higher will be required to have assistance in using the instrument. Untrained users will be billed according to the fee schedule for assisted use.
• All users, including faculty and staff, must be trained to use an instrument prior to its first unassisted use. Required training may include online training and/or coursework and will include hands-on training on the instrument.
• Designation of training status will be made by the laboratory staff in consultation with the Laboratory Director and following policies set by the laboratory's Executive Board.
• Final authority over and responsibility for training will lie with the Laboratory Director.

Billing

• Users will be billed for instrument use based on the fee schedule in effect at the time of use.
• Users will generally be billed for time used, not time scheduled. Exceptions will include users who miss appointments, and do not contact the Laboratory Staff.
• Users will be responsible for covering the costs of their consummables or particular filters or lasers for fluorescence measurements that are specific to their application.
• It is the responsibility of the users to accurately and honestly log their time. Users will be billed for the time logged.
• Fees will be waived for students engaged in required work as part of coursework for credit. Instructors of such courses must consult with the Laboratory Director 30 days prior to the start of the course.
• Fees will be waived for non-coursework educational and outreach use by Kettering University.
• Non-commercial external users may be granted rates in between the internal and external rate at the discretion of the Laboratory Director or the Executive Committee.

Acknowledgments, Authorship, and Products

• Please acknowledge the "Kettering University Laboratory for Advanced Microscopy" in any product that includes data generated in the lab. Products include any presentation, poster, paper, patent, or other organized collection of data.
• If a member of the laboratory staff makes a significant contribution to the data collection, that member should be personally acknowledged or included as a co-author, depending on the extent of the contribution.
• Users should provide a copy of all non-confidential research products that result from use of the laboratory instruments to the Laboratory Director to enable the laboratory to track productivity.

Data Management

• Your data is your responsibility. Data will be backed up, but hard drives will be cleared periodically without notice to maintain proper system functioning.
• Users must copy their data to either local drives or networked drives in the cloud at the conclusion of their scheduled appointment. Please ensure to schedule sufficient time to copy your data.
• Users will not be allowed to interfere with other scheduled users to retrieve their data from the instrument computers.
• Users should only save data to their account's directory. Data found in any other location on system computers will be deleted immediately without notice.

Please contact the Laboratory Director if you have questions about these user policies and procedures.

Laboratory Management Policies

Laboratory Staff

• In general the Laboratory Staff will be responsible for the day-to-day safe and proper operation and maintenance of the instrument under the direction of the Laboratory Director.
• Laboratory Staff will consist of at least two university staff members who have received the necessary technical training to operate the various instruments.
• In particular the responsibilities of the Laboratory Staff will include, but are not limited to the:
  1. development and maintenance of a weekly schedule for access and use of the instrument.
  2. development and implementation of training and certification procedures for new users, including logging of users and their associated classification.
  3. maintenance of a log to keep track of usage statistics including the time and date of access and use of the system by each user. (This log will keep a record of the sample name and description to ensure correct reporting of data produced for each sample investigated.)
  4. maintenance of a Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for any and all materials associated with or investigated by the instrument to ensure compliance with safety regulations and the policies and procedures set forth by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).
  5. ensuring of compliance with the laboratory safety policies and regulations set forth by Kettering University and the state and federal regulatory bodies.
  6. development and upkeep of a schedule for system maintenance, instrument use for various courses, researcher access to the apparatus, as well as outreaching activities and other external entity access.
  7. providing monthly reports to the Laboratory Director and Office of Sponsored Research.

Laboratory Director

• The Laboratory Director will be a faculty member at Kettering University.
• The Laboratory Director will be responsible for
  1. directing the Laboratory Staff in their responsibilities,
  2. allocating instrument time and arbitrating disputes in regards to scheduling,
  3. attracting external users to support the sustained operation of the instrument,
  4. tracking usage of laboratory instrumentation in regards to research and teaching
  5. interacting with the laboratory's Executive Board.

Executive Board

• Policies and procedures for laboratory management are set by the laboratory's Executive Board and are managed day-to-day by the Laboratory Director and laboratory staff.
• Executive Committee will
  1. oversee the successful operation of the instrument,
  2. set policies and procedures for its operation,
  3. ensure the availability of sufficient funds for its operation and maintenance, and
  4. set the differential pricing scale for usage by external parties.
• Decisions made by the Executive Board are final, in so far as they are consistent with Kettering University policy.

Please contact the Laboratory Director if you have questions about policies and procedures regarding lab management.