--- Forwarded Message from [log in to unmask] --- >From: [log in to unmask] >Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 18:57:45 -0400 >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: #6767 cost recovery for lab access There are many ways to consider computing cost recovery. Here are a few practical suggestions. Take your pick! CHECKOUT RATE If you keep track of lab checkouts, divide your operating budget by the number of checkouts you do in a year (I would exclude payroll costs for this method). This gives you a cost per checkout. Estimate the number of checkouts you would expect from the course in question. Multiply this by your checkout cost. DAY RATE Take your entire annual budget and divide by 365. Presto, a daily rate. If you served this course, what percentage of your user population would it represent? Multiply your daily rate by that percentage, and then multiply again by the number of days you are open for the semester. STAFF TIME RATE Calculate how much it will cost to accommodate this course, start to finish, based on the actual staff time involved. Include your planning time (including calculating your rates!). Include the time it will take to catalog, label, shelve and track materials, if that is something you do. Calculate the time it takes to check out materials, in accordance with the expected level of use. Calculate any production time involved in duplication of materials. Figure out staff time involved for orientations. In sum, add up whatever _actual_ staff costs are involved, multiplying each type of work by the appropriate staff pay rate. Also add in any materials costs - tapes, supplies, info sheets, etc. PER CAPITA RATE Take your annual operating costs and divide by the number of students you normally serve in a year. That gives you a per capita rate which you can then multiply by the number of students enrolled in the course. MARKET RATE Take a look at what other departments use as fees. If it costs more per student to use your lab than it does for them to pay lab fees for their biology class, or activity fees for their extracurriculars, you may want to adjust accordingly. What I have done in similar situations is to figure costs based on a couple of different methods for comparison. No method is perfect, and some results you may reject out of hand because they are either ridiculously high or far too low. Whatever method you use, be prepared to show your work. If you cannot defend it, you had better not suggest it. If the customer finds your method objectionable, it probably means you are asking more than it is worth to them. In that case, you can lower your rates arbitrarily if you want them as customers or stick to your guns if you would just as soon not have to accommodate them. If they are not part of your mandated service group, this is entirely reasonable, IMHO. Good luck! bruce