Operating Charges
Charges for MSS services are assessed according to the following guidelines.
- Statistical services are provided free of charge to select investigators for:
- limited statistical support for all peer-reviewed, and funded projects;
- statistical consultation for grant or contract proposals; and
- pilot projects approved by the Director.
- Peer-reviewed projects that require substantial statistical support commitments from the BBSF are expected to provide funding for statistical services through their individual grants.
- Statistical support for non-peer-reviewed projects must be fully supported by the appropriate funds or grants.
- Statistical support of all (peer-reviewed or non-peer-reviewed) projects must be fully supported by the appropriate funds or grants.
Chargeback System
A chargeback system for cost recovery was devised with the guidelines specified in Operating Charges and the advice of the MSS Advisory Committee. Cancer Center investigators are encouraged to consult with the MSS Director as early as possible in the development of a proposal in order to estimate the level of statistical and data management support required to implement the project and the appropriate distribution of costs through the line item request in the grant or through the chargeback system.
The MSS conducted a review of its chargeback rates during this reporting period and incorporated a two-tier rate system: rates for UAB investigators and rates assessed to industry projects and sponsors. The personnel rates within these two tiers reflect the type of data management and analysis services performed and the average hourly compensation for the biostatistical staff who perform that type of service. The MSS personnel fees are, in general, lower than those charged by other UAB units and much lower than those charged by external companies for similar services. A detailed review of the MSS computing charges was also conducted and the computing fees were reduced to reflect actual operating costs of the MSS's computing facilities.