Facility Usage and Service Centers Guidelines

Facility Usage Rates

Computational and Information Systems Laboratory

General Accounting Unit (GAU)

Earth Observing Laboratory

System User Rate (SUR)

Aircraft Maintenance Rate (AMR)

Service Centers

Computing Service Centers (CSC)

Machine Shop

Facility Usage Rates

Methodology:

The calculated General Accounting Unit (GAU) is not submitted formally to NSF for approval. Effective FY 2003, the GAU follows new guidelines established by Cliff Jacobs, Program Official, NSF, in his 01/18/02 guidance letter. Although NSF is setting this rate, we will continue to follow the methodology below as a courtesy to the NSF program official who sets the rates.

The GAU (General Accounting Unit) is the unit of common currency that is charged to users who utilize the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) general community computing resources.  Generally, community computing includes super computers, and the Mass Storage System (MSS). Like all facilities, GAU usage provides a service or activity essential to UCAR’s scientific mission and enhances UCAR’s ability to do science.

GAUs are charged for both external and internal users to allocate costs for the use of CISL computer time. The GAUS that are charged are deducted from allocations. Allocations are made for all projects that are permitted to compute on CISL computers. The following types of projects are eligible for an allocation at no-cost: a) NSF-supported university projects in the atmospheric and related sciences, b) NCAR, and joint university/NCAR projects which support the NCAR mission, c) small data access accounts for U.S. non-profit researcher and UCAR affiliate members, d) graduate students at U.S. universities, e) post-doctoral researchers at U.S. universities, and f) new faculty at U.S. universities. The allocation for category c is small and only sufficient for accessing and subsetting data which resides on the mass storage system. The allocation limits for category d, e, and f are set by the CISL HPC Advisory Panel (CHAP) which represents the atmospheric and closely related sciences in the university community. The NSF program manager for NCAR attends the bi-annual CHAP meetings and represents NSF interests in allocation decisions including the maximum allocation for categories c-f.

GAU = wall clock time * reserved processors * computer factor * queue factor

The GAU formula is intended to be equitable to users as well as beneficial to the mission of NCAR and NSF to provide high-quality computing facilities. 

Definitions:

The annual costs, borne by NSF, in the form of base funding (core and focused programs) to maintain and operate a computing facility.  These costs include operations staff for core and focused programs, as well as Climate Simulation Lab personnel, data support, technical support, operations, maintenance and applied indirect costs. No equipment costs are included. Research and development costs are specifically excluded from the calculation.

Wall Clock Time:  Wall clock time is the number of hours or portion of an hour that a job running on the CISL supercomputers takes to complete execution.

Reserved Processors: Reserved processors is the number of computer processors reserved by a job during execution.

Computer Factor:  The computer factor is a factor assigned to each of the CISL community computing resources based on its relative compute power. For example, the computer factor for the IBM Power5+ is 0.87.

Estimated GAU Usage:  Estimated GAU usage is based on prior years’ actual history of GAU usage and a GAU usage projection of available community computing resources.   

GAU:  The GAU or General Accounting Unit is a unit of common currency charged to users for utilizing CISL computing resources.

Applied Indirect Costs   The appropriate NCAR indirect cost rate that is routinely added to all modified total direct costs.

Queue Factor:  The job queue charge factor relates to the charge for different types of computing queues available to users.  Available job queues may include interactive, premium, regular, economy, share, dedicated, special, and bts.  For example, users have the option to use the premium queue to expedite turnaround, but they will pay a surcharge for that premium queue.

Calculation:

GAU Rate   =              BC
                                  Estimated GAU Usage

Related Links:

Charges for SCD Computing Resources

Select the report titled “GAU and SUR Summary of Funding Sources and Uses” in the Management Information Reports 

Methodology:

The calculated System User Rate (SUR) is not submitted formally to NSF for approval. Effective FY 2003, the SUR follows new guidelines established by Cliff Jacobs, Program Official, NSF, in his 01/18/02 guidance letter. Although NSF is setting this rate, we will continue to follow the methodology below as a courtesy to the NSF program official who sets the rates. Note that the NSF has chosen not to use the C-130 SUR methodology at this point.

The purpose for estimating and charging a System User Rate (SUR) is to ensure that each user of the Earth Observing Laboratory (EOL) observing facilities pays its fair share of the costs of maintaining these facilities and that funds are made available (through the SUR) for modest infrastructure (component) replacements, modernization, and upgrades as required.  Typical EOL observing facilities include GPS-Loran atmospheric sounding system, airborne imaging microwave radiometer, integrated surface flux facility, integrated sounding system, Doppler radar, scanning aerosol backscatter Lidar, S-Band dual polarization radar and research aircraft.
If NCAR observing facilities are used in support of non-NSF sponsored activities, NCAR will collect the SUR based on NSF-approved rates.  In cases where SUR use would be by non-NSF grantees, but in support of an ATM-supported activity, NSF must approve cosponsorship of all or part of the SUR charge.

Definitions:

Applied Indirect Costs:  The appropriate NCAR indirect cost rate that is routinely added to all modified total direct costs.

BC (Base Funded Costs):  The annual costs, borne by NSF in the form of base (core and focused programs) funding to maintain and operate an observing system.  These include all direct field support costs, development costs, a prorated share of the ATD Director's Office and Research Data Program (RDP) direct costs, and applied indirect costs. No equipment or applied indirect costs are included.  Reserach and development costs are specifically excluded from the calculation.

DA (Days Available):  The total normal workdays available in the fiscal year as established by NSF-ATM:

52 weeks x 5 days / week / system = 260 days

Division Indirect Cost Budget: The indirect cost budget that is allocated to each management unit (division) to cover the annual indirect labor and non-labor administrative expenses of that unit.  

Variances:  Not applicable for SUR, because SUR is not a cost recovery rate.

Calculation:

SUR Rate   =                        BC      

                                        DA

            a. Standard Rate:  As calculated above. 

            b. Alternate Rates:  There are significant variations in the complexity and duration of field programs.  This in turn affects the labor effort that must be applied and the size of the base-funded field crew that is required.  Accordingly, the methodology must include a way to adjust the SUR to reflect these higher or lower labor requirements. 

            Although not applied in recent years, previous analysis of actual NCAR field labor costs had indicated that alternate rates approximately 40% higher and 40% lower would cover the extreme cases of field effort.  Therefore, an alternate lower rate of 60% of the Standard Rate and an alternate higher rate of 140% of the Standard Rate may be appropriate and applied, subject to NSF Program Official and Grants and Agreements Officer approval.

-Click on the report titled ‘GAU and SUR Summary of Funding Sources and Uses'

Service Centers

Methodology:

There are five Computing Service Centers (CSC):

1. Climate and Global Dynamics Division (CGD)

2. Atmospheric Chemistry Division (ACD)

3. High Altitude Observatory (HAO)

4. Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Division (MMM)

5. Research Applications Laboratory (RAL)

Computing service centers were established within the framework of  “Service Centers” in OMB Circular A-122. The goal is to distribute scientific computing support costs to a laboratory/division’s program in an equitable and efficient way.  In the absence of a computing system that can automatically track the hours of use at each workstation by project, work-time hours, which are readily available, will be used as the allocation base.  This is done because the costs of laboratory/division computing systems are believed to be more directly a function of the time spent by individuals in their research and administrative activities.

Definitions:

CSC Rate:  Charge per work-time hour required to cover the operating costs of the laboratory/division computing service center, based on estimated number of hours worked in a laboratory/division.

Laboratory/Division Computing System: A networked system or set of sub-systems (multiple servers and/or centralized printers) that supports generally the laboratory’s/division’s science programs, and also typically serves all or some activities in administration including Bid & Proposal activity.  This system is the core infrastructure of a laboratory’s/division’s computing support for its staff.  The costs of this system do not include the costs of the desktop tools of the end-users of the system, e.g., workstations, terminals, PCs, and their associated printers and software costs.

Equipment Depreciation:  Depreciated costs of the acquisitions of servers, printers, and other system hardware costing $5,000 or more. This equipment is acquired using UCAR’s debt-financed funding established for the acquisition of general purpose equipment.  This depreciation expense currently applies to some of the CSCs.  A CSC may also incur its fair share allocation of bond interest expense, bond issuance costs and bond administrative costs, such as trustee fees.  Direct equipment purchases are not allowed within the CSC, according to government regulations concerning Specialized Service Centers.

Indirect Costs Applied:  The overhead rate applied to modified total direct costs.

Materials and Supplies: Consumables such as printer paper, toner, disks, cartridges and other items associated directly with the system, and other small items that are widely used, purchased in bulk quantities for laboratory/division staff, and costly to charge by transaction to individual programs.

Networked items costing below $5,000 each, includes gateway servers, wiring, routers, other network peripherals and system upgrades.  This also includes file and data servers, and associated upgrade costs for equipment used by multiple fund sources and programs, as long as the networked items cost less than $5,000.

Printers for multiple users costing below $5,000 include high-speed printers and color printers accessible to scientific and administrative staff generally.

Operating Budget: Costs of the laboratory/division computing support function, including system staff, materials, supplies, purchase services, travel and depreciated equipment acquisition costs.

Costs that are NOT INCLUDED in the operating costs of a laboratory/division computing service center are illustrated by the following:

• Salary and Benefit costs of software engineers and other computer specialists who are assigned specifically to selected research and facility projects.
• Time spent by system administrators outside of general system functions.
• Costs of workstations, terminals, personal computers, software, and attached printers assigned to individuals who are not part of the laboratory/division computer system support staff.  These individual assignments fall in the category of direct programs or in the indirect, administrative budget.
• Software or software licenses bought for individual workstations or PCs, which are charged to the fund sources supporting the individual or programs using the software, including administration.
• Stand-alone computing systems that serve only one program or fund source.

Purchased Services: Services acquired to support the system or network, Ethernet services, e-mail service, and Internet access.

Software and site licenses that are purchased to support all or most staff and which are therefore not susceptible to charging directly to each program on a transaction basis or according to degree of use.

Maintenance and repair costs for system hardware and software.  Includes maintenance contracts that support all or most staff and which are therefore not susceptible to charging directly to each program on a transaction basis or according to degree of use.

System Staff Costs: Salaries and Benefits of personnel whose functions are to maintain the network server or other general use servers (utilized by multiple programs) and provide general computing support to laboratory/division staff.  Examples are System Administrators, and other centralized computing staff (including non-technical staff) that support the system administrator, or whose functions include maintaining and supporting the laboratory’s/division's system(s).

Travel:  Travel costs of personnel who maintain the laboratory/division computing system.

Variances:  Represents the difference between CSC cost recovery (revenues) and operating expenses.  Laboratory/divisional CSC variances are monitored monthly by the Budget & Planning Office and are subject to review by an internal management committee called the Business Management Working Group (BMW).  Reference ‘Sample Analysis’ below.  CSC fiscal year end variances are carried forward into the following fiscal year.

Work-time Labor Hours:   Represents the allocation base used to distribute the CSC operating costs to laboratory/division programs, projects, and administrative activities.  Work-time labor hours are defined as the hours directly charged to laboratory/division activities by laboratory/division staff except those assigned to computing system support.   These hours do not include holiday, vacation, sick leave, and other non-work time hours.  The allocation base may also include hours from other non-facility laboratory/division personnel needing to charge outside their home laboratory/division for collaborative activities.       

Calculation:

                        CSC Rate                   =              Operating Budget
                                                                                  Labor Hours

Related Links:

None

Methodology:

The function of the Machine Shop is to provide specialized mechanical equipment and component fabrication for scientists and engineers in development and operations of field program activities.  The rationale for developing an EOL Machine Shop Rate is to ensure that each user of the Machine Shop pays its fair share of the costs associated with the operation of the shop.

Excluded from the denominator are NSF base-funded costs, which include Direct Mechanical Design and Logistics Support.  The Direct Mechanical Design costs are excluded because of the need for consistent high quality design work, which is not possible, if the costs are included in the rate. 

Logistics Support, although organizationally part of Design and Fabrication Services (DFS), is not considered a service related to the Machine Shop and therefore is not included in the Machine Shop rate.  Costs associated with Design Services and Logistics Services are NSF base-funded for NSF programs.

Definitions:

Direct Design Services:  Services provided for the design of specialized mechanical equipment and components.  These services are base-funded for NSF users.

Indirect Costs Applied:  The overhead rate applied to modified total direct costs.

Logistics Support:  Support services for field programs.  Includes packing, shipping of equipment and components to field programs, setting up equipment at field sites, and maintenance of all logistics equipment (trucks, trailers, forklifts, cranes, etc).  Funded primarily by NSF base funds for NSF programs.  Non-NSF programs using Logistics Services are direct charged.

Non-Labor Expenses:  Miscellaneous supplies including but not limited to cleaning materials, minor maintenance, cutting oil and other services needed for the day-to-day operation of the Machine Shop.  Excludes materials for Machine Shop used in producing equipment. 

NSF User: Any UCAR, NCAR, UOP or university user whose project is involved with atmospheric or oceanic sciences, regardless of the funding source. NSF considers such activities to be consistent with its programmatic goals, even if they are funded by other agencies.

Operating Budget:  Expenses associated with the day to day operation of the Machine Shop, which include salary and benefits for the machinists, non-labor expenses and indirect costs applied. Machinist salaries and benefits include all work time which encompasses production and non-production. Examples of non-production activities are time spent in meetings, training, safety, and routine maintenance.

Production Hours:  Hours estimated to be spent in actual production including time spent at field programs and travel associated with the field programs.  Excludes non-work time such as vacation, sick leave, holiday and other non-work time that is included in the Benefit Cost Pool.  Production hours also exclude non-production work time such as time spent in meetings, training, safety, and routine maintenance.

Variances:  Represents the difference between Machine Shop cost recovery (revenues) and operating expenses.  Machine Shop variances are monitored monthly by the Budget & Planning Office and are subject to review by an internal management committee called the Business Management Working Group (BMW).  Reference ‘Sample Analysis’ below.  Machine Shop fiscal year end variances are carried forward into the following fiscal year.

Calculation:

Machine Shop Rate  =        Operating Budget  
                                                 Production Hours

Related Links:

Design and Fabrication Services (DFS)

Examples of Recent DFS Work