All Members Community

Hi ABRF community,

   I am in the process of drafting up advisory committee best practices for our core facilities here at Montana State University, and am checking in to see if there is advice from those with active advisory committees on what works best for your facilities. I found a thread from 2023 with some helpful notes as well. One of our goals this year is to have an active advisory committee for each core, but they would like some guidance. Thanks! 

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Mary Gauvin
RED Service Centers Director, Core Facilities
Montana State University
Bozeman MT
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Hi Mary,

At Roswell Park, we have bi-annual advisory committee meetings for most of our cores; one in March and one in September.  The core directors choose committee members based on their user base and CCSG programs. The advisory committee provides advice on the type and quality level of services provided, and impact on Roswell Park science. The advisory committee provides input on staffing and operational issues, budget, usage and chargeback review.  The committee also makes recommendations based on information provided by the directors on capital equipment investments and expansion of services or models available through the resource. I hope this helps.

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Amy Troutman
Research Operations & Business Development Administrator
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Buffalo NY
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Hi Mary,

   We have advisory committees for each of our cores, that meet bi-annually. We choose members based on recommendations from the core directors, and make sure that we have broad representation across faculty stakeholders, including departments/colleges, and also among faculty ranks. We invite our faculty to sit on the committee for a fixed term, which limits the time commitment for them, and also allows us to rotate committee membership as the core evolves. It is important to have a clear charge for the committee, so that expectations are clear. This also helps with setting defined meeting agendas and keeps things moving forward. Our advisory committees provide advice and feedback on staffing levels, core operations, instrument purchases, rates, new services, and are involved in hiring decisions for senior level core personnel. We also ask them to act as advocates for the core when we are asking for cost share from departments and colleges for new equipment.

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Natasha Nikolaidis
Associate Director of Operations
Purdue University
West Lafayette IN
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