Policies

The Advanced Imaging Facility is mostly self-service. Consideration for other users and responsible use of the equipment are absolutely essential. Users lacking such consideration will lose their privileges at the Imaging Facility.
The academic rate is $30/hour of use of major instruments or $3,000/year, and the industry rate is $75/hour or $7,500/year. Fees are waived for academia lacking funding.
Users new to the facility must contact the facility manager to discuss instrument availability and facility manager availability at least 24 hours before anticipated training appointment. On most microscopes, training takes three sessions before the user is evaluated and cleared to operate each instrument independently.
Those seeking training or assistance from the facility manager must let the facility manager know before the start of the anticipated appointment if they will be more than 15 minutes late or if they will be missing their training appointment. Failure to let the facility manager know of a cancellation or lateness on more than one occasion will result in the PI of the lab having to schedule the training appointment. If this occurs a third time, the person will be prohibited from using the facility and will not be entitled to training.
If the user is not capable of safely operating the instruments independently after the third training session, the user will have to wait one month before scheduling a new, single retraining session and evaluation of user independence.
In consideration of other user's safety, you must inform the Facility Manager of any health risks associated with work done at the Facility.
Reservations for using the equipment are made on the sign-up calendar on a first-come, first-served basis. No user is to sign up for any period of time longer than four hours in a given day on a given instrument unless given permission from the facility manager.
If a user is late for an appointment or wants to cancel, they must email or call the facility manager. If a person is more than 30 min late for an appointment of 2 hours, they will lose their reserved time unless they contact the facility manager. If a user is more than 1 hour late on an appointment for longer than 2 hours, they will lose their reserved time unless they contact the facility manager. Booking and not using the instrument without contacting the facility manager on more than 3 occasions per academic year will result in a user losing their privilege of using the equipment during normal operating hours (9 -5 pm, Monday-Friday) for one month.
It is imperative that you sign the calendar when you use the equipment, even if it is late at night or on weekends.
Check the calendar when you are done to determine whether to leave the instrument running. If you are the last person signed up for the day and you must cancel, let the previous user or the Facility Manager know. Leaving an instrument running over night or over the weekend may result in charges for the time that the instrument was left running.
Images should not be stored on the acquisition computers -- any computer interfaced to a camera and/or microscope. Images may be stored on the image analysis computers for up to 3 months. Users are responsible for backing up their own data -- any images on the acquisition computers or that have been on the other computers for longer than the time limits stated will be deleted without warning.
Clean up after you are done. This includes cleaning objectives, counter tops, covering the microscope and removing all your materials including kimwipes that are used to clean slides. Place waste in the appropriate trash receptacles that are located throughout the facility.
If you are unsure about operation of the microscopes or need any help with your imaging, contact the facility manager.
Violation of the policies may result in the loss of user privilege.
Please acknowledge the "Advanced Imaging Facility" in any publication containing work done at the Facility and give the Facility Manager a reprint or reference to the publication.