Use of Shared Equipment

The assets on the Shared Equipment List have been provided
through funding from NSF and other U.S. Government agency
grants to WHOI’s Shipboard Scientific Services Group
(SSSG). These items are made available to users in the UNOLS
community without a user charge. All requests for use of these
assets must be made to the WHOI Marine Operations Coordinator,
who is responsible for scheduling requests for ship time and
for the available shared-use equipment in conjunction with
equipment custodians. Principal Investigators requesting these
assets must work closely with the Marine Operations Coordinator
and the appropriate custodians to completely define the equipment
and schedule requirements during the proposal process and
submission of ship time requests.

Priority

Requests for equipment in the inventory will be prioritized
on a first-come, first-served basis, and in the event of conflicts
in equipment commitments, priority will be given to projects
using the assets aboard WHOI’s UNOLS ships (Atlantis,
Knorr and Oceanus). Reasonable efforts will be made to secure
alternate arrangements for similar assets with other institutions
if a commitment conflict arises, although loans of this nature
frequently incur additional charges.

It is the intent of this guideline to facilitate maximum
utilization of the items in the inventory, while protecting
them from deterioration, damage or loss, consistent with WHOI’s
“Responsibility in Property Management” and “Equipment
Reutilization” policies. Equipment in this inventory
is generally purchased with funds from the annual WHOI NSF
Instrumentation Award. Some items may also have been provided
through NSF, ONR or other U.S. Government agency grant line-items
from completed projects. Asset maintenance costs are primarily
funded through a daily use charge associated with the operations
of WHOI ships. Costs associated with non-WHOI ship applications
are not covered by funding obtained in this manner.

Charges

The equipment is generally provided with no user fees. However,
if the request is not received in time (typically October
of the year before the cruise) to be included into the annual
WHOI NSF Technical Support proposal, or is a substantial modification
to an original request, then the requester will be advised
of and charged for expenses related to preparation and/or
non-standard configuration and unscheduled calibrations. The
user is always responsible for consumable supplies charges
and certain other expenses related to the cruise (see Purchase
Order section below).

Insurance and Damages

Investigators borrowing equipment from the general use pool are expected to
return it in the same or better condition. If repairs or recalibration are
necessary, the borrower is responsible for the costs. NSF and the other funding
agencies will not necessarily pay for repair of damaged equipment or replacement
of lost instruments, and subsequent cruises will be jeopardized if there is no
means to recover the costs from the responsible user. Frequently, to insure the
ability to meet this requirement, users will need to purchase sufficient
“over-the-side” (OTS) insurance against total loss. In summary, the user who
loses or damages an item must be prepared to pay for its replacement or repair.

Purchase Orders

The Principal Investigator requesting equipment from the general use pool will
be asked to provide a purchase order for the estimated costs to WHOI in advance
of the start of the cruise preparations. Delay in providing this purchase order
may result in an equipment preparation delay. The purchase order must be
sufficient to liquidate all charges for salary costs, insurance as necessary,
materials and supplies which may be incurred in preparation, operation and
post-cruise maintenance of the requested assets.

For more specific information, see the Financial Details page.

Interpretation

The interpretation of this guideline shall be at the discretion of the Manager
of the Shipboard Scientific Services Group.