Per Diem Rates & Service Charges FY 2010

We have enclosed revised definitions of cost structure for per diem, animal acquisition, and service charges related to the care of laboratory animals. Please take a moment to review the entire document as many things have changed since the last fiscal year. The following paragraphs explain some of the background information used to determine appropriate costs.

Per Diem Rate Categories

1. Regular per diem rates and charges apply to the vast majority of projects supported by university funds, charitable foundations, and governmental sources.

2. Full-cost rates and charges are for projects primarily involved in development of commercial products, usually supported by private industry; continuing education projects involving fees and CE credits; and non-University projects. Unlike intramural projects, which provide a portion of Comparative Medicine's support through internally distributed overhead charges (indirect costs), full-cost projects pay a 35% premium to contribute fairly to the recovery of the University's expenses.

Caging Types

Certain Cage Types incur incremental costs due to special handling and husbandry requirements. For example, there are three cage types for mice and rats:

1. Standard: Static microisolator are the default caging unless requested by the investigator and approved by CM management.

2. Containment: Standard housing for animal needing to be maintained in "sterile" (e.g. immunodeficient strains) conditions will include Static microisolator caging, irradiated chow, and autoclaved bedding/water bottles.

3. Quarantine: Standard housing for animals with unknown or confirmed disease status (e.g. pinworms, mites, MPV, etc). For additional information on the CM rodent quarantine process, please contact Dr. Cheri West (977-5416).

Project Specific Housing (Large Mouse Cages)

In recent years, some investigators have requested mice to be housed at a higher density (> 5/cage) in a large mouse cage versus the standard mouse cage. Due to increased resources and space required to manage this higher density of animals, a higher per diem price will be charged for those requesting this type of caging (see per diem schedule). Therefore, requesting to house animals in a larger cage will not be permitted without justification of scientific/study need. There is no longer a cost benefit to housing the animals in a large mouse cage. Requests to house mice at a higher density should be directed to Dr. Cheri West (977-5416) or Dr. Long (977-5420). Note: The use of large mouse cages for breeding is still an acceptable practice and is not impacted by this change.

Breeding Colony Management

Breeding colonies cost more to provide basic services than groups of rodents that are merely being maintained. Higher per diem rates reflect the additional resources required to manage and provide husbandry for breeding colonies. Providing technical service for breeding colonies will incur an additional cost.

Animal Acquisition

The total acquisition cost for animal procurement includes the cost of the animal(s) invoiced by the vendor plus a 20% surcharge to recover the cost of procurement and receiving activities. If animals are received free of charge, a $25.00 handling cost will be incurred.
Exportation

A $100.00 will be charged for exporting animals to other institutions.

Expedited/Late Animal Orders

Comparative Medicine personnel (Procurement Coordinator) places animal orders every week by Wednesday at 12:00 pm CDT for delivery the following week. An expedited/Late Order charge of $25.00 will be applied to orders received after the Wednesday 12:00 pm deadline.

Animal Orders for External/Non-Tax Exempt Customers

External customers who are not tax-exempt must create purchase orders with appropriate animal vendors. Comparative Medicine personnel will order animals against this purchase order and will process receipt of these animals according to the usual procedure. Animal vendors will bill these external non-tax-exempt customers directly.

It is prohibited for Comparative Medicine to apply charges for lab animals against a Saint Louis University purchase order.

Please direct questions regarding this policy to the Comparative Medicine Business Manager, Charlotte Avett, at 314-977-5429.