College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences

Research Fees Information Site

Plant & Livestock Research Fees

• Policies and Principles for Field/Plot Assignments on the St. Paul Campus
• Procedures for Requesting Field Plots for Agronomic and Horticultural Research
  • on the St. Paul Campus
  • at Other University Locations
• Livestock Research Policies and Principles

Policies and Principles for Field/Plot Assignments on the St. Paul Campus

Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station
April, 2008

Background

The St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota is unique in the fact that it has research plot land available in a major metropolitan area for conducting outdoor field research. Having this land in such close proximity to faculty and students is extremely valuable. The fields provide a critical extension of classrooms and laboratories for research and teaching.

There are approximately 160 acres of land available on the St. Paul Campus for plant research. This land is divided into 93 individual plots, ranging from .5 acre to 5 acres.

As the University continues to grow, there is increasing pressure on the land. At the same time, more plot requests are coming in because researchers see the value of having their plots so easily accessible. Therefore, it is essential that there are strong, equitable guiding principles regarding the use of this important resource.

Guiding Principles

1. Agricultural Experiment Station land on the St. Paul Campus is strictly for University research faculty and students
2. The land is managed by the Ag. Services Department of the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station. Ultimate decisions on land use reside with the Director of the Experiment Station in collaboration with deans of affected colleges.
3. Assignment of all space is the responsibility of the MAES director of operations (Tom Warnke). Space will be allocated on a yearly basis, unless negotiated at the time of the request.
4. All users will pay plot fees.
5. Priority will be given to researchers who have students (undergraduate or graduate) that need to have frequent access to plots to collect data.
6. All requests for built structures must be submitted to the MAES director of operations. Built structures on the St. Paul campus land are discouraged.
7. All research projects will need a management plan on file in the Ag. Services department, which includes a project completion date and, if appropriate, a negotiated plan to restore the land to its original condition after completion of the project.
8. Issues that cannot be resolved by the research project and the director of operations will be forwarded to the appropriate department head(s) and deputy director of the MAES. If not resolved at this level, the issue will be forwarded to the Director of the Experiment Station and the appropriate college dean(s) for a final decision.

Procedures for Requesting Field Plots for Agronomic and Horticultural Research on the St. Paul Campus

1. Faculty and staff wanting to conduct field research on the St. Paul Campus must complete a research request form.
2. The research request form will be automatically submitted directly to Tom Warnke, who will schedule a time to meet and discuss the details of the request, including the total cost of the research.
3. Once an agreement on the details and cost of the research, both the researcher and Tom will sign the Research Agreement Form. Nor research will be conducted until the form is signed.

Procedures for Requesting Field Plots for Agronomic and Horticultural Research at Other University Locations

Many faculty conduct agronomic and horticulture field research at other University sites such as at Research and Outreach Centers and the Arboretum with the assistance of the location’s equipment and labor.

1. Faculty wanting to conduct off campus research with the assistance of one of these locations must complete a research request form. Select the appropriate off-site option in the pull down menu.
2. The research request form will be automatically submitted directly to the contact person at the research site requested on the form.
3. The Research and Outreach Center Head/Director of Operations or the designated contact person at the requested location will reply to the researcher’s request and schedule a time to discuss the details of the request, including the total cost of the research.
4. Once the researchers and the Research and Outreach Center Head/Director of Operations reach agreement on the details and cost of the research, they will both be required to sign the Research Agreement Form. No research will be conducted until this form is signed

Livestock Research Principles and Policies

The current operating budgets at the Research and Outreach Centers and the St. Paul Campus are insufficient to support the total cost of livestock research and teaching efforts. Increased costs for personnel, Enterprise and Institutional Revenue Sharing fees, utilities costs, repairs and maintenance fees are some of the reasons for the shortfall. In addition, the costs of feeding and maintaining livestock also with animal waste handling have rapidly increased in the last few years.

To reflect these increased costs, a research fee will be charged to offset the cost of livestock research at the Research and Outreach Centers and the St. Paul Campus. These fees are intended to ensure that most, if not all, livestock research has a funding base before the research is started.

It is expected that, for the most part, these research fees will be paid from sponsored research grants obtained by researchers. The cost of the research fees should be written into the budgets of any future grants being proposed that involved livestock research. The initiation of a livestock research fee is meant to encourage all faculty engaged in livestock research to build research fees into their grant proposals.

Principles

1. All income derived from research fees, and teaching fees where appropriate, will remain at the site where the research is being done so that it can be applied directly to the costs involved there.
2. The livestock research fees will be assessed independently across ROCs and the St. Paul Campus. A two-tiered fee structure is proposed.
3. A basic research fee should be assessed to offset a portion of the costs incurred for facilities, labor, feed, manure management, etc, to conduct the research study.
4. Additional charges will be assessed depending upon what procedures are requested by the researcher and what involvement ROC or St. Paul campus personnel will have in conduct of the research. This fee will vary by livestock species involved and the kind of research being done.
5. The researcher and the ROC or St. Paul Campus Heads or their designated Livestock Coordinators will meet before the research is initiated to determine livestock and facilities needs. At that time the cost of doing the research can also be decided.
6. The College/ROC will bear all other costs involved with maintaining the research herds/flocks when they are not being used for research. Decisions on the size of the herds/flocks will be made based upon the anticipated use level by research faculty and the ability to support the costs to maintain this research base.
7. It will be responsibility of the researcher to obtain an IACUC permit for the research that will be done. The researcher and the ROC or St. Paul Campus Livestock Coordinator will be jointly responsible to ensure compliance with all IACUC and animal welfare regulations.
8. The sale of an animal to a project does not substitute for research fees as long as the animal is under research and care at the unit.

Basic fees:

The basic fees for animal usage may vary across ROC and St. Paul Campus based on location costs of operation. A standardized basic fee for each animal species should be determined at each location and uniformly charged to all researchers at that location.