Core Facilities
Scheduling and billing application for core facilities at UNMC.
About
About this Guide
This user manual and application guide was developed by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research for Core Facility users and administrators.
Sections in this guide may apply only to people with elevated permissions in the Research Support System. If a display looks different or there are fewer options available on your screen, this is normal and indicates that certain functions may not be available to you. If you believe this to be in error, contact the VCR's office.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have questions about my billing statement. Who do I contact?
See the bottom of your billing statement. Each core facility has a point-person for their billing questions.
I used the wrong cost object when creating an appointment. Can the core change it/reverse the charges?
- Before the appointment
- Yes. Either you or the core can make this change prior to the start of the appointment.
- After the appointment, before billing
- Yes. The core can make this change prior to billing. Contact the core to give them more details.
- After the appointment has gone through billing
- No. Contact your project/department's accounting administrators to initiate a journal transfer.
The core entered the wrong cost object when creating an appointment. Can the core change it/reverse the charges?
- Before the appointment
- Yes. Either you or the core can make this change prior to the start of the appointment.
- After the appointment, before billing
- Yes. The core can make this change prior to billing. Contact the core to give them more details.
- After the appointment has gone through billing
- Yes. Contact the core to give them more details.
Login & Access Requests
Federated Access
Users from University of Nebraska institutions may log in to the UNMC Research Support Services application to schedule core services and view billing statements.
Click the appropriate logo for your institution of the Research Support Services login screen.
University of Nebraska Kearney Users: Please click the "InCommon" tile, then select UNK from the options provided on the next screen.
You will be redirected to your institution's login. Using your institution's credentials, complete the login process.
Once signed in, you will be asked to enter additional details on an access request form. Enter all required information that was not automatically populated.
In the field, "describe your need for this access," please enter:
Core Facility scheduling and billing access
Enter the code shown in the CAPTCHA image and click 'Submit'. Your request will be processed within two business days. Then, you may log in to the Research Support System using your institutional credentials normally.
Billing
Billing Statements and Invoices
Introduction
An invoice for services provided within UNMC are called "billing statements." Traditional invoices are only sent to core facility customers who are not internal to UNMC.
Core facilities use an automated process for billing that is completed once a month for the previous month. For example, services rendered and billed in May will be processed and posted in SAP in June. All charges are posted directly into SAP based on the cost object provided at the time of service.
The principal investigator being billed for services will receive an email from each core when billing is completed for that month.
Core facilities cannot make billing changes due to a cost object that was incorrectly provided by the customer. Should a charge need to be moved to a different account, contact your department's accounting administrator to initiate a journal transfer.
View/Print Billing Statements
To view or print billing statements or invoices, access the "CORE" tab in the RSS. Under "Billing," select "Billing Statements Dashboard."
The bottom of each billing statement has core-specific contact information if you have questions about the services that were billed.
Show Step-by-Step Details
First, select "Billing Statement Dashboard" from the Core Billing menu.
The Dashboard will load with all statements in which you have either a Billed Faculty, Contact, or Machine Operator role. This may take a moment to load if you have roles in many cores.
Only the most recent 25 statements will load on this initial view. Let the page finish loading before selecting any of the filters.
To ensure that you have loaded all the billing statements, complete any of the filterable fields, "core name", "bill to" or "invoice begin date" and "Search" to load all statements of interest.
Use the page navigation links to move between the displayed pages.
Finally, click "View" to pull up the details of the selected billing statement and generate a PDF version of the billing statement that can be printed, saved, or e-mailed for record keeping.
If you do not see any billing statements, you do not have a role that enables you to see the statements of others.
If you are an administrator managing accounts for departmental faculty please see the Administrators Dashboard page.
Administrator Billing Statement View
Administrator Billing Statement Access
By default, only those with a role in the service may access billing statements. However, there are a number of instances where a lab manager or administrator may need documentation for ledger transactions. This can be accessed through the Administrator Dashboard.
Show Step-by-Step Details
First, Select "Administrator Dashboard" from the Core > Billing menu.
Enter the cost object of interest and a begin date for the query. Click the "Search" button to retrieve billing statements.
This will retrieve all billing statements that have used the cost object irrespective of the Billed faculty or Core.
In the results window, click the view link to open a pdf document which can be printed or download for your records.
If you wish to download a table with the statements you may use the Export to Excel feature.
The export feature will generate an xml table of the results. This feature will not include the detailed statements.
Creating a Favorites Report
If you manage multiple accounts you may find it helpful to create favorites so that your reports are ready to run as needed. Once you've run a report, you may save the result in a favorites list.
Show Step-by-Step Details
You must run the Billing Statements by Cost Object report at least once in order to save the results as a favorite.
If you are satisfied with the results of your search, simply enter a name for your report in the "name this favorite report" field and "save as favorite".
The next time you launch the dashboard you will have the option to "Load" your report. This will populate the required fields and allow you to adjust those as needed, i.e. the next month's dates. You must then use the "Search" button to retrieve the data.
You can also "Delete" a report for a cost object that you no longer monitor.
Instrument Scheduler
View the Instrument Schedule
Introduction
The Instrument Scheduler (IS) is a powerful tool that allows researchers and core facility staff to view, create, and manage appointments for machines and instrumentation.
View the Schedule
To view the schedule for an instrument, access the "CORE" tab in the RSS. Under "Scheduling," select "Instrument Scheduler."
The schedule for an instrument can be displayed by day in an agenda format or by month in a list format.
Show Step-by-Step Details
First, use the "core" drop down to select the name of the core that houses the instrument you need to view.
Next, use the "instrument" drop down to select the specific instrument.
The "date" field will automatically populate if it is blank. To change the schedule to a different date, you may either manually enter the date into the "date" field, or click the calendar icon to display a date picker.
Using the year/month forward/backward buttons at the top of the date picker, navigate to the month you'd like to schedule in. Then, click the date.
Use the "Day View" and "Month View" buttons at the top of the page to change how the schedule is displayed.
Create and Update Appointments
Creating Appointments
To create a new appointment on an instrument, access the "CORE" tab in the RSS. Under "Scheduling," select "Instrument Scheduler." Follow the instructions in the view schedule section to navigate to the date you'd like to create the appointment.
To create an appointment for an instrument using the online scheduler, you must first be given authorization by the core facility. Contact the core facility for additional guidance.
Show Step-by-Step Details
In the "Day View", click the "add" button next to the starting time for which you'd like to create a new appointment.
In the dialog box that appears, check the "Reserved Appointment Times" section to verify the instrument, date, and duration of the appointment you would like to schedule.
All times entered into the instrument scheduler are in the 24-hour format.
Next, enter the name of the person who will be billed. This should be the person who is financially responsible for the project being conducted, typically a Principal Investigator or University faculty member. While research associates, postdoctoral researchers, and students may request services from core facilities, the financially responsible person will typically be the person who is listed as principal investigator on the grant being debited for the work.
Enter a few letters of their last name into the "Bill To" field, then click the name of the person to select them. Once selected, their name will appear in the grey box next to the "Bill To" field.
If the contact person for the appointment should be different from the person who is being billed, enter their name into the "contact" field. This field works the same as the "bill to" field. This is generally the person who will be responsible for the samples. Generally, administrative assistants or departmental administrators should not be entered as the contact. Entering contact information will add that person to any automated notices that are associated with the appointment.
The contact field is a required field. If the billed person is also the requesting person enter their name again in this field.
This field works the same as the "bill to" field. Enter a few letters of their last name into the "contact" field, then click the name of the person to select them. Once selected, their name will appear in the grey box next to the "contact" field.
Enter any other contact information, like alternate numbers or good times to call, in the "contact info" field.
Information can be entered into the project fields to tie charges to a specific project. An internal ID may be included in the project ID field and the IRB/IACUCC protocol may be selected.
If the sample being submitted for analysis is biohazardous, mark the "yes" option.
In the machine operator dropdown, select the individual who will be performing the service or analysis. This may be a core facility staff member or a lab staff member who has received training from the core facility. If you're unsure who to select as the machine operator, contact the core facility.
The service type dropdown will list the available services that can be provided by the selected operator on the machine or instrument being scheduled. Select whichever one needs to be performed.
Once the bill to, machine operator, and service type fields have been entered, the application will calculate and display the estimated charges for this appointment.
Appointments made in the online scheduler must include a payment method in the form of a cost object.
Edit Appointment
To edit an existing appointment on an instrument, access the "CORE" tab in the RSS. Under "Scheduling," select "Instrument Scheduler." Follow the instructions in the view schedule section to navigate to the date of the appointment.
Appointments cannot be edited after having started. Additionally, core facilities are allowed to set appointment edit lockout times. Contact the core facility to change the details of an appointment that has already occurred, or is occurring soon.
Show Step-by-Step Details
In the "Day View", click the "edit" pencil icon next to the starting time for which you'd like to edit an appointment.
This will open the appointment allowing you to adjust the necessary fields. Type the corrected entries into the corresponding fields. Adjust as many of the fields as necessary
End dates and times must occur after the begin date and times If you need to edit a date/time span such that the new begin time occurs after the current end date/time start by adjusting the end date/time to avoid receiving an error.
When you are done making your adjustments click the save button at the bottom of the screen. You will receive a confirmatory pop-up if your changes have been saved successfully. Do not click the cancel or back button during this process.
Cancel Appointment
To cancel an existing appointment on an instrument, access the "CORE" tab in the RSS. Under "Scheduling," select "Instrument Scheduler." Follow the instructions in the view schedule section to navigate to the date of the appointment.
Core facilities are allowed to set cancellation lockout times. These may vary by core and by instrument. To avoid being charged for a no-show appointment, contact the core facility to cancel your appointment within the lockout window.
Show Step-by-Step Details
Navigate to the appointment that you would like to cancel. Select the "delete appointment" icon from the far right column.
This will open a new dialog box asking for the reason for the cancellation. Uncheck the "send email" checkbox unless you want to notify the other named persons on the appointment of the cancellation. Click the "Cancel Appointment" button to compete the cancellation.
DO NOT click the cancel link at the bottom of the pop-up. This will "cancel" your cancellation. Use the "Cancel Appointment" button to remove an appointment from the schedule.
Project Tracker
View the Project Tracker
Introduction
The Project Tracker allows core facilities to initiate, monitor progress, and bill research projects that have many steps, use multiple instrument, or that take a longer length of time than can be captured in the instrument scheduler. Researchers can request projects from core facilities and monitor their projects as they are completed.