The Core Facility is accessible to all members of the University community with priority access granted to members of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. Only graduates of the flow cytometry classes conducted by the Facility are allowed to operate the flow cytometers under the general supervision of the Facility staff. Approved individuals have 24/7/356 access to the FACScans and FACSCaliburs after demonstrating a required level of proficiency. We do not permit the use of the instruments by users who were not trained directly by Core personnel.

1. Appointments for use of the Cytometers follow the general policy of the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource Facility. Users may book time on the FACScans or FACSCaliburs located in the John Morgan building, Johnson Pavilion, or the BRB using the Meeting Maker scheduling program. Meeting Maker servers are located at all three sites. You are limited to two hours between the hours of 9 A.M. and 5 P.M., Monday-Friday. Longer periods may be scheduled before or after these hours or on weekends.
2. Please plan your experiments carefully! Ideally you should reserve time on the Cytometer one week in advance. If you try to get an appointment for the net day, it may not be possible to accommodate you.
3. Please be punctual! If you are more than 15 minutes late for your appointment, and have not notified the Facility, you will be charged for your entire time. If the experiment cannot be finished in the allocated time, it will have to be finished at another time.
4. Anyone who has been trained, but is still not confident of his or her ability to use the instruments may arrange for staff assistance at the John Morgan location only.
5. If you fail to record your time, we will estimate your time and charge you for one additional hour.

While it is the policy of the Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting Shared Resource to provide investigators with the tools to perform their own analyses, it is recognized that some applications, including cell sorting, require a high level of expertise and are best performed by the staff. Thus, facility-performed services are offered subject to the following guidelines:

1. It is imperative that experiments are planned carefully. This includes confirming that the fluorescent labels and their combinations can be analyzed on the instrumentation we have available in the Facility. If you have never used the Facility before, or are planning a novel experiment, please contact Dr. Jonni Moore, (moorej@pennmedicine.upenn.edu), Director at 215-898-6853. She will be able to consult with you on experimental design and the availability of equipment and discuss the potential of the cytometric experiments with you. Good communication with the cell sorter operator is also essential for the success of your experiments. Prior to the sort, discuss the specific details of your experiment with the cell sorter operator so an estimate can be made as to how long the sort or sample acquisition will take.
2. If you have to cancel your appointment for any reason at any time, with less than five days notice, you will be charged for the entire period unless we are able to find a replacement to fill you time slot.
3. PLEASE be punctual. If you are late, your experiment may no be able to be finished, in order to accommodate the next user. You will be charged from original booking time.
4. Any consultation about experiments or data with the Facility staff or Director must be scheduled ahead of time.

Due to the fact that cell sorting generates aerosols and the cells are generally no submitted in any fixative, the biohazard risks are much greater than in analytical flow cytometry. It is therefore imperative to discuss any and all biohazard issues with the sorter operator. Failure to do so may result in denial of further use of the cell sorting facility. We are equipped to perform sorts on infected/infectious samples, but the sorting or acquisitions of potentially infectious samples must be cleared with the Technical Director, Hank Pletcher.

The University of Pennsylvania scientific community has increasingly made use of complex flow cytometric analyses and cell sorting requiring the usage of high-end instrumentation. This has led to a proportionate increase in requests for service and increased the lead-time necessary to schedule these types of applications. It has always been our policy to make service as accessible as possible for all users so we must continuously update our policies to fairly serve the entire research community.

In performing an audit of usage over the past 6 months, we determined that cancellations have risen to over 30%. This severely limits access in a timely manner for many users and often results in sorters being unused with a long waiting list. In an effort to better utilize the hours available on the high-end instrumentation for the most users, we have enacted the following policies effective April 1, 2003:

1. The Staff will make the final determination as to which instrument is appropriate for each sort.
2. We will no longer use block scheduling. Upon consultation with the operator, each sort will be scheduled based on a reasonable estimate of the time needed. It is critical that the investigator consult with the operator prior to scheduling so that the appropriate scheduling can be done.
   1. Users will be charged for the entire time scheduled whether it is used or not.
   2. Since setup for each sort is customized, a one hour setup time will be added to each sort.
3. Cancellation of less than 72 hours of your sort day will result in a charge of the time that was scheduled for you, if a replacement sort can not be found. A cancellation of more that 72 hours will result in no charge.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation as we continue to support your research needs.