Current Meter Facility Operations

Department of Oceanography by laws state: “The current meter facility committee supervises the department’s current meter facility. The chair of this committee is the immediate supervisor of the facility’s personnel and is responsible for annual evaluations etc. The committee’s charge is to assure that the shop is maximally productive and that work for the various faculty members is done equitably”.

The CMF committee has established a number of guidelines to formalize operations somewhat, and to help make the operation of the facility more transparent as the number of users grows.

CMF Guidelines

1) The CMF is a project-driven facility oriented to serve the department’s need for physical measurements of the ocean (examples below).

2) The CMF Committee has the responsibility of prioritizing the ongoing CMF activities. All projects with the CMF must receive the approval of the CMF committee in advance to be prioritized and scheduled.

3) The CMF (research) faculty position is assigned the title 'CMF Manager', with the idea being that the day-to-today operations of the CMF fall under his duties. These duties include managing the routine activities of the 2 other support personnel within the CMF and budget authority for the auxiliary fund, in order to carry out the routine activities of the CMF. He is responsible for properly budgeting the time and funding required for new activities and to make recommendations to the Committee for the time and funding needed for proposed projects.

4) Of the 6 months state-support for the Manager, about 3 months will be required for facility improvement, administration, and organization. The other 3 months is at the discretion of the CMF committee, in consultation with the Manager.

5) The 3 personnel of the facility work together to carry out active projects approved by the CMF committee. To the extent possible, and within the priorities assigned by the CMF Committee, programmer duties will be dedicated to support project data analysis.

6) Any faculty member wishing to use the CMF for projects must initiate contact with the Manager during the proposal-writing stage; a memorandum from the CMF Chair will be generated detailing CMF commitments and charges. The CMF Chair, in consultation with the CMF committee commits the use of the CMF and its resources. For proposals, this commitment is to be made in writing before the proposal is submitted.

7) If a faculty members wishes to use CMF equipement acquired by another person, mutual agreement must be reached before proposal submission. In the event of disagreement the CMF committee plus Manager arbitrate.