Health communication consultation is provided to DF/HCC researchers with no cost to them. Services such as writing, graphic design, and Web development are available to researchers who do not have research funds to cover these services at no cost.  Charge-back will be used when investigators have grant funds available for these services; we are increasingly working with our users to build our services into their grants. We have primarily been a consultative core, with charge-backs for printing and for services provided that exceed the Core’s capacity. Our printing charges are less than half the cost of commercial services.  We will have to institute some increased charge-backs in the proposed funding period to allow for modest growth. Even though we are working with clients to build our services into grant applications, we feel strongly that any conversion to a solely charge-back system would greatly reduce the Core’s use and could ultimately lead to its demise.

On occasions when it is appropriate to charge users for services such as writing, editing, graphic design, and Web development, we charge a rate of $60 per hour. This compares to outside services that easily cost anywhere from 20%-150% more. When our faculty leaders provide in-depth consultation or service exceeding one hour per project, we will charge a rate of $100 per hour. Because of the unique expertise of the staff and faculty in this setting, no truly comparable services exist