The rates below are effective as of July 1, 2020. Standard Consultation Fees for UGA-Affiliated Clients For each project, a one hour initial consultation is offered free of charge. After this, our service is available on a fee-for-service basis to defray the cost of operating the SCC. The hourly rate varies depending on the consultant, as shown below: Consultant Rate Graduate Student Assistants $50/hour Associate Director $100/hour Director $120/hour These rates apply to clients who are students, faculty, or staff of the University of Georgia. Because of the support that the SCC receives from the Franklin College of Arts & Sciences, clients affiliated with the Franklin College are eligible for a 25% discount. Standard Consultation Fees for External Clients The SCC encourages academic, government, non-profit, or commercial clients outside the University of Georgia to utilize our services. Please apply through submitting a Consultation Request, or for further information about options and rates, please contact the Associate Director or Director of the SCC. An initial one-hour consultation is offered free of charge. After this consultation, our service is available on a fee-for-service basis to defray the cost of operating the SCC. The hourly rates for off-campus academic and qualifying non-profit clients are shown below. Consultant Rate (Academic/Non-Profit) Graduate Student Assistants $60/hour Associate Director $120/hour Director $150/hour The hourly rates for off-campus commercial clients are shown below: Consultant Rate (Commercial) Graduate Student Assistants $75/hour Associate Director $150/hour Director $200/hour Preparation of Grant Proposals There are multiple ways in which the SCC can participate in grant proposals. An approach that will fit the needs of many clients is for the SCC to be budgeted as a paid consultant on the grant proposal and to contribute statistical consulting to the preparation of the proposal. In the preparation stage, we can provide help with the writing of statistical components, including study, sample size calculations, statistical analysis plan, estimation of the cost of future statistical work (such as data analyses and results interpretation), etc. Alternatively, we encourage researchers to consider including the director or associate director of the SCC on the proposal in a collaborative role (as co-PI or as a co-investigator of some kind). This will typically involve some funding and academic credit for participation in the funded research and full intellectual engagement in the project. Other models for our participation are possible. The SCC is also happy to connect researchers with other faculty members in the Department of Statistics who may be suitable collaborators. Investigators wishing to discuss future grant proposals with the SCC should contact the Director, Dr. Dan Hall, at danhall@uga.edu. Collaborative Research and Publication Some projects may result in the publication of collaborative interdisciplinary research. In this case, it may be appropriate that co-authorship is granted to our consultant(s). We treat authorship, which is an acknowledgment of an intellectual contribution, as largely separate from the provision of funding, which is necessary to support the continued operation of the SCC. Funding does not take the place of authorship. However, depending on the circumstances, the SCC may reduce or waive fees for work done by an SCC consultant who is operating in a collaborative role that includes co-authorship. Our authorship policy is derived from that of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Authorship in any field is appropriate for an SCC consultant who has done the following: Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND Has drafted the statistical portion(s) of the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content. All authors must have final approval of the version of the manuscript to be published. For work provided by the SCC that leads to a research publication but which does not merit co-authorship, we encourage authors to recognize our contribution in the acknowledgements section of the paper. To inquire about these policies, please contact the Director, Dr. Dan Hall, at danhall@uga.edu. Free Consultation Opportunities We occasionally offer free in-depth consulting through graduate students working in the SCC for STAT 8001 course credit. Clients who have projects that meet certain guidelines as set by the SCC, and are willing to allow their data to be analyzed by statistics graduate students are encouraged to inquire about this option. Additional Notes Regarding Fees The complexity of a specific service request, the preference of the client, and staff availability all combine to determine who will perform statistical services for any given project. We understand that the cost of service concerns many clients, and will try to keep fees low by assigning some portion of statistical work to graduate student assistants. But to ensure the quality of our service, the Associate Director or Director will be involved in each project in a supervisory role and, in some cases, to directly provide consulting service on the project. Before the start of any fee-based work, the SCC will provide a “good faith” estimate of the needed numbers of hours from a student assistant, the Associate Director, and/or the Director. In some cases, flat rates for large projects can be negotiated with the Associate Director or Director of the SCC. Occasionally, an SCC Faculty Associate (typically a faculty member in the UGA Department of Statistics) will participate in a consulting project. Any billable contributions from Faculty Associates will be charged at the same rates as the those of the SCC Director.
