New IUB LAR Husbandry Per Diem Rates for Fiscal Year 2024

The mission of Laboratory Animal Resources (LAR) is to provide high quality, humane care for research and teaching animals at Indiana University Bloomington, and to ensure compliance with federal laws, guidelines, and campus policies related to animal use. LAR is responsible for managing the campus core animal facilities and providing medical care and oversight for all campus facilities in which animals are maintained for research and teaching. In the spirit of this service-oriented mission, we remind you of upcoming changes to per diem rates for LAR husbandry services, which will go into effect on July 1, 2023.

While LAR rates are evaluated each year to determine appropriate cost recovery, over the course of the next few months a full assessment of LAR rates will be conducted using, as a starting point, the full application of what is expected to be included from the NIH's Cost Analysis and Rate Setting Manual for Animal Research Facilities (link is external). This calculation, led by Marisa Pratt, will serve as the starting point for discussions of future rates. A full and transparent report of the results of this assessment will be made available to LAR animal users. Rates are approved by the Vice President for Research in consultation with the IU Finance Office. Feedback on rate setting is also provided by the LAR Fiscal Oversight Committee (FOC) that meets in the spring of each year.

IU Research will strive to ensure that these substantial rate increases do not negatively impact the critical ongoing research of the LAR user community. Specifically, we commit to mitigating any significant effects of this rate increase on multiyear sponsored research projects in cases where it cannot be absorbed through rebudgeting. We have instituted two policies to offset the adverse impact of these rate increases:

• First, for any research grants or contracts awarded on or after July 1, 2023, IU Research will return 10% of the indirect costs associated with annual direct expenditures on the grant to the principal investigator to support their research. This indirect cost return to the investigator may be used for LAR per diems and other associated research costs. This policy now applies to all IU sponsored projects and principal investigators.
• Second, we commit to mitigating any significant effect of the rate increase on multiyear sponsored research projects in cases where it cannot be absorbed through rebudgeting. In these cases, researchers may apply for a subsidy from IU Research to cover the difference between projected increases and the actual rate increase. Instructions for requesting this subsidy will be posted no later than August 1, 2023.

Rates will continue to be reevaluated on an annual basis in the spring of each calendar year.

We understand that even the smallest rate fluctuation can have substantial implications for your research. Please know that the entire LAR team remains committed to employing various fiscal management controls and improving our operating efficiencies wherever possible to help mitigate rate changes and any subsequent impacts on the IUB research community.

While we strive to minimize future rate adjustments, you are strongly encouraged to follow standard best practices for baseline budgeting, which allow for incremental cost changes throughout multi-year grant projects. Rates may vary from year to year as expenses and the number of animals vary. When planning for projects that will extend beyond June 30, 2024, investigators should apply an inflationary increase. Typical inflationarly estimates are 5-8%.

Feel free to consult with LAR when planning for animal care costs. We are happy to help you in any way we can! Questions or concerns may be directed to the LAR Director or Operations Manager at lar@iu.edu