Policy For Member Beamtime Requests

GENERAL PROCEDURE

The SER-CAT Director will designate a Beamline Scheduling Manager (BSM) to maintain the Beam line scheduling system for SER-CAT. Requests for scheduling will be done via electronic mail message to the BSM. The BSM will also maintain Beamline Schedule WWW pages for each beamline for members to check the current beamline schedules. Beamline scheduling will be done on an operating cycle basis for each beamline. The general procedure is as follows:

1. The APS Experimental Facilities Division will release the Beamline Operations Schedule for the next operations cycle. This schedule includes times designated for maintenance, machine studies and user operations. The APS schedule is divided into 8-hour shifts (midnight to 0800, 0800 to 1600, 1600 to 2400). However, SER will schedule according to the following pattern:

2. SER-CAT will schedule all user beam time in slots, most of which will consist of 24-hour periods, beginning at 11 am or 2 pm (See above). Some slots are shorter by three or six hours; this is due to the designation of time for machine studies by the APS. The final slot of the run is usually 13 or 10 hours. Slots will be numbered on the schedule.
3. The BSM will designate any operational slots needed for beamline development, testing, diagnostics, repair, etc. There are also provisions for emergency/unscheduled repairs (see below).
4. Once the IIP is operational, the SER-CAT Director will define the number of operational shifts on each beamline for use in the IIP program. In general, these IIP shifts will be scheduled after the member allocation and under the rules of the IIP program at the consideration of the SER beamline training staff and to maximize the beamline resources.
5. The remaining operational slots will be available for member users. The BSM will calculate the number of shifts available of each type for each member. The BSM will send e-mail to each SER board representative and SER board alternate indicating that a new operation cycle has been posted on the APS website and how many slots of each type have been designated for each member for that cycle. A copy of the run schedule for each beamline, with slots to be used by independent investigators and staff blocked out, will be available to facilitate ease of planning for the SER members.
6. Each member can then bid on which slots they want to use, up to the maximum number of slots available per member, from the schedule by sending a message to the BSM. Each member will define their first, secondary, and tertiary choices, as well as any days that can not be used. The BSM will create beam time assignment schedules for the member groups and post the schedules on the SER-CAT website, with an accompanying e-mail to board representatives and alternates announcing the web page posting. In the event of conflicting requests for specific slots, the BSM will choose one member to receive the slot. Slots will be scheduled by the BSM on a first-come, first-served basis, taking into consideration such items as previous schedules (i.e., weekend vs. weekday assignments), individual member preferences (insofar as possible) and time of receipt of the request (all requests received before the e-mail call for beam time preferences will be treated as having been received in response to the request; requests after the e-mail announcement will be handled in the order in which they are received).
7. In addition, the BSM will maintain a bank for each beamline for each member. For each scheduling period, each member has the option of
   a) scheduling as many slots as designated; the member's bank is unchanged.
   b) scheduling fewer slots than designated; any unused slots are then placed in the bank and can be used in a subsequent operation cycle. Any additional unused slots that cannot be banked are lost.
   c) scheduling more slots than designated; any additional slots come from the member's bank. A maximum of two slots per beamline can be unbanked for each operation cycle.
8. Banked days do not expire, but a member can only bank 1 day per share, rounded up. Therefore, if a member owns 3 shares, then that member may keep a maximum of 3 days in the bank.
9. Members may bank their selected slots up to fourteen days prior to the shift. Members can engineer exchanges among themselves for scheduled slots up until 24 hours before the slot begins (see below). In the case of an exchange, the ESAF for the earlier of the exchanged shifts must be submitted no later that 72 hours before the beginning of the slot.

SPECIAL SITUATIONS

1. Unusable slot
   If a slot is unusable due to machine or beamline maintenance, it is not counted against the member. The member has three options:
   a) They can reschedule the slot(s) from any available slot(s) in the current cycle.
   b) They can reschedule the slot(s) in the next cycle (in addition to all the designated and banked slots for the next cycle).
   c) They can bank the unusable slot in their bank for future use. Unusable slots are not subject to the banking limits above. However, if the member chooses to bank the unusable slots, they are then subjected to the subsequent unbanking rules described above.
2. Unused slot ("no-shows")
   If a member does not show up for a scheduled, usable slot, this will be considered equivalent to having used the slot. The BSM can reassign any slots not being used by a member.
3. Unassigned slots
   Any unscheduled slots can be used by any member by unbanking time from their bank account. If no member wishes to use an unassigned slot, the BSM can offer the shift to an IIP user, to the staff or collaborators for their own research.
4. Assigning slots
   A member with a scheduled slot has the option of assigning their slot to another user. It is the responsibility of the member to inform the BSM who the actual user of the slot will be. The beamline schedule will be changed to indicate the newly assigned slot user. Time that is given away is neither charged against the original user, nor is it considered banked.
   Reassignment of slots may take the form of an equal trade of slots. Arranging slot swaps are the responsibility of the members and do not alter the members' slot/bank account. Slot swaps should be reported to the BSM so that the web page can be updated to reflect the new schedule.
5. End of slot
   The scheduled user must be completely off the beamline (i.e., hutch cleaned out, personnel off the experimental floor, etc.) fifteen minutes before the end of their scheduled slot. The new scheduled user has the right to request termination of a prior user's experiment. Data must be completely removed from the data collection disks within one hour of the end of the slot or the data may be removed.
6. Disputes
   The BSM is the final arbitrator of any scheduling disputes. It is hoped that the members will work in a fair-minded way to maximize equal usage of the facility.