Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test218.js
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test218.js	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test218.js	(revision 25016)
@@ -67,6 +67,6 @@
 
 //partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions=md.mesh.numberofvertices;
-partitioner(md,'package','linear','npart',md.qmu.numberofpartitions);
+npart=md.mesh.numberofvertices;
+partitioner(md,'package','linear','npart',npart);
 md.qmu.partition=md.qmu.partition-1;
 
@@ -107,5 +107,5 @@
 //Fields and tolerances to track changes
 md.qmu.results=md.results.dakota;
-md.results.dakota.importancefactors=importancefactors(md,'scaled_MaterialsRheologyB','MaxVel')';
+md.results.dakota.importancefactors=importancefactors(md,'scaled_MaterialsRheologyB','MaxVel');
 field_names     =['importancefactors'];
 field_tolerances=[1e-10];
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test234.js
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test234.js	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test234.js	(revision 25016)
@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@
 
 //partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions=20;
-partitioner(md,'package','chaco','npart',md.qmu.numberofpartitions,'weighting','on');
+npart=20;
+partitioner(md,'package','chaco','npart',npart,'weighting','on');
 md.qmu.partition=md.qmu.partition-1;
 
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test235.js
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test235.js	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test235.js	(revision 25016)
@@ -26,6 +26,6 @@
 
 //partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions=20;
-partitioner(md,'package','chaco','npart',md.qmu.numberofpartitions,'weighting','on');
+npart=20;
+partitioner(md,'package','chaco','npart',npart,'weighting','on');
 md.qmu.partition=md.qmu.partition-1;
 
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test235.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test235.py	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test235.py	(revision 25016)
@@ -38,14 +38,13 @@
 
 #partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions = 20
-md = partitioner(md, 'package', 'chaco', 'npart', md.qmu.numberofpartitions, 'weighting', 'on')
-md.qmu.vpartition = md.qmu.vpartition - 1
+npart = 20
+partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'chaco', 'npart', npart, 'weighting', 'on') - 1
 
 #variables
 md.qmu.variables.surface_mass_balance = normal_uncertain.normal_uncertain(
     'descriptor', 'scaled_SmbMassBalance',
-    'mean', np.ones(md.qmu.numberofpartitions),
-    'stddev', 100 * np.ones(md.qmu.numberofpartitions),
-    'partition', md.qmu.vpartition
+    'mean', np.ones(npart),
+    'stddev', 100 * np.ones(npart),
+    'partition', partition
     )
 
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test250.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test250.py	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test250.py	(revision 25016)
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@
 
 #partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions = md.mesh.numberofvertices
-partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'linear', 'npart', md.mesh.numberofvertices) - 1
-md.qmu.vpartition = md.qmu.vpartition - 1
+npart = md.mesh.numberofvertices
+partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'linear', 'npart', npart) - 1
 
 #variables
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test251.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test251.py	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test251.py	(revision 25016)
@@ -37,11 +37,12 @@
 
 #partitioning
-partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'linear', 'npart', md.mesh.numberofvertices) - 1
+npart = md.mesh.numberofvertices
+partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'linear', 'npart', npart) - 1
 
 #variables
 md.qmu.variables.surface_mass_balance = normal_uncertain.normal_uncertain(
     'descriptor', 'scaled_SmbMassBalance',
-    'mean', np.ones(md.qmu.numberofpartitions),
-    'stddev', 100 * np.ones(md.qmu.numberofpartitions),
+    'mean', np.ones(md.mesh.numberofvertices),
+    'stddev', 100 * np.ones(md.mesh.numberofvertices),
     'partition', partition
     )
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test413.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test413.py	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test413.py	(revision 25016)
@@ -23,5 +23,5 @@
 
 #partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions = 20
+npart = 20
 partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'chaco', 'npart', npart, 'weighting', 'on') - 1
 
Index: /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test445.py
===================================================================
--- /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test445.py	(revision 25015)
+++ /issm/trunk-jpl/test/NightlyRun/test445.py	(revision 25016)
@@ -36,5 +36,5 @@
 #partitioning
 npart = 10
-partitioner = partitioner(md, 'package', 'chaco', 'npart', npart, 'weighting', 'on') - 1
+partition = partitioner(md, 'package', 'chaco', 'npart', npart, 'weighting', 'on') - 1
 md.qmu.isdakota = 1
 
@@ -43,5 +43,5 @@
     'descriptor', 'scaled_FrictionEffectivePressure',
     'mean', np.ones(npart),
-    'stddev', .05 * npart),
+    'stddev', .05 * np.ones(npart),
     'partition', partition
     )
@@ -84,12 +84,5 @@
     md.qmu.params.evaluation_concurrency = 1
 
-#partitioning
-md.qmu.numberofpartitions = 10
-md = partitioner(md, 'package', 'chaco', 'npart', md.qmu.numberofpartitions, 'weighting', 'on')
-md.qmu.vpartition = md.qmu.vpartition - 1
-md.qmu.isdakota = 1
-
 md.stressbalance.reltol = 10**-5  #tighten for qmu analyses
-
 
 #solve