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Centers Establishment - Guidelines

University Senate, January 2005

Center establishment guidelines apply to any center that is a group of academic specialists organized under external funding to achieve particular research or public service objectives.  Such centers define areas of research and public service focus and have value in identifying and giving visibility to interest clusters and establishing them as working units.

1. Initial approval for a center shall be for a three-year period.  Renewal of approval is not automatic; an application must be initiated by the center, and an approval process similar to that outlined in Item 7 below will be followed.
2. A center must operate within the policies and procedures of Miami University.  It is not an independent agency or autonomous administrative unit.
3. The University normally will not use internal funds to operate, hire or provide space for a center as defined in Item 1.  Whatever regular Miami personnel, spaces or funds are associated with a center simply represent the aggregation of the participants’ times, spaces and funds.
4. With Miami's endorsement, a center may apply for external funding which may be used for personnel, space or programs of the center.
5. Persons occupying positions funded from external sources have no guarantee of continuing employment at Miami University.  Appointment letters offered to these persons will specify that the appointment carries no reappointment or tenure commitment by virtue of its association with the center.
6. A center can be established by:
   1. developing a statement of objectives, identifying and justifying an initial set of faculty participants that merit recognition, outlining anticipated activities and providing justification for organizing as a center,
   2. obtaining approval of the department chairs involved and the academic dean(s) and Executive Director(s) who will be administratively responsible for the center,
   3. showing how the center will be organized – although participants may be housed in several academic divisions, a single dean or Executive Director must have oversight authority,
   4. gaining approval of the Associate Provost for Research and Scholarship and  the Provost after the latter has received advice from the Council of Academic Deans.
7. Each center must submit an annual report via the Associate Provost for Research and Scholarship including a summary of income and expenditures.  This report will be forwarded to the Provost with the Associate Provost’s annual report of activities.