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Institute Establishment - Guidelines

University Senate, January 2005

1. Institute Establishment guidelines apply to any institute that is a group of approved centers organized to promote external funding and to achieve collaborative research or public service objectives.  The centers must have an exceptional and continuous record of external funding and scholarly productivity.  Such institutes define areas of research and public service focus and have value in identifying and giving significant visibility to interest clusters and establishing them as collaborative units.
2. Initial approval for an institute shall be for a three-year period.  Renewal of approval is not automatic; an application must be initiated by the institute, and an approval process similar to that outlined in Item 7 below will be followed.
3. An institute must operate within the policies and procedures of Miami University.  It is not an independent agency or autonomous administrative unit.
4. Each institute may use funds obtained from externally generated facilities and administration charges or workshop to operate, hire, or provide space for an institute as defined in Item 1.  Whatever regular Miami personnel, spaces or funds are associated with an institute simply represent the aggregation of the participants’ times, spaces and funds.
5. With Miami’s endorsement, an institute may apply for external funding which may be used for personnel, space or programs of the institute or the centers contained in the institute.
6. 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 institute.
7. An institute can be established by:
   1. developing a statement of objectives, identifying and justifying an initial set of center participants that form a cohesive collaborative unit, outlining the anticipated increase in activities and providing justification for organizing as an institute,
   2. obtaining approval of the department chairs, involved center directors, and the academic dean(s) and Executive Director(s) who will be administratively responsible for the institute,
   3. showing how the institute 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 of the Provost after the latter has received advice from the Council of Academic Deans.
8. Each institute 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.