2 - 03.3
Administrative policy and procedures regarding academic administrative structures: centers
- Purpose. The university recognizes and designates several types of academic administrative structures that serve to facilitate its academic mission. Centers created under this policy provide an organizational identity to selected programs and participating faculty, staff and students, and supplement and complement the mission of academic units. However, centers shall not serve as the site of primary academic appointments for faculty nor shall they offer any academic degree or certificate.
- Definitions.
- Center. An academic administrative structure that facilitates and administers research, education or service activities. Centers provide an organizational identity to selected research, education or service activities and participating faculty, staff and students, and supplement and complement the individual missions of academic departments, schools and colleges.
- Implementation
- A center may only be created to provide an administrative structure to focus and bring together research, education or service in a single area or cluster of related areas. The topics or issues that provide the focus for the center may involve multiple academic units.
- A center may serve one or more of the following criteria in its activities: research, education, and service.
- A center shall be established or eliminated by the board of trustees upon the recommendation of the president, provost, Educational policies council and faculty senate. Prior to recommending a substantial modification, the president and provost shall consider the recommendations of the curricular and governance bodies deemed appropriate through consultation with the faculty senate chair. The provost shall be responsible for maintaining and communicating the format, process, and minimum requirements for such recommendation.
- A director shall serve as the administrator for a center and shall be appointed by the provost in consultation with the dean(s) of participating colleges and independent schools (hereafter “the dean”). The director shall be responsible for filing an annual report with the dean(s) and provost. The specific requirements addressed by the annual report shall be established by the dean in consultation with the provost.
- Centers shall adhere to operational procedures established and maintained by the dean(s).
- Review procedures for centers.
- Unless an exception is requested by the director and approved by the provost in consultation with the dean, all centers will be reviewed every five years. The dean, in consultation with the provost, shall be responsible for maintaining and communicating the format, process, and minimum requirements for such review.
- Each review will conclude with a recommendation to the dean and provost to continue, modify, or abolish the structure of the center. In addition to the results of any review conducted, a center may be abolished as a result of a review or abandoned as a result of continued inactivity in excess of one academic year.
Policy Effective Date:
Jul 01, 2022