Policy on Centers and Institutes

DOC. T96-096, as amended

Passed by the BoT
8/7/96

Revised 10/9/96

University of Massachusetts
Policy on Centers and Institutes

I. Definitions

As used in this policy, the following words shall have the following meaning:

Center or Institute - An organizational unit within one or more campuses or the President's Office created to implement academic and training programs, clinical or community service, or research activities that cannot ordinarily be accommodated within existing departmental structures. Entities called "centers" whose purpose is to provide services to the University community (including day care centers, learning centers, computer centers and other such entities as may be so designated by the Chancellor of each campus) shall not be considered Centers or Institutes for the purposes of this policy.
Further, an Institute is a distinct and free-standing unit of substantial size. Institutes may engage in a wide variety of research, public service, and instructional activities, typically in areas of broad concern. Institutes are frequently interdisciplinary and embrace ideas and personnel from various departments, colleges, and schools. A Center is ordinarily a subordinate unit within an existing department, school, college, or institute; interdisciplinary centers may, however, report to the Provost or Chancellor. Centers should make a significant contribution to the major academic unit of which they are a part.

II. Campus Authority for Centers and Institutes

Each campus shall have policies and procedures governing the definition, establishment, review, administration and termination of Centers and Institutes. Every Center or Institute, whether free-standing units or sub-units of schools, colleges, departments or other organizational units, and regardless of its source of funding, shall be included within the purview of campus policies. The exceptional use of the name center or institute by campus entities that do not conform to the definition of Center or Institute set forth above shall be addressed in each campus policy. Campus policies must be approved by the President of the university. The President shall have the authority to establish, review, and terminate Centers and Institutes that are affiliated with the President's Office.

III. Creation and Approval of Centers and Institutes

Campus approval of new Centers and Institutes shall be based, at a minimum, on the appropriateness of the center or institute to the mission and goals of the campus, and adequacy of resources, including capital investment.

The establishment of a new center or institute shall require the approval of the President upon recommendation of the campus Chancellor.

IV. Review of Centers and Institutes

All campus policies shall provide for the review of Centers and Institutes at least every five years. Centers and Institutes shall be evaluated on their success in meeting their own goals and objectives as well as their substantive contribution to the mission of the campus. Once a Center or Institute has been reviewed, a recommendation to continue said Center or Institute must be approved by the President upon recommendation of the campus Chancellor.

V. Termination

Campus policies governing Centers and Institutes shall include appropriate mechanisms and criteria for the termination of said units.

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Campus Procedures for Centers and Institutes
(Doc. T96-096)

I. Scope of the Policy and Definitions

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Policy on Academic Institutes and Centers is established pursuant to the University of Massachusetts Trustee "Policy on Centers and Institutes" (T96-096, adopted on August 7, 1996). The Trustee policy states that:

"Each campus shall have policies and procedures governing the definition, establishment, review, administration and termination of Centers and Institutes. Every Center or Institute, whether free-standing units or sub-units of, schools, colleges, departments or other organizational units, and regardless of its source of funding, shall be included within the purview of campus policies.”

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Policy on Academic Institutes and Centers applies to all Institutes and Centers as defined below:

A Center or Institute is an organizational unit affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth created to implement research or public service projects that cannot ordinarily be accommodated within existing departmental structures. A Center is ordinarily a subordinate unit within an existing department, school, college, or Institute; interdisciplinary centers, however, may report to the Provost. An Institute is a distinct and free-standing unit of substantial size. Institutes may engage in a wide variety of research, public service, and instructional activities, typically in are of broad concern. Institutes are .frequently interdisciplinary an embrace ideas and personnel from various departments, colleges, and schools.

Entities called "centers" whose purpose is to provide service to the University community (including day care centers, learning centers, advising centers, and other such entities as may be so designated by the Chancellor) shall not be considered Centers or Institutes for the purposes of this policy.

II. Establishment of New Academic Institutes and Centers

A. Initial Proposal. The establishment of a new academic Institute or Center at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth shall be initiated by members of the faculty with a written proposal submitted to the Chancellor. At a minimum, the proposal shall include:

1. a mission statement that shall define the goals and objectives of the Institute or Center,
2. an explanation of how the Institute or Center will advance the mission and goals of the campus and an explanation of why said mission and goals cannot be advanced through an existing department, Institute or Center,
3. a proposed annual budget which documents the anticipated sources of revenue and expenditures, including capital equipment operating expenses, and personnel cost, and documentation that such revenues are adequate to the proposed mission,
4. an estimate of office space required on campus for the new Institute’s or Center's operation,
5. a proposed governance and administrative reporting structure for the Institute or Center, and
6. explicit recognition of the administrative reporting, annual reporting and five-year review processes described in Section III and IV below.

B. Approval. The establishment of a new academic Institute or Center shall require the approval of the Chancellor and the President.

C. Governing Board. For new academic Institute or Centers, the governing board shall be established as follows:

1. three members elected by the initiating faculty,
2. three members appointed by the Chancellor or their designee, and
3. three members jointly agreed upon by the initiating faculty and the Chancellor or his/her designee.

Following the expiration of the terms of the first governing board, members will be selected according to the process established in the approved governance and administrative structure.

III. Regulations and Reporting Procedures

The following reporting procedures apply to all academic Institutes and Centers, both currently existing or to be created in the future.

A. Mission Statement. All academic Institutes and Centers shall have a written mission statement that defines its goals and objectives and that is consistent with the mission of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

B. Director. All academic Institutes or Centers shall be headed and administered by a Director. For purposes of administering the Institute or Center, the Director shall report to an appropriate Chairperson, Dean, the Provost, or, in special circumstances, the Chancellor, as approved by the Chancellor.

C. Annual Report. By July 31 of each year, the Director of each Institute or Center shall prepare an annual report for the fiscal year just completed (June 30). The annual report shall include the following information:

1. a statement of how the Institute or Center has accomplished its goals and mission, including a brief description of all completed and continuing projects,
2. a fiscal year financial report that identifies: the amount of total revenue received using the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) sources of revenue categories, -116.13-
3. a fiscal year financial report that identifies total expenditures using the letter level categories of the University’s Financial Reporting System (FRS),
4. the names of all employees and consultants affiliated with the Institute or Center during the fiscal year,
5. a list of all physical space occupied and used by the Institute or Center, and
6. a statement of goals and a projected budget for the next year.

D. Distribution of the Annual Report. The Director of each Institute or Center will submit the annual report to:

1. the Director's immediate supervisor,
2. the unit's governing board,
3. the University Budget Review Board,
4. the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Library for its collection, and
5. the Provost’s Office.

E. Review of the Annual Report. If any of the persons to whom the Director reports recommend termination of the Center or Institute, based on annual reports, then the procedure for a five-year review, as described in Section V, will be initiated immediately. The individual recommending termination shall notify the Chancellor, the Director, and the Governing Board of the Institute or Center of their recommendation for termination in writing, including specific reasons for the recommended termination. The failure to submit an annual report shall be considered evidence that the Institute or Center has not engaged in any research or public service projects during the previous fiscal year and shall automatically trigger the five-year review process.

IV. Evalutaiotn of Center Employees and Affiliates

A. Evaluation of the Director. Directors of Institute and Centers who are members of the University of Massachusetts Faculty Federation collective bargaining unit shall be evaluated under the terms criteria, and categories of the Agreement between the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees and the University of Massachusetts Faculty Federation, American Federation of Teachers, Local 1895. The Director's immediate supervisor, as well as members of the Institute’s or Center's governing board shall submit letters of evaluation to the Director's Department Faculty Evacuation Committee, to be include as part of the annual evaluation dossier. A copy of the Director's annual evaluation shall be forwarded to the Director's immediate supervisor.

B. Evaluation of Bargaining Unit Employees. Employees or affiliates of an Institute or Center will be evaluated under the terms, criteria, and categories of the appropriate collective bargaining agreement. For all faculty, librarians, or technicians employed or affiliated with an Institute or Center, the Director will submit an annual letter of evaluation to the individual's Department: Faculty Evaluation Committee, but such letter shall be limited to a review of the individual's direct participation in the Institute’s or Center’s activities. For each Research Associate and Technical Associate employed by an Institute or Center, the Director will prepare a written annual evaluation of the individual’s s performance in accordance with the performance and evaluation criteria in the individual’s employment contract.

C. Evaluation of Non-Bargaining Unit Employees. By May 31 of each year, the Director shall evaluate all non-bargaining unit, non-student, employees according to criteria development by the Institute or Center.

V. Five Year Review of Academic INstitutes and Centers

Each Institute and Center shall undergo a comprehensive performance review every five years. Institutes and Centers are expected to make a significant contribution to the mission of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

A. Five-Year Review Team. An Institute’s or Center's five-year review shall be conducted by a 5-member review team consisting of:

1. the Director's immediate supervisor,
2. a member of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth faculty appointed by the Institute or Center Director,
3. two members of the full-time tenured faculty selected at random by "Greek ballot" at a regular meeting of the Faculty Senate, and
4. a University administrator appointed by the Chancellor or his/her designee.

B. Purpose of the Review. The review team shall prepare a written report that evaluates the extent to which the Institute or Center has fulfilled it mission over the previous five years, including its ability to complete research and public service projects successfully, its ability to involve faculty and students in its research and public service projects, and its ability to generate external funding appropriate to its goals. In conducting the review, the review team shall inspect the Institute’s or Center’s work space, review its records and annual reports, interview members of the governing board, interview employees and affiliates, and solicit external input from client agencies who have worked with the Institute or Center during the last five years. The review team may recommend continuance of the Institute or Center for another five years, its modification and restructuring, or its termination.

C. Distribution of Reveiws. The written report of the five-year review team shall be distributed to individuals in the following order:

1. the Institute’s or Center’s Director and Governing Board, each of whom may submit additional written comments on the review,
2. the Director's immediate supervisor (e.g., Chair, Dean, Provost or Chancellor), and
3. the Provost, who will Consider the review, its recommendations, and any appended comments, and forward his/her written recommendation to the Institute’s or Center’s Director and to the Chancellor.
The Provost will forward copies of the review, and all additional written comments and recommendations, to the President of the Faculty Federation and the President of the Faculty Senate for information purposes only.

D. Conclusion of the Review. The Institute’s or Center’s Director and Governing Board shall have twenty days to respond to the five-year review and to the written comments and recommendations of the Provost by submitting a written response to the Chancellor. After this twenty-day period the Chancellor shall make a final recommendation concerning the Institute or Center. Based upon the five-year review, and additional materials submitted to him by the Director, Governing Board, and Provost, the Chancellor may: (1) recommend to the President the continuance of the Institute or Center for another five years; (2) recommend modification and restructuring of the Institute or Center; or (3) terminate the Institute or Center without further review or appeal.

VI. Bona Fie Institutes and Centers

By September 30 of each year, the Provost shall provide a list of the academic Institutes and Centers authorized and operating under the terms of this policy. The 30 September list shall also include the name of the Director of each academic Institute and Center and the name and position of the Director's immediate administrative supervisor. The 30 September list shall also identify which Institute or Center are scheduled for a five-year review during the current academic year. This list will be sent to the President of the Faculty Federation and the President of the Faculty Senate.

As agreed to by P.H. Cressy, B.F Taggie, C.W. Barrow, and R. DiPippo: November 30, 1998