Review Procedures for Establishing Institutes, Centers or Similar Organizations:
Definitions and Distinctions

Centers and Institutes are organizational units on the Amherst campus created to implement academic and training programs, clinical or community service, or research activities that cannot ordinarily be accommodated within existing department structures. Centers and Institutes cannot award degrees or offer majors or courses for regular University credit, nor can they hire tenure-track or tenured faculty.

Institutes

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. Ordinarily Institutes on the Amherst campus report to a Vice Chancellor or Provost.

Clear reporting lines and structure for responsible oversight must be established. Institutes may make personnel appointments within this reporting structure, but only degree-granting departments can make official faculty appointments. Institutes traditionally occupy their own identifiable physical space and have the opportunity to bring to it researchers, specialists, fellows, and other associates. The mission of an Institute is the promotion of research in knowledge of some science or subject of broad concern and, often, the communication of this knowledge to a broader public.

Centers

A Center is ordinarily a subordinate unit within an existing department, school, college or institute whose department head/chair, director or dean has management oversight and appointing authority. Centers should make a significant contribution to the major academic unit of which they are a part.

All documents and publications should clearly identify the Center as being part of the parent unit. Any commitment of personnel, space and other resources should have the prior approval of the appropriate chair and dean. Centers should be established for the purpose of concentrating research, teaching and/or service efforts within a clearly defined academic area. They should have an adequate concentration of talent to carry out their mission.

Centers, Institutes, and similar organizations share the following characteristics: their activities are linked to the educational mission of the University and its long range plans; their activities extend beyond the campus in some way, either through public service, funding or other resource arrangements; and their resources are sufficient to carry out their stated mission.

Scope of Campus Authority Concerning 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 the campus policy.

There are two exceptions on the Amherst campus that involve the use of the name center or institute that do not conform to the definitions above. The first are entities called "centers" whose purpose is to provide services to the campus community, including day care centers or computer centers, such as the Center for Teaching, the Fine Arts Center and the Learning Resources Center . The second involves names that have been "grandfathered" because of historical usage or permitted when required by an external agency, such as the Social and Demographic Research Institute/ SADRI, located in a department.

Creation and Approval of Centers and Institutes
Evaluation of Existing Centers and Institutes

Approval Guide Contents