Establishment, Continuation, and Review of Research Centers and Institutes

Scope

This policy applies to all campuses and to all research centers and institutes.

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Reason for Policy

This policy outlines guidelines and procedures for establishing, continuing, regularly reviewing, and discontinuing research centers and institutes.  This supports university accreditation and is in keeping with best practices for continuous improvement at research-intensive universities.  This policy applies to all campuses and to all research centers and institutes. 

This policy does not to apply to:

• “Ephemeral” centers, such as centers that only exist for duration of an externally funded project.
• Units that do not engage significantly in the research mission of the University.
• Core facilities, such as those that provide access to equipment, data, or expertise for a fee.
• Museums that primarily make their collections available to other researchers. If a museum, however, leads a significant independent research program (e.g., serves as a PI on grants and/or produces widely disseminated findings), then this policy applies.

Great research-intensive universities have strong research centers and institutes that serve to invite and coalesce faculty, staff and students from across the school, campus, or university to address research topics or themes of profound societal importance and/or provide state-of-the-art equipment, technical services, and other essential support. These centers and institutes are a conduit for the university to address grand challenges and provide solutions and innovations to an extent not possible in their absence.

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Procedures

General Policy on Establishment, Continuation, and Review of Research Centers and Institutes

1. A research center or institute is defined as a “research unit” in which the predominant mission is research and/or creative activity. While units covered under this policy may also pursue an instructional or service mission, such missions are minor in scope or impact relative to its research mission. Important questions for assessing whether a unit is a research unit: Does the unit support the larger research mission?  Does the unit enable faculty and research staff to pursue externally sponsored awards?  Does the unit lead to outcomes that are more widely disseminated?  If the unit does engage in instructional or service work, is the work best characterized as instructional-based research or service-based research?  
2. IU Research, through the Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities, will determine whether a unit falls under this policy after consultation with relevant stakeholders. An official list of all research centers and institutes covered under this policy will be maintained by IU Research and is publicly available here.
3. All research centers and institutes covered under this policy are under the overall purview of IU Research and must comply with the requirements of this policy. IU Research will:
   1. Ensure that new research centers and institutes are aligned with the research mission and do not compete or conflict with existing research units across IU.
   2. Attest that research units are regularly reviewed.
   3. Assess the university-wide impact of changes in name, administrative home, mission, or discontinuation of research units.
4. Research units may exist at the School/College, Campus, or University level:
   1. School- or College-based centers or institutes will report to the Dean of the School or College, or their designee. The term “institute” is typically reserved for campus- or IU Research-level reporting. However, existing institutes reporting to a dean of a school/college on the effective date of this policy will continue to report to the same school/college and be called an institute.
   2. Campus-level centers and institutes will report to chief academic officer of the campus (e.g., Provost or Chancellor) or to IU Research. Campus level centers that report to IU Research will be considered centrally administered centers (or CIMS).
   3. Centrally administered centers or institutes will report to IU Research, and be categorized as CIMs (centrally administered Centers, Institutes, Museums, or Core Service Facilities).
5. A proposal for the development and approval of a research center or institute must be reviewed and approved as consistent with Part A of this policy.
6. IU Research will establish a process for the annual and on-going review of research units consistent with Part B of this policy.
7. Changes and discontinuation of research units require review and approval consistent with Part C of this policy.
8. Research centers and institutes that are either not compliant with this policy or not approved through this policy are subject to suspension or termination.

Part A.  Criteria for the Establishment and Continuation of New Research Centers and Institutes

The primary criteria that must be met for the establishment or continuation of a center or institute are:

Mission: A research center or institute must:

• Have a clearly defined purpose that is aligned with the research mission and strategic plans of the University.
• Articulate goals, as well as the metrics that will be used to document progress towards achieving them.
• Strive to be world class and impact as many faculty, departments, and academic programs as possible.
• Be substantially distinct from existing research units.
• Choose a name that reflects the unit’s mission but does not cause undo confusion with existing units.

Resources: A research center or institute must:

• Have a continuous or rolling three-year budget showing sources of funding and anticipated expenses.
• Demonstrate that sufficient human and physical resources (e.g., space, equipment, datasets) are available to achieve its stated purpose.
• Provide a clear strategy for facilitating growth and achieving long-term sustainability.

Organization: A research center or institute must:

• Have identified a director with appropriate qualifications and experience.
• List core and/or affiliated faculty and provide brief CVs. Ideally faculty will be drawn from multiple departments, schools, or campuses.
• Provide clear organizational charts depicting both the organization within the center or institute, as well as how the research unit reports externally.
• Describe any internal and/or external advisory boards and their roles.
• Include a letter of support from the head of the unit that will house the research unit, as well as other supporting letters.

Establishment of school- or campus-based centers and institutes:

• School- or campus-based centers and institutes are expected to have their primary impact at the school or campus level.
• Materials addressing the criteria above should be submitted to the Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities. Please also include a letter of support from the head of the unit that will house the research unit (Dean, Provost, or Chancellor), as well as other supporting letters as appropriate.
• The Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities will evaluate the request.  The AVP may solicit additional feedback as warranted from key stakeholders, including the unit head, and then make the final recommendation to the Vice President for Research.

Establishment of centrally administered CIMS:

• Centrally administered CIMS should be world class and impact many faculty, departments, campuses, and academic programs as possible.
• Researchers interested in establishing a CIMS should consult the Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities.
• Materials addressing the criteria above should be submitted to the Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities. The materials should also explain why the proposed research unit is more appropriate as a centrally administered CIMS than a school- or campus-based center or institute.
• The Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities will evaluate the request.  The AVP may solicit additional feedback as warranted from key stakeholders, including the unit head, and then make the final recommendation to the Vice President for Research.

Part B.  Review of Research Centers and Institutes

Regular review is necessary for continuous improvement and to maintain alignment with strategic plans.  IU Research will verify that all research units undergo both annual and five-year critical reviews.  Regular reviews also allow unit heads to assess whether centers and institutes are continuing to meet the criteria listed above (see Part A) and represent the best investment of resources to support research at IU.  Research units that no longer meet these criteria should be assessed for significant change or for discontinuation (see Part C).

School- and campus-based centers and institutes:

1. Unit heads (see policy statement 4 above) are responsible for conducting annual and five-year critical reviews of all research centers and institutes in their unit. A listing of research units and their homes can be found here.
2. Unit heads may develop their own procedures for robust evaluation consistent with the requirements of this policy. Otherwise, the templates provided in Appendix A must be used.
3. Each year, no later than September 15^th, IU Research will provide unit heads with a list of research units under their purview. By October 15^th, unit heads must certify that either an annual or a five-year review has taken place in the past 12 months for each of their research units.
4. Copies of reviews should be maintained by the unit that conducts the review for a period of at least ten years and should be provided upon the request of IU Research for any reason including accreditation.

Centrally administered CIMS:  Detailed processes for annual and five-year CIMS reviews can be obtained from the Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities. 

Part C:  Relocation, Changes in Mission, and Discontinuation of Research Centers and Institutes

IU Research will assess the university-wide impact of changes in administrative home, mission, or discontinuation of research units.

1. Relocation, name changes, substantial alterations to the mission, or discontinuation of a research unit must have the approval of the unit head and the Vice President for Research, with sufficient consultation of key stakeholders.
2. Relocation of a center or institute requires the approval of the unit heads of both the current and future home. g., for a school- or campus-based center or institute to become a CIMS under IU Research, the research unit must have the approval of their Dean, Provost, and/or Chancellor, as well as the Vice President for Research.
3. Documents supporting the proposed change or discontinuation will be submitted to the unit head that the research unit director reports to.
4. The report, along with a recommendation from the unit head, will be forwarded to the Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities.
5. The Assistant Vice President for Centers and Core Facilities will evaluate the request and make a recommendation, including a proposed timeline, to the Vice President for Research.

Appendix A: Recommended templates for annual and five-year reviews

Annual Reporting:  Annual reports will contain the following components:

• Summary: In no more than 1 page, summarize the how the center or institute currently meets the criteria described above (Mission, Resources, and Organization).
• Accomplishments: In no more than 1 page, list the top five accomplishments of the research unit for the past year and why they are significant.
• Goals: In no more than 1 page, list the top three goals of the research unit for the coming year, strategy for attaining those goals, and the expected impact.
• Recommendations and requests: In no more than 1 page, list any ideas for changes that would facilitate the growth and impact of the research unit.
• Spreadsheet listing evidence of impact (e.g., grants, publications, patents, conferences, creative activities, etc.).
• Additional materials as required by the unit head.

Five-year Critical Review:  Five-year Critical Reviews will have a similar organization to annual reviews, but will focus on a longer timeline and include feedback from a broader committee that may include, per discretion, input from reviewers outside of IU.

• Summary: In no more than 1 page, summarize the how the center or institute currently meets the criteria described above (Mission, Resources, and Organization).
• Accomplishments: In no more than 2 pages, list the top five accomplishments of the research unit for the past 5 years and why they are significant.
• Goals: In no more than 3 pages, list the top three goals of the research unit for the next 5 years, strategy for attaining those goals, and the expected impact.
• Recommendations and requests: In no more than 3 pages, list ideas for changes that would facilitate the growth and impact of the research unit.
• Spreadsheet listing evidence of impact (e.g., grants, publications, patents, conferences, creative activities, etc.).
• Spreadsheet of core and affiliated faculty, including their home unit (department, school/college, and campus)
• Additional materials as required by the unit head.

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Additional Contacts

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History

This is a new policy as of 2011. Where it conflicts with campus guidelines (for IU Bloomington and for IUI), this policy supersedes them.

In July 2024, the additional contacts and references to the renamed IU Indianapolis campus were updated in this policy.

May 2025- Substantive revisions

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