Establishing, Renaming, Reorganizing, or Discontinuing
Centers, Institutes, and Center-like Units

Printable pdf version of these guidelines
List of Approved Centers and Institutes

I. Introduction
II. Defining Centers, Institutes and Center-like Units
III. Proposals for Establishing New Centers
IV. Naming Centers
V. Renaming Centers
VI. Reorganizing or Restructuring Centers
VII. Discontinuing Centers

I. Introduction

The University welcomes and encourages faculty to group together both across departments and within them to promote shared teaching and research interests. Departments are the major unit for organizing teaching, research and outreach in the University, as established in Faculty legislation. Centers play a valuable function, however, in organizing activities for groups of people who wish to work together in teaching and/or research on specialized topics. Some of these topics may be of enduring interest and could even be the basis of a new department in the future; others may be topics on which groups of people wish to work for a limited period.

The University Academic Planning Council (UAPC) considers proposals for centers for several reasons. Centers are recognized units within the University and share in representing it to the outside world. The University also wishes to make sure that all scholars who can be usefully involved in the work of a center are aware of its existence. Finally, the University wishes to avoid unnecessary duplication and overlap between centers.

To achieve these goals and be formally recognized and approved at University of Wisconsin-Madison, centers must be approved by the academic planning council of the sponsoring school(s)/college(s), approved by the University Academic Planning Council, and reported to UW System Administration and the Board of Regents.

With the consent of the school/college dean, faculty and staff may use the terms "center" and "institute" provisionally for the purposes of seeking external funding. If funding is obtained, faculty must seek and secure formal approval for the center in a timely manner.

Approvals should be obtained before publicity appears about new centers.

II. Defining Centers, Institutes and Center-like Units

Throughout this document the term "center" will be used to designate centers, institutes, and other center-like units.

Academic departments, as defined in Chapter 5 of Faculty Policies and Procedures, "consist of a group of faculty members recognized by the faculty and chancellor, and the Board of Regents, as dealing with a common field of knowledge or as having common or closely related scholarly interests." They are the fundamental academic unit of the university and are charged with delivering the teaching, research and public service missions of the university. With rare exceptions, all tenure-track faculty positions reside in academic departments, and every faculty member has a primary departmental tenure home. Departments are intended to be long-lived units that provide stability to the academic life of the university. The authority and governance structure of departments are specified and share uniform features across the campus.

In contrast, the provision for centers as recognized units within the university encourages the formation of faculty groups around the scholarly interests and expertise that are not accommodated by the department structure. As such, centers provide a mechanism for faculty and staff to collaborate to develop depth in a defined range of problems within a discipline, or apply a broader vision to issues that cross traditional departmental structures. A center may provide a useful structure to develop emerging or multidisciplinary approaches to research or teaching, to provide a relevant focus for service to external or internal constituencies, promote sharing of resources (e.g. equipment or laboratories), or otherwise support the focused scholarship of groups of faculty and staff in their areas of specialty. Normally centers are not tenure homes, and they exhibit a wide range of appointment and governance structures. As a result of their focused missions, centers often will have a finite lifetime as the defining scholarly questions are resolved or evolve into new disciplines.

Some centers will have department-like characteristics when they are established, or they may evolve into department-like units over time. Department-like units are governed by Chapter 5 of FPP and should follow guidelines that apply to departments. The provost and the University Committee will resolve questions concerning the interpretation of FPP in relation to structures that have both center-like and department-like character.

UW-Madison has more than 250 centers. A list of all the formally recognized centers, institutes, and center-like units is available from the office of Academic Planning and Analysis. Every five years, the provost and the office of Academic Planning and Analysis will work with the deans to review the list of centers to assure that it is complete and current and that appropriate approvals are sought for new, restructured, renamed, or discontinued centers.

III. Proposals for Establishing New Centers

Centers are representations of UW-Madison to the external community. The approval process is a peer review process that assures that center activity meets a defined academic need not accounted for in other structures, assures that faculty with an interest in the center activity have an opportunity to comment, and assures that the resources needs and resource contributions of the center are accommodated.

Proposals for new centers should cover the following questions:

Purpose and Mission What is the proposed purpose and mission for the new center? Explain why this activity would not be as successfully carried out in an existing department or center.

Organizational Structure and Governance How will the center be organized? Will it operate within a department, within a school or college, as a unit of the Graduate School, or across multiple schools and colleges? If it is interdisciplinary, how will interactions among departments and schools/colleges be managed? What will be its governance and administrative structure? How will its leadership be identified and to whom will its leadership report? What are the proposed responsibilities of the director? Describe the appointment, evaluation and reappointment process for the director.

Overlap and Endorsements Does the center's function or organization overlap the efforts of departments, schools, colleges, or other centers at the university? Does the center have the support of those who may be affected by it? The proposal should provide evidence that all interested units are aware of plans for establishing the center. Early communication with other units at the university can also be helpful in discovering individuals with similar interests and in fostering their participation. Proposals should include written endorsements from department chairs, deans, directors, and/or key faculty with an interest in the new center.

Life Cycle Centers have sharply defined missions that address specific teaching, research, and/or service goals. As the issues creating the focus for these units are resolved or evolve the need for the unit may also change. What is the expected lifetime for the center? Under what circumstances will it evolve into a department or cease to exist?

Evaluation What is the proposed evaluation process for the center? It should reflect the size and breadth of the center's activities and include both an annual report and a periodic review process that includes evaluators external to the center.

Support What kind of support is needed for the center and what will be its source? What are the prospects for continuation of the support and what is intended if identified support were lost? Please note in particular whether state funds, particularly new state funds, will be a source of support for the center.

Administration of Grants Will the faculty member's department or the center administer grants submitted by faculty members? Will it be possible to share administration and in what cases could that be appropriate? What process will be used to assign or share credit for extramural funding between the center and the Primary Investigator's department?

Staffing Who will participate in the center's activities? By what mechanism is participation solicited? How will professional activities of participants be credited between the center and academic departments? How will staff support be provided and is it adequate to support the mission of the center?

Space Where will the center's staff and activities be housed? Is the space adequate? If there is a need for more space, are there plans to accommodate this need?

IV. Naming Centers

The center name should convey the center's focus clearly, even to those outside the field. If the proposed name is similar to the name of another unit - an existing school, college, department, academic program, or center - it is important that the proposers gain support of those other units for their proposal. Written endorsements should accompany the proposal. If "Wisconsin" is to be part of the name, it is usually most appropriate to have "University of Wisconsin-Madison" specifically designated.

The term "center" is preferred. Historically the terms "center" and "institute" have been used interchangeably. Generally, the term "institute" should be reserved for units that have an overarching academic or administrative role, and represent wider academic interests than is characteristic of a focused research-based center.

V. Renaming Centers

Proposals to rename centers should be approved by school/college APCs and these requests should be approved by the school/college dean and forwarded to the provost. Center names should not overlap with those of existing departments, schools, colleges, centers, or other units. Appropriate endorsements should accompany the request. Proposals to rename centers will be considered by the UAPC, typically as part of an automatic consent agenda. Subsequently, approved name changes will be reported to UW System (as required by UW System policy).

VI. Reorganizing or Restructuring Centers

Proposals to reorganize or restructure centers should be approved by school/college APCs and these requests should be approved by the school/college dean and forwarded to the provost. Reorganizations may include combining two or more centers into one, creating umbrella structures, splitting a center into two or more separate centers, or other significant restructuring. Appropriate endorsements should accompany the request. Reorganization requests will be considered by the UAPC, typically as part of an automatic consent agenda. However, if restructuring appears to result in the creation of a new center, then it must be approved by the UAPC according to the guidelines outlined in Section III. Subsequently, approved center reorganizations will be reported to UW System (as required by UW System policy).

VII. Discontinuing Centers

When the faculty support for a center no longer exists or when a center is no longer financially viable, the center should be formally discontinued. Requests for discontinuation of centers should be approved by school/college APCs, and these requests should be approved by the school/college dean and forwarded to the provost. Requests for discontinuation of centers will be considered for approval by the UAPC, typically as part of an automatic consent agenda. Subsequently, approved discontinuations will be reported to UW System (as required by UW System policy).

Adopted by the University Academic Planning Council, February 19, 2004