Institutes and centers are established to contribute to the mission and goals of the University and, in particular, should provide a significant opportunity to advance the scholarly, scientific, artistic, professional, or technological aspects of important fields. They must provide faculty, students, and other scholars with added capacity for research, clinical instruction, or other learning opportunities, facilities, and assistance. They should strengthen interdisciplinary or interprofessional programs of research, scholarship, teaching, and service conducted by the faculty. Ideally, they will embody a spirit of innovation, benefiting undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research, making contributions to scholarship and service that extend to the wider society.

The Institutes and Centers Policy is intended to accomplish the following: (1) to establish guidelines for creating new institutes and new centers at Creighton University; (2) to establish guidelines for periodic review of the effectiveness of an institute/center, with mechanisms for recognizing and rewarding exemplary efforts, as well as for terminating institutes/centers that have outlived their appropriate functions; (3) to establish administrative accountability and reporting procedures for institutes/centers; and (4) to establish a framework which will regulate Creighton’s support of institutes/centers.

Annual Report

Annually, each institute or center shall submit an Annual Report to the officer to whom it is responsible, with copies for the Provost. This report shall include:

• Information deemed relevant to the evaluation of an institute’s or center’s effectiveness and its progress in meeting its stated goals and outcomes, including research, service and/orteaching accomplishments, accomplishment of the unit’s goals, and projection of plans toenhance meeting its stated goals and outcomes.
• Other evidence demonstrating impact on the university and the broader community.
• Numbers and FTE’s of professional, technical, administrative, and clerical personnel employed.
• Expenditures.
• Description and amount of space currently occupied.

Additional Criteria required for Institutes (may be included with Centers, as relevant):

• Number of faculty members engaged in the institute’s program or its supervision and information about their efforts and activities
• List of publications by the institute’s staff
• List of external grants submitted as a result of the center/institute
• List of external grants funded as a result of the center/institute
• Sources and amounts (on an annual basis) of support funds
• Numbers of students at all levels involved in the institute’s work, and descriptions of their participation

Institutes and Centers Review Procedures

Each center and institute will be reviewed on a predetermined cycle of at least once every five years using the procedures outlined in the Institutes and Centers Review Flow Chart.

Overview

The Provost or Provost’s designee (typically the Vice Provost for Faculty & Academic Affairs; hereafter referred to as the VPFAA) provides oversight over the Institutes& Centers Review process, which includes the following components:

Phase 1:

1. Notification to the institute or center that a review has been scheduled
2. Selection of ad hoc review committee by the Provost

Phase 2:

3. Preparation of Institute/Center Review Materials

Phase 3:

4. Formal institute/center review
5. Preparation and submission of a Review Committee Report
6. Possible commentary by Director and/or supervising administrative officer

Phase 4:

7. Review of recommendations and decision by Provost
8. Possible transmission of decision to President

Guide to the Review Process

Phase 1: Planning and Communication

Notification of Institute or Center
In the academic year prior to the review, the VPFAA will provide notification to the institute or center that a review has been scheduled.

Appointment of the Ad Hoc Review Committee
Prior to the internal documentation submission date, the Provost should establish an ad hoc Review Committee (size of this group will vary across institutes and centers).

The Director of the institute/center, in consultation with supervising administrative officer, should submit a list of names and qualifications to the Provost (via the VPFAA) of six potential committee members who are familiar with the academic area(s) within which the institute or center works.

Review Committee members will be expected to conduct the review based on the Institute/Center Review Materials (see page 2, Phase 2, Document Preparation).

In consultation with the Provost, the reviewers will be confirmed and invitation made by theVPFAA.

Planning Meetings with Institutes & Centers Review Participants
As needed, the VPFAA will conduct an orientation for institutes and/or centers scheduled to undergo review in the upcoming academic year. The meeting can include the Directors of the applicable institutes/centers, representatives of the institutes/centers as needed, the supervising administrative officer (or their designee), and other administrative officers as applicable. The purpose of the meeting is to address the coordination and scheduling of the work and process associated with the review.

Phase 2: Institute/Center Review Materials

Document Preparation
The Director of the Institute/Center shall complete the Institutes or Centers Self-Study or/and collect and prepare a dossier of documents routinely prepared by the institute or center in the course of its usual activities, such as its strategic plan, five-year goals, final reports to sponsors, any relevant budget documents, and/or annual reports as outlined by the Institutes and Centers Policy (4.1.1.). This dossier will be referred to as the Institute/Center Review Materials, and it will be an interpretive document used by those reviewing the institute or center to assess status and future direction. Data should be analyzed and discussed in relation to the institute/center’s mission and goals.

Institute/Center Review Materials Distribution
Once the Director completes collection and organizing of materials that constitute the Institute/Center Review Materials, they will submit them to the VPFAA, who will distribute the Institute/Center Review Materials to the ad hoc Review Committee and any other appropriate stakeholder(s).

Phase 3: Institute/Center Review

Ad Hoc Review Committee Business
The Review Committee will analyze the Institute/Center Review Materials first, and then more information gathering activities may proceed, if in the judgement of the reviewers they are deemed necessary.

Review Committee Report
The ad hoc Review Committee will prepare a Review Committee Report that should conform roughly to the requirements specified for pre-establishment review of a new institute or center (see the Institutes and Centers Policy 4.1.1.), including commentary on resources, space, funding, mission, sustainability, conflict of interest, academic freedom, etc.

At the end of the report, recommendations will be made with a supporting rationale as to whether the institute/center should be continued or discontinued, if any changes to current activities are suggested, and other formative recommendations (such as collaborative possibilities, suggestions for community engagement and public activity, ideas for resource expansion and utilization, etc.).

The Review Committee will transmit its Review Committee Report to the Provost, with copies to the VPFAA, Director of the institute or center, and the administrative officer to whom the institute or center reports.

Possible Commentary
The Director of the institute/center and the administrative officer to whom it reports may, if they wish, transmit written comments to the Provost in a separate document regarding the review and recommendation(s) of the Review Committee.

Phase 4: Provost Determination

Provost Decision
The Provost will determine whether to accept the recommendations of the Review Committee and whether to continue or discontinue an institute or center.

Decision to Continue
If the institute/center is to be continued, the decision whether to continue the appointment of the current Director will be made by the Provost (in the case of a center, in consultation with the respective academic officer to whom the center reports).

If the institute/center is to be continued and changes were recommended by the Review Committee, the Provost will also make determinations regarding the suggested changes. The VPFAA will coordinate an action plan, if applicable, with the Director and the academic officer to whom the institute/center reports to incorporate, institutionalize, and promulgate the mandated changes.

Discontinuation
If the institute/center is to be discontinued, the discontinuance is referred to the President for final action.

When a decision is made to discontinue an institute or center, sufficient time should be provided to ensure an orderly termination or transfer of contractual obligations and other programs. Discontinuance shall take place through phased reductions in program activities and of such University support as may exist, over a period not normally to exceed one year from the date of the determination by the Provost to discontinue.

In the case of institute or center discontinuation, the VPFAA shall implement a communication plan to ensure that all appropriate parties are notified of this decision. This will include Director of the institute or center, any associated faculty or staff, Enrollment Management, University Communications and Marketing, and Academic Administrators Council.

Permanent Record of the Institute/Center Review
The Institute/Committee Review Materials, the Review Committee Report, any extra commentary by the Director of the Institute or Center and/or the administrative officer to whom they report, and the Provost Memo will be considered as the permanent record of the review. These summary documents will be collated and archived in the Office of the Provost.

Review Schedule

Each center and institute is reviewed on a predetermined cycle of at least once every five years. The details of this cycle are determined by the Provost’s Office. Reviews can be conducted before the end of the five-year cycle at the discretion of the Provost.