ACD 110: Reporting Lines for Centers and Institutes

To explain the policy regarding faculty appointments in centers and institutes and recommendations on reporting lines

Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost of the University

Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Affairs

Faculty

Centers and institutes should not offer courses, instructional programs for credit, or degrees, although members of centers may participate in such activities through the departments in which they hold their academic appointments. Centers and institutes should be primarily research enterprises, and should be continued only as long as they fulfill the purposes for which they were established.

1. Each tenure-track faculty member at ASU must have a program, department, division, school, or college home. That is, the tenure of a faculty member resides only in a program, department, division, school, or college at Tempe campus, West campus, or Polytechnic campus.
2. A corollary to this principle is that faculty members cannot hold tenure in centers or institutes.
3. At the time a faculty member is hired jointly between an institute or center and a department, the decision rules regarding the budgetary transfer of that individual from the center/institute must be stated in writing so all administrative parties and individuals taking part in this decision are informed of these rules and are aware of the budget implication—both present and future. Additionally, in joint appointments, the fraction of full-time equivalencies (FTE) assigned to the two units should match the responsibilities and activities of the faculty member.
4. At the time a faculty member is hired with a joint appointment between a department and center/institute, a decision will be made regarding the appropriate parties to evaluate and recommend tenure, but the final decision on a tenure recommendation must reside with the program, department, division, school, or college, in accordance with principle No. 1 above.
5. All appointments of faculty members in centers or institutes at ASU in the future will be joint appointments; that is, faculty members in the tenure system will be expected to participate concurrently in a program, department, division, school, or college.
6. Appointments in centers should not be permanent.

Intracollegiate Centers and Institutes

Centers and institutes whose work is within the disciplinary mission of a single college should report to the dean of that college, and through the dean to the executive vice president and provost of the university. All budgets related to such units will be distributed through the executive vice president and provost of the university to the appropriate dean in the course of the regular college and department budgeting process.

Intercollegiate Centers and Institutes

Centers and institutes whose work crosses college lines may report to the vice president for research and economic affairs, provided that arrangement is acceptable to the executive vice president and provost of the university, to the deans, and to the members of the center.

Centers and institutes may employ graduate students as graduate assistants. All graduate assistants must be admitted to and enrolled in an academic degree program offered by a department, division, or school.

The vice president for research and economic affairs will be responsible for the sunset reviews of all research and public service centers. In the event a center reports directly to the vice president for research and economic affairs, the final recommendation for the sunset review of the unit will be transferred to the dean of the Division of Graduate Studies.