Institutes and Centers

Institutes and Centers are established to coordinate, support, and extend a University's research, service, and training activities. The establishment, operation, and termination of Centers and Institutes are governed by, Florida Board of Governors (BOG) Regulation 10.015 and USF Policy 10-063.

Process Overview

In order to establish a new institute or center, a proposer should complete the USF Institutes and Centers Establishment Form. The form includes questions on the mission and goals, organizational structure, and projected budget off the institute or center. Completed forms are submitted to Rebecca Gibbons in the Office of Decision Support at revaclav@usf.edu. When completing the Establishment Form, there should be alignment between the project budget with the full-time equivalency (FTE) that faculty and staff will dedicate to the center, and attention to specific plans to seek funding.
Once the Establishment Form is submitted to Institutional Effectiveness, Rebecca Gibbons will review and provide feedback. After revisions, Institutional Effectiveness will begin the process of obtaining approval signatures from all associated Deans, Vice Presidents, and the President. Upon signature, Institutional Effectiveness will deliver the completed Form to the Board of Governors, which assigns a Key Code. The Institute or Center is then added to the Inventory and scheduled for reporting and review.
One fiscal Annual Report is due from each official Institute and Center is due in the fall semester. This process is facilitated by Nick Setteducato, RMS.
Each Institue and Center is subject to a formal review once in a seven-year period, per the schedule posted below. The formal seven-year review is completed according to the USF 7-Year Report Form and submitted to Institutional Effectiveness, which completes a summary to the Board of Trustees which must approve prior to delivery to the Board of Governors.
In accordance with University of South Florida Policy #10-508: Academic Departments/Schools, Academic/Student Success Offerings: Changes of Name, name changes to an established institute or center will require submission of an “Institute/Center Name Change Request Form.” Upon completing the Name Change Request Form, the Form is submitted to the ODS Academic Planning team at academicplanning@usf.edu. Upon approval, Academic Planning will route the Form for signatures and communicate the results with other USF offices. Institutional Effectiveness will then submit a Memo to the Board of Governors to change the institute or center’s name on the official BOG inventory and update the USF institute and center inventory accordingly.
When a University institute or center is disbanded, the college or other unit within which the institute or center is located must notify IE and complete the USF Institute & Center Termination Form. IE will provide notification of the termination to the BOG Office of Academic and Student Affairs, which maintains the State of Florida’s central database of approved institutes and centers. IE will also update the USF inventory of institutes and centers. If a disbanded institute or center has been funded by the Legislature, the University must provide documentation to ensure that Legislative intent has been achieved and that the institute or center is no longer required.