Committee on Guidelines for Establishing New Institute Entities

MIT has a number of world-class centers, hubs, institutes, laboratories, initiatives, collaborations, and other entities that do leading-edge work in research and education. With the Institute’s entrepreneurial culture, members of our community seek to launch new research, education, and innovation activities.

To provide greater clarity for community members looking to start something new, MIT must ensure uniform guidelines for naming, funding levels, and approval processes for new entities, such as centers, institutes, and initiatives, among others. These guidelines should be well communicated and easily accessible, to provide clear expectations and prevent confusion.

To this end, the provost charges the Committee on Guidelines for Establishing New Institute Entities (GENIE) with documenting a clear process for establishing and naming a new entity. The committee’s work will apply to entities regardless of funding source. In particular, the committee will address the following (with the ability to raise other relevant issues that emerge during its work):

• When Institute-level approval is required to establish and name a new entity, and when it is not
• Clear definitions and guidelines for the use of different entity types (e.g., hub, lab, center, initiative, institute, etc.)
• Guidelines for the funding level for each type of entity
• Guidelines for identifying potential sources of funding
• Recommendations on whether new entities should be established for fixed terms, with periodic review and renewal
• Naming considerations, taking into account MIT’s use-of-name policies
• Who should be consulted before new entities are approved, based on type
• A reasonable timeline for approving new entities

The committee will consult with deans, the Office of the Vice President for Research, DLCI heads, and relevant administrative offices. It will assess the existing landscape at MIT, reviewing past practice and cases where new entities were established. It will also look at peer institutions to learn from their processes and experiences. Finally, it will review existing work in this area already undertaken by the Offices of the Provost, the Recording Secretary, and Resource Development. The committee will submit its report to the provost by May 15, 2026.

• Anne White, School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Engineering; Associate Vice President for Research Administration, Office of the Vice President for Research (chair)
• Danyel Barnard Ablon, Executive Director, Digital, Brand & Internal Communications, Institute Office of Communications
• Elizabeth Crabtree, Executive Director, Development Planning and Initiatives, Office of Resource Development
• William Green, Hoyt C. Hottel Professor of Chemical Engineering; Director, MIT Energy Initiative
• Heather Hagerty, Assistant Dean for Development, School of Engineering
• Michelle Hanlon, Howard W. Johnson Professor and Deputy Dean for Faculty and Research, Sloan School of Management
• David Hsu, Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning
• Meghan McCollum Fenno, Executive Director, Office of Strategic Alliances, Transactions & Translation; Counsel, Office of the General Counsel
• Richelle Nessralla, Counsel, Office of the General Counsel
• Asu Özdağlar, Department Head and MathWorks Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Deputy Dean of Academics, Schwarzman College of Computing
• Rebecca Saxe, John W. Jarve (1978) Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience; Associate Dean, School of Science
• Karen Shirer, Chief of Staff, Office of the Vice President for Research
• David Singer, Head and Raphael Dorman-Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science
• Julia Topalian, Director of Gift Administration and Recording Secretary, Office of the Recording Secretary
• Maria Yang, William E. Leonhard (1940) Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Deputy Dean, School of Engineering
• Tom Kiley, staff to the committee; Senior Advisor, Office of the Provost
• Mary Ellen Sinkus, staff to the committee; Assistant Provost for Finance, Office of the Provost