The committee asked how self-sufficient the centers are and why they are receiving so much money from state funds. Also, some of the centers and institutes are subsidized from the academic areas, i.e. a history professor is paid out of the College of Arts and Sciences rather than out of the center. The perception was that there is a significant subsidy from the academic areas. Vice President Chesnut replied that this campus does not have a clear definition of what an institute is or what a center is. There may be centers that we do want to subsidize, and we need to alter the policy so that it is clear what types of centers or institutes are being subsidized and the accounting function would follow suit.
Centers do have an academic component and are therefore subsidized by the academic areas.
Current policy requires no review of centers and institutes. Vice President Chesnut hopes to instigate a review of the centers and institutes by an ad-hoc committee. In the Montana World Trade Center, there is an academic component. A. Sherman's salary is paid out of the MWTC but he teaches in the MBA program. The Business School is getting classes taught that they are not paying for.