By-laws & Mission

Mission

The goals of the MPC are:

• To develop the intellectual community of demographers at Minnesota and foster connections among population researchers across  disciplines.
• To assist investigators in developing demographic research proposals.
• To provide technical and administrative support for population research projects.
• To develop a coherent program of graduate training that will provide students with broad knowledge in population studies and specialized training in demographic techniques.
• To serve the community through research and training on state and metropolitan population issues, data services, and translational activities.

Membership

• Members include faculty, research scientists, research associates, post-doctoral fellows and advanced graduate students engaged in population-related research and training.
• The membership of MPC will meet annually or as needed.
• Members are eligible to vote for the MPC Advisory Board.
• Members may use MPC computing facilities, data enclave, and technical and administrative services.
• Any member may nominate candidates for membership, and candidates are approved by the MPC Advisory Board.

Advisory Board

• The Advisory Board is responsible for approving new members of the center, nominating new directors, approving and amending the MPC By-Laws, and providing advice to the Director on all aspects of MPC management.
• The Advisory Board will meet monthly or as needed.
• The Advisory Board will have nine members: six long-term and three short-term. Six faculty or research associates members will serve three-year renewable terms; two members will be elected each year to insure continuity. Three postdoctoral or graduate student members will serve one-year renewable terms.
• Faculty and research associate members of the MPC elect the long-term Advisory Board members. Post-doctoral fellows and graduate student members elect the short-term members.
• To reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the MPC, there can be no more than two faculty members from the same department.
• Nominations for Advisory Board positions will be solicited in March of each year and members will vote on Advisory Board positions by the end of April.
• Directors of the  Center Cores are ex officio members of the Advisory Board (Cores include: Administrative, Information Technology, Data Access, Data Services, Spatial Analysis, User Support, and Data Integration).
• Advisory Board members unable to serve while on sabbatical leave can nominate a one-year replacement, and the replacement may be appointed by the remaining members of the Board.

Director

• The Director is responsible for overseeing all MPC activities and is the hiring authority for MPC staff.
• Directors are nominated by the MPC Advisory Board and appointed by the Vice Predsdent for Research to a three-year renewable term.