The Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR)Program Goals, Membership Guidelines & Governance
January 2005

I.     Goals & Management

A.   Purpose and Activities of the IUPLR

The IUPLR, through its activities, seeks to:

  • Enlarge the scope and raise the quality of research that has and/or will have a bearing on U.S. Latino communities
  • Raise the visibility of and create a strong institutional presence for Latino research
  • Maintain a voice for Latino researchers through its national projects, collaboration with the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and grants program
  • Establish a link between the Latino research community and the public policy arena

B.   Goals

The IUPLR shall offer members a unified voice to raise the visibility of Latino research centers to funding organizations, with the goal of helping centers compete more effectively for research funds.

C.   Primary Activities

      The IUPLR seeks to:

  • Research via the “working groups,” which carry out collaborative, interdisciplinary and comparative research on a wide range of topics. In the past, working groups have yielded numerous highly-regarded publications and a variety of significant policy forums
  • Produce documents every other year for a biennial State of Latino Research meeting open to Associates and Affiliates
  • Publish a newsletter, available to all members, containing news on research and related activities

 D.  Revenue Generating Functions

The IUPLR shall explore revenue generating-functions such as a publication series, data diskettes and the establishment of specialized databases at each center.

II.   Relationship to other Research & Advocacy Organizations

The IUPLR will seek to create a mutually-beneficial relationship with research organizations and advocacy groups concerned with issues relating to the U.S. Latino community

III.  Membership

The IUPLR members are established university-based research centers with a primary research focus on U.S. Latino populations. Member centers have a permanent line-item budget within their university/institution with activities governed by the rules and regulations of their university/institution. Member centers must meet all other requirements for full voting membership as described below.

1.   Membership Criteria

At the Board of Directors meeting, the IUPLR may invite research centers to submit applications for membership, of which they will review based on the following criteria:  

a) Purpose:  Applicants must demonstrate, via a statement of purpose, formally recognized by the university/institution at which the center is based, that research activity is dedicated primarily to issues concerning U.S. Latino populations.

 b) Program:  Applicants must provide a description of the in-house research programs including specific projects, fellowships, seminars and related areas of activity.

c) Product:  Applicants must verify, by means of documentation, final products to be among those generally created by the academic research community, i.e. books, paper, publications, conferences or research presented in less traditional media. Examples of written products must be enclosed with the application.

d) Organizational Structure:  Applicants must provide a copy of the center’s organizational structure, as defined in its incorporation papers, key administrative personnel including the appointed director, principal staff members, affiliated researchers, etc. and copies of the abovementioned personnel’s curriculum vitaes.

e) Faculty:  Applicants must provide a list of faculty members with whom it works, copies of the listed faculty’s curriculum vitaes, the nature of their affiliation to the center and the support provided by the center for its faculty. The faculty list must include names, fields, departmental affiliation, areas of interest, and the percentage of affiliation with the center, if applicable. 

f) Physical Facility:  Applicants must supply a description of the center’s physical resources such as an identified office, suite or building.

 2.   Notification

The application review is a 45 day process, after which the IUPLR Board of Directors will make a final decision regarding the applicant’s admission status.  Applicants will receive a formal written notification within one week after a decision is reached.

IV.  Annual Dues

 Membership dues of $2,000.00 must be paid annually to keep the membership current. 

V.  Governance

 A. Board of Directors

The IUPLR Board of Directors is comprised of each member center Director, which constitutes one vote.  The Board will elect an Executive Director, who shall serve as Chair of the Board.

B. Meetings

The Board of Directors meets once a year.  The IUPLR headquarter center convenes and coordinates all logistics for the yearly Board meeting. Member centers are responsible for all expenses incurred at the meetings.

C. Management Structure

The Executive Director, in consultation with the Board of Directors, will be responsible for the oversight and supervision of all IUPLR functions and staff.

D. Committees

All business will be conducted through committees. The Executive Committee, comprised of the Chair of the Board/ Executive Director and the Chair of each committee, will conduct business meetings and create committees as necessary.

Membership Guidelines (PDF) - 132 KB