Mid-South Innovation Hub Constitution 

We the Esteemed Institutions of the Mid-South Innovation Hub, hailing from Disparate locations within the Mid-South region, do assemble into a Consortium of Diverse, deep technology-producing Institutions of Higher Education, in Order to leverage Programmatic investments, catalyze Technological Commercialization, spur Economic Development, inform the Future of Inclusive American Innovation, and galvanize Shared Prosperity across our region and beyond into perpetuity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Mid-South Innovation Hub.

ARTICLE I. NAME

The name of the organization shall be the ‘Mid-South Innovation Hub’, colloquially referred to as the ‘Mid-South Hub’, initially funded and established as the ‘NSF I-Corps Hub: Mid-South Region.’

ARTICLE II. PREMISE

 Section 1. History

Significant events or movements that have had major historical, sociopolitical, or technological impacts on America have either centered on or permeated across the region that we define here as the Mid-South. A region of historical innovation in trade, transportation, agriculture, and energy, the Mid-South has influenced the surrounding regions of the country, from the Northeast and the Atlantic to the Midwest and Deep South. At the intersection of the American “North” and “South,” the Mid-South has been a region of both sociopolitical and technological heterogenization. In the 1850s, railway innovation united the Mid-South stretching through Virginia to Tennessee, into the Heartland and down to Mississippi. During the Antebellum era, a metaphorical railway stretched across the Mid-South, the Underground Railroad, where a network of altruists united in an effort to secretly aid, guide, and transport the enslaved to freedom. This movement culturally shifted the outcomes of the oppressed, impoverished, and disadvantaged while shifting the sociopolitical future of both the region and the Nation.

Section 2. Proposition

 Today, the Mid-South region is struggling to stay abreast of growth in the US innovation economy. Three states represented in the Mid-South – Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee – rank in the bottom half of the ITIF’s 2020 New Economy Index, which “measures the extent to which state economies are knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, IT-driven, and innovation-oriented,” and KY and MS are EPSCoR states,  to stimulate investments in STEM capacity and capability and drive economic development. As the 2019 report A Case for Growth Centers notes, while the US innovation economy has expanded dramatically, this growth has occurred in a small number of hyper-concentrated regions, creating increasingly disenfranchised regions and communities. The self-assembly of this regional Innovation Hub responds to the report’s recommendation to transform metro areas that have been left behind in the innovation economy such as Knoxville and Nashville, TN, Lexington and Louisville, KY, Jackson, MS and Charlottesville, VA into inclusive, self-sustaining growth centers that benefit the economy of the entire Mid-South region.

ARTICLE III. INITIAL COMPOSITION

 The Mid-South Hub will form the entrepreneurial and innovation foundation upon which the innovation economy of the Mid-South region will build. The Hub’s esteemed founding members – Vanderbilt University, the Hub Lead, and eight Hub Partners: Jackson State University, Meharry Medical College, Tennessee State University, George Mason University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and University of Virginia – include three historically black colleges and universities: Tennessee State University, Jackson State University, and Meharry Medical Colleges and Virginia’s top-ranked public university for ethnic diversity, George Mason University. Together, these nine institutions support a world-class research portfolio, enjoy a rich history of collaboration, have broad reach across the states they serve, and share a deep commitment to the creation of an inclusive innovation corridor connecting the aspiring growth centers of the Mid-South region.

ARTICLE IV. VISION AND MISSION

Section 1. Vision

The Mid-South Hub will serve as a vehicle for inclusive innovation, economic development and shared prosperity, cultivating cultures of innovation and generating deep technology ventures (DTVs) that arise from cutting-edge research conducted at Hub institutions, as well as at other colleges and universities throughout the Mid-South region. Focused research and scholarship will elucidate how the Mid-South Hub impacts the development of inclusive, self-sustaining growth centers, influences academic culture shifts to promote and reward entrepreneurship and innovation, and leverages the I-Corps program, as well as other programmatic investments, to maximize technology translation and commercialization probabilities.

Section 2. Mission

Through cutting-edge research, evaluation and assessment, the Mid-South Hub will inform the future activities of agencies investing programmatically into innovation — including NSF’s new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships — and other ecosystem partners similarly committed to democratizing access to innovation economy opportunities throughout the United States. The Mid-South Hub is geographically positioned to influence neighboring Hubs and the National Innovation Network (NIN). An evolution of the socioeconomic and technopolitical movements of the past, both physical and metaphorical, the Mid-South Hub shall bring evidence-based entrepreneurial training, professional development, and the power of technological innovation to all stakeholders.

ARTICLE V. FOCUS AREAS

 To achieve its Vision, the Mid-South Hub has identified three focus areas:

(i) Create a culture of innovation at IHEs to increase deep technology commercialization.

(ii) Perform formative, longitudinal assessment of all Hub activities to improve programming, instruction, and outcomes while disseminating best practices to the National Innovation Network (NIN).

(iii) Establish inclusive innovation ecosystems using intentional, data-driven, human-centered practices.

ARTICLE VI. INITIAL GOALS

To address these Focus Areas, the Mid-South Hub has identified six strategic goals, which may be amended per the procedures in Article XIV:

(i) Unleash the power of academic innovations created by the Hub’s founding members, as well as institutions and teams recruited into Hub programs over the life of the award, recognizing the unique opportunities provided by the translational research capacity already existing in the Mid-South region. Hub champions will strengthen the translational research culture at Hub institutions and other alliance organizations, recognizing and rewarding entrepreneurship and innovation and helping drive more academically-affiliated innovator teams into the Mid-South Hub’s programs.

(ii) Develop and deliver optimized I-Corps curriculum to both regional and National teams.

(iii) Invent and implement intentional strategies for the recruitment, training, and downstream entrepreneurial activities of underrepresented innovators to harness all talent in the Mid-South region, activity essential to developing inclusive, self-sustaining growth centers. The Hub exists to draw upon the rich experiences and networks of all Partner institutions to inform and implement these strategies.

(iv) Nurture strong industry-university partnerships that traverse the Mid-South region, and create a Hub cadre of mentors uniquely suited to the support and advancement of DTVs. Lead and Partner Hub institutions will share trusted partnerships within the Hub to provide options to every participant such that they may identify industry mentors most aligned with their commercialization goals.

(v) Synthesize and harmonize the unique strengths of Hub Institutions to create a regional entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem greater than the sum of its individual parts. The Hub shall practice core values of passionate empathy, inclusive excellence, collaborative scholarship, and the pursuit of knowledge, celebrating partnerships with HBCUs and predominantly undergraduate serving institutions to welcome a diverse cadre of future researchers, innovators, and mentors into the Hub community.

(vi) Support research, and evaluate and assess the results generated by the Hub to ensure strategies optimally support desired outcomes, both in the Mid-South region and nationally through the Hub’s engagement in the National Innovation Network. Scalable, reliable approaches will be explored to optimize, in quality and quantity, the transfer of technologies from universities into DTVs that seed inclusive, sustainable growth centers, informed by data and disseminated to regional partners, policy makers, and governmental entities.

ARTICLE VII. HUB LEADERSHIP

Section 1. Hub Leadership Team Purpose

The Hub Leadership Team shall direct the vision and manage key activities while ensuring the collective commitment to the mission and values of the Mid-South Hub. Members of the Hub Leadership Team must have previously participated in the intellectual and administrative efforts of Hub activities. The Hub Leadership Team, The Hub Management Team, composed of the Lead Instructor, Faculty Lead, and Hub Coordinator, will work with the Hub Director and coordinate with the Hub Partner Institutions via the Hub Subcommittees and affinity groups to achieve the Mid-South Hub’s vision and goals. The Hub Leadership Team will leverage the Mid-South Hub’s research enterprise to support innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development, and policy making.

Section 2. Hub Director

(i) The Hub Director shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) The Hub Director shall oversee and drive all administrative duties of the Mid-South Hub including reporting.

(iii) The Hub Director shall have authority to make executive decisions upon consultation with the Hub Leadership Team, Hub Faculty Leads Subcommittee, External Advisors, and/or the Hub Principal Investigators (PI) Subcommittee.

(iv) The Hub Director shall attend the National Science Foundation Hub Council meetings as part of the National Science Foundation National Innovation Network.

(v) The Hub Director shall work in alignment with government agencies which have contracted with the consortium to perform activity at the behest of the government.

(vi) The Hub Director shall lead the acquisition of third-party collaborations to realize the vision, mission, and aims of the Hub.

(vii) The Hub Director shall assist the Lead Instructor with Regional/National programming.

(viii) The Hub Director shall lead recruitment efforts at HBCUs/MSIs and non-Hub Partner Institutions.

(ix) The Hub Director shall coordinate with external entities, leading the formation of alliances.

(x) The Hub Director shall also lead efforts to disseminate any newfound knowledge or best practices to Hub Partners and beyond, and across the National Innovation Network.

Section 3. Hub Lead Instructor

(i) The Hub Lead Instructor shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) The Hub Lead Instructor shall oversee and drive all instructional duties of the Mid-South Hub.

(iii) The Hub Lead Instructor shall attend the National Science Foundation Curriculum Committee meetings as part of the National Science Foundation National Innovation Network.

(iv) The Hub Lead Instructor shall work in alignment with government agencies which have contracted with the consortium to perform activity at the behest of the government.

(v) The Hub Lead Instructor shall lead the deployment and execution of Regional/National programming.

(vi) The Hub Lead Instructor shall support the Hub Director in the recruitment efforts at HBCUs/MSIs and non-Hub Partner Institutions.

(vii) The Hub Lead Instructor shall lead the recruitment and evaluation of commercialization teams.

(viii) The Hub Lead Instructor shall lead the development of relationships with Hub Partner Institutions to deliver Regional programming with the intent to optimize downstream outcomes.

(ix) The Hub Lead Instructor shall utilize their relationships across the National Innovation Network and beyond to recruit and lead Regional and National instructors for entrepreneurial training (e.g. I-Corps) cohorts.

Section 4. Hub Evaluation Lead

(i) The Hub Evaluation Lead shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) The Hub Evaluation Lead shall oversee and drive all evaluation duties of the Mid-South Hub.

(iii) The Hub Evaluation Lead shall lead, design, and direct all relevant data and metric acquisition, collection, and reporting activities in collaboration with the Hub Director.

(iv) The Hub Evaluation Lead shall work in alignment with government agencies which have contracted with the consortium to perform activity at the behest of the government.

(v) The Hub Evaluation Lead shall lead the performance of formative assessment research.

(vi) The Hub Evaluation Lead may share duties with the Hub Research Lead as directed by the Hub Director.

Section 5. Hub Research Lead

(i) The Hub Research Lead shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) The Hub Evaluation Lead shall oversee, design, and coordinate all entrepreneurial research activities of the Mid-South Hub and across all Hub Partner Institutions.

(iii) The Hub Research Lead shall chair the Hub Research Subcommittee, coordinating all research activity across Hub Partners.

(iv) The Hub Research Lead shall develop a detailed research plan for review by the National Science Foundation Hub Council.

(v) The Hub Research Lead may be shared by multiple appointees, co-Hub Research Leads or co-Research Leads.

(vi) The Hub Research Lead shall perform reporting activities in collaboration with the Hub Director.

(vii) The Hub Research Lead shall work in alignment with government agencies which have contracted with the consortium to perform activity at the behest of the government.

(viii) The Hub Research Lead shall assist the Hub Evaluation Lead in the performance of formative assessment research.

Section 6. Hub Lead Faculty Lead

(i) The Hub Lead Faculty Lead shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) The Hub Lead Faculty Lead shall champion all innovation-focused culture change activity of the Mid-South Hub and across all Hub Partner Institutions.

(iii) The Hub Lead Faculty Lead shall chair the Hub Faculty Lead Subcommittee, coordinating all innovation culture cultivation activity across Hub Partners Institutions.

(iv) The Hub Lead Faculty Lead shall lead Hub Faculty Leads towards convincing their institutional leadership and entrenched faculty to embrace innovation as an essential value.

(v) The Hub Lead Faculty Lead shall work in alignment with government agencies which have contracted with the consortium to perform activity at the behest of the government.

(vi) The Hub Lead Faculty Lead may co-leading research coordination and dissemination as directed by the Hub Director.

 Section 7. Hub Coordinator

(i) The Hub Coordinator shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) The Hub Coordinator shall be responsible for managing regional training programs and team recruiting across the Mid-South Hub.

(iii) The Hub Coordinator shall work with the leadership and coordinators at Hub Partner Institutions to coordinate all Hub operations to perform the Hub key activities.

(iv) The Hub Coordinator shall be the lead outreach coordinator, liaising with Hub Partner Institutions to ensure the recruitment of diverse Regional cohort teams.

(v) The Hub Coordinator shall ensure the preparation of teams for National-level entrepreneurial training (e.g. I-Corps) is collaborative, synchronous, and unified.

(vi) The Hub Coordinator shall administratively support the Hub Director, the Hub Lead Instructor, the Hub Lead Faculty Lead, the Hub Research Lead, and the Hub Evaluation Lead.

(vii) The Hub Coordinator shall ensure all entrepreneurial training (e.g. I-Corps) initiatives, programs, and cohorts run efficiently, handling communication with  participants, Hub Partner Institution coordinators, assisting with administration of Regional microgrant funding, and supporting innovation initiatives and opportunities for collaboration, in collaboration with the Hub Director, that help build a stronger university-centered innovation ecosystem across the Mid-South

(viii) The Hub Coordinator shall chair the Hub Coordinators Subcommittee, coordinating all operations activity across Hub Partners Institutions.

(ix) The Hub Coordinator shall work in alignment with government agencies which have contracted with the consortium to perform activity at the behest of the government.

Section 8. Hub Lead Faculty Subcommittee

(i) The Hub Lead Faculty Subcommittee shall be shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

(ii) As part of the Hub Leadership team, the Hub Lead Faculty Subcommittee shall council and support the executive activity of the Hub Director, when called upon and convened by the Hub Lead Faculty Lead.

(iii) The Hub Lead Faculty Subcommittee shall be composed and conduct activities according to Article IX, Section

ARTICLE VIII. THE HUB GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Section 1. Governance Powers

Governance of major affairs and strategic Powers shall be vested in a General Assembly of the Mid-South Hub, the Hub General Assembly. While efficiency is a concern in any democratized organization, decisions made at the Hub General Assembly will be reserved for those which alter or affect the Hub in a holistic fashion. The Hub General Assembly shall have the power to assemble and populate new Hub Subcommittees in an ad hoc fashion under rules and procedures outlined in a Hub General Assembly Resolution.

Section 2. General Assembly Composition

(i) The Hub General Assembly shall be comprised of one senior representative from the Hub Lead Institution and all Hub Partner Institutions, each, the Hub General Assembly Representatives.

(ii) Each Hub General Assembly Representative shall be appointed by the internal leadership of each individual Hub Institution through its own independent means.

(iii) Each Hub General Assembly Representative shall serve at least one calendar year.

(iv) Yearly turnover shall occur by March 15th of every calendar year, preferably at the Mid-South Summit.

(v) There shall be a ten-year term limit for Hub General Assembly representation.

Section 3. Parliamentary Procedure and Voting Procedure

(i) The Hub General Assembly will exercise the prescribed parliamentary and statutory powers by vote, wherein a majority vote shall ratify all resolutions, unless otherwise noted in this Constitution.

(ii) Each Hub General Assembly Representative will cast one vote.

(iii) Tie-breaking will occur with a vote from the Speaker of the Hub General Assembly

(iv) The tie-breaking vote may only be cast after all competing arguments are verbally re-summarized before the Hub General Assembly.

(v) Meeting procedures will utilize and adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order.

(vi) Proxies may be appointed by the Hub General Assembly Representative on an emergency basis for one session per year.

(vii) Resolutions or motions for new business must be submitted to the Hub Coordinator no later than one week prior to the convening of the Hub General Assembly.

(viii) Agendas for Hub General Assembly shall be submitted to Hub General Assembly Representatives no later than forty-eight hours prior to the convening of the Hub General Assembly.

Section 4. Convening Cadence

(i) The Hub General Assembly shall convene at a cadence of no less frequent than once per quarter in a calendar year.

(ii) Emergency meetings of the Hub General Assembly may be called at any time, as long as the motion to convene is seconded by another.

Section 5. General Assembly Activity

(i) Hub Subcommittee strategic and tactical execution plans shall be approved by the Hub General Assembly for implementation by the Hub Leadership Team and Hub Personnel at each Hub Partner Institution.

(ii) Additional Hub Subcommittees may be formed at the will of the Hub General Assembly.

Section 6. Veto Powers

Executive decisions made by the Hub Director may be vetoed or overturned by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly.

Section 7. Vacancies

Upon the vacancy of a Hub General Assembly Representative, a new Hub General Assembly Representative shall be immediately appointed by the internal leadership of each individual Hub Institution through its own independent means.

Section 8. Speaker of the Hub General Assembly

The Hub General Assembly shall be presided and chaired by the Speaker of the Hub General Assembly, the Hub Director, as the Hub Director is the direct liaison to government agency program officers and leads all Hub administrative duties.

Section 9. Parliamentarian of the Hub General Assembly

The Hub General Assembly shall be guided in parliamentary procedure by the Hub Coordinator, as the Hub Coordinator integrates and coordinates Mid-South Hub operations. The Parliamentarian shall keep all records of Hub General Assembly Meeting Minutes and Hub General Assembly Resolutions.

Section 10. Removal of Representative

(i) Hub General Assembly Representatives may be removed from representative duty following a no-confidence motion and a ¾ vote.

(ii) Removal of a Hub General Assembly Representative shall create a vacancy.

Section 11. Democratic Gridlock

The Hub Director shall declare Democratic Gridlock at any Hub General Assembly meeting wherein democratic processes or civil discussions dissolve, degrade, or cannot be reconciled. Democratic Gridlock may occur over a particular resolution, wherein further business may continue, or it shall cause the end of a Hub General Assembly meeting. Democratic Gridlock shall be alleviated by procedures described in Article X.

ARTICLE IX. HUB SUBCOMMITTEES

Section 1. Subcommittee Purpose

Execution of key activities such as entrepreneurial capacity building, entrepreneurial training, culture change, research, instruction, assessment, and mentorship shall be vested in the Subcommittees of the Mid-South Hub, the Hub Subcommittees.

Section 2. Subcommittee Convening

(i) The Hub Leadership Team shall convene working subcommittees at a frequency of no less than a bi-monthly basis, every two months, administratively arranged via the Hub Coordinator.

(ii) Hub Subcommittees shall be free to meet on an ad hoc basis, as long as the scheduled bi-monthly cadence is conserved.

(iii) For Hub Subcommittees not chaired by members of the Hub Leadership Team, Hub Subcommittees may appoint or elect, by majority vote, a Subcommittee Chair to report to the Hub General Assembly.

(iv) The Hub Management Team may join subcommittee meetings in an advisory or participatory role.

Section 3. Subcommittee Activity

(i) Hub Subcommittees shall perform strategic planning and tactics formation.

(ii) Hub Subcommittee strategic and tactical execution plans shall be approved by the Hub General Assembly for implementation by the Hub Leadership Team and Hub Personnel at each Hub Partner Institution.

(iii) Hub Subcommittees may vote on Subcommittee matters which are not solved during informal discussion. Elected or appointed Subcommittee chairs shall cast any tie-breaking votes.

Section 4. Hub Faculty Leads Subcommittee

The Hub Faculty Leads Subcommittee shall be composed of faculty from Hub Partner Institutions who shall to champion innovation-focused culture change in all Hub Partner Institutions and across the entire Mid-South. The Hub Faculty Leads Subcommittee is part of the Hub Leadership team and is convened when necessary to council and support the executive decisions of the Hub Director.

Section 5. Hub Principal Investigator Subcommittee

The Hub Principal Investigator Subcommittee shall be composed of the Hub Principal Investigators or co-Principal Investigators from each Hub Partner Institution.  The Hub Principal Investigator Subcommittee may discuss regional institutional politics, new grant opportunities, and other high-level discussion topics. The Hub Principal Investigator Subcommittee shall be exempt from the required Hub Subcommittee meeting cadence directed in Article IX, Section 2 (ii).

Section 6. Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee

(i) The Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee shall be composed of the Hub Director, the Hub Lead Instructor (or an Instructor from the Hub Lead), Hub Partner Instructors and Hub Partner Directors of the entrepreneurial training programs (i.e. I-Corps) at each Hub Partner Institution.

(ii) Each Hub Institution, Lead and Partner, shall have two votes, accounting for an Instructor and Director at each Institution.

(iii) The Lead Instructors and Directors Subcommittee shall be Chaired by either the Hub Director or Hub Lead Instructor, as determined at the outset of the convened meeting, the Chair only possessing one vote, in addition to the vote allocated in Article IX, Section 6 (ii). If both are present, only one shall act as a Chair of the Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee.

(iv) The Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee may discuss specifics around instruction, instructors, and operations.

(v) Occurring annually, or as determined by the Hub Lead Instructor, the Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee shall nominate Candidates from the pool of Hub Regional Instructors for National Instructor training (e.g. NSF I-Corps Faculty in Training) using a merit-based process detailed in Article IX, Section 6 (vi-xv).

(vi) The Chair shall obtain information of each Candidate Instructor including, but not limited to, resume, curriculum vitae, education, experience, current role, previous roles and experience in entrepreneurial training (i.e. I-Corps), and, most-notably, the data and feedback collected from the assessment of the Candidate Instructor during their pedagogical experience and impact as a Regional Instructor in the Mid-South Hub.

(vii) Debate on the merit-based and anecdotal experience of each Candidate Instructor between members of the Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee shall proceed according to parliamentary procedure outlined in this Constitution until the Chair executively closes discourse and/or the Hub Subcommittee members signal to end the discourse by the call of vote.

(viii) The Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee shall Nominate two Candidates for National Instructor training by vote using a ranked voting system, or preferential voting or ranked choice voting, here single transferrable voting, wherein voters will rank the Candidate Instructors in a sequence of first or second, or third (or fourth, etc.) in order of preference on their respective ballots.

(ix) The vote shall occur according to the Hare quota formula wherein Quota = (valid votes cast/seats to fill).

(x) A Candidate Instructor is immediately nominated to Nominated National Instructor if that Candidate receives the Quota number of votes.

(xi) Surplus votes from the immediately nominated Candidate Instructor shall be transferred to candidate ranking lower in the voters’ preferences prior to the elimination of any Candidate Instructor.

(xii) Counting, eliminations, and vote transfers shall continue until two candidates are declared nominated by reaching the Quota or until there are only as many remaining Candidate Instructors as there are unfilled nominations, at which point the remaining Candidate Instructor(s) are declared Nominated National Instructors.

(xiii) The Hub Lead Instructor possesses Executive veto power over the Nomination of National Instructors.

(xiv) By resolution and majority vote, The Hub General Assembly has veto power over the Hub Lead Instructor’s Executive veto over the nomination of the Nominated National Instructors, nominated by the Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee.

(xv) Any Democratic Gridlock in the Hub Instructors and Directors Committee, or during Veto challenges in the Hub General Assembly, shall be rectified by an executive decision made by the Hub Director, or by a subsequent ruling by the Hub External Advisory Board.

(xvi) The Hub Lead Instructor shall recommend Nominated National Instructors to the entrepreneurial training entities which oversee or fund Mid-South Hub entrepreneurial training activities.

(xvii) Using an identical process detailed in Article IX, Section 6 (iv-xv), occurring annually, or as determined by the Hub Lead Instructor, the Hub Instructors and Directors Subcommittee shall nominate four Candidate Instructors from the pool of Hub Regional Instructors for recommendation as Nominated National Adjunct Instructors (e.g. NSF I-Corps National training).

(xviii) The Hub Lead Instructor shall coordinate the placement of the four candidates for adjunct training in National entrepreneurial training activities governed by the entrepreneurial training entities which oversee or fund Mid-South Hub entrepreneurial training activities.

Section 7. Hub Research Subcommittee

The Hub Research Subcommittee shall be composed of faculty and staff from Hub Partner Institutions interested in contributing to the Hub Research plan and operations. The Hub Research Subcommittee will plan, perform, collect, analyze and present Hub Research to the Hub Leadership Team and the Hub General Assembly.

Section 8. Hub Mentors Subcommittee

The Hub Mentors Subcommittee shall be composed of faculty and staff from Hub Partner Institutions interested in operating the Hub Mentor Network. The Hub Mentors Subcommittee shall be Chaired by an individual that shall be appointed by the internal leadership of the Hub Lead Institution through its own independent means in accordance with all guidelines imparted by governmental funding agencies.

Section 9. Affinity Subcommittees

Hub Affinity Subcommittees may be established by the Hub General Assembly to allow individual subgroups of the Hub (i.e. an HBCU/MSI Subcommittee) a space to meet, associate, discuss revenant topics, develop and execute action plans, and inform the Hub General Assembly of the identified needs, ways to rectify oversights, or establish opportunities for optimization.

ARTICLE X. EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD AND ARBITRATION PROCEDURES

Section 1. Hub External Advisory Board Purpose

(i) The Hub External Advisory Board shall exist in an advisory role to provide guidance to the Mid-South Hub, most-notably the Hub Leadership Team and the Hub General Assembly.

(ii) The Hub External Advisory Board shall provide arbitration for circumstances which require conflict resolution that cannot be solved via a majority vote in the Hub General Assembly.

(iii) The Hub External Advisory Board shall provide internal arbitration at the guidance of the Hub Leadership Team.

Section 2. Composition

(i) The total number of Hub External Advisory Board Members shall be an uneven, odd number to ensure majority voting.

(ii) The Hub External Advisory Board shall be composed of a collection of state/local private/public sector, economic/workforce development leaders, regional investors & philanthropists, and/or community leaders.

(iii) The number of Hub External Advisory Board Members shall equal the number of Hub Partner Institutions, wherein if an even number of Hub Partner Institutions comprise the Hub, an additional Hub External Advisory Board Member shall be nominated according to Article X, Section 4 (ii) to ensure that the total number of Hub External Advisory Board Members is an uneven, odd number to ensure majority votes.

Section 3. Membership

(i) Each Hub External Advisory Board Member shall serve at least one calendar year.

(ii) Yearly turnover shall occur by March 15th of every calendar year, preferably at the Mid-South Summit.

(iii) There shall be a two-year term limit for Hub External Advisory Members.

Section 4. Membership Confirmation

(i) Each Hub Partner Institution shall nominate one Member of the External Advisory Board appointed by the internal leadership of each individual Hub Institution through its own independent means.

(ii) In the event that the number of Hub Partner Institutions that comprise the Mid-South Hub total an even, non-odd number, the Hub Director shall nominate an additional Hub External Advisory Board Member to ensure that the total number of Hub External Advisory Board Members is an uneven, odd number to ensure majority voting.

(iii) Each nominee shall be presented to the Hub General Assembly via Resolution by the nominating Hub Partner Institution for Confirmation by a Majority vote.

Section 5. Arbitration and Conflict Resolution Duties during Democratic Gridlock

(i) A conflict resolution plan, activated during Democratic Gridlock, shall include the involvement of the Hub External Advisory Board as an external arbitration committee to resolve conflict through a judgment guided by their expertise in less than 30 days.

(ii) The Hub Director shall declare Democratic Gridlock at the Hub General Assembly meeting wherein democratic processes or civil discussions dissolve, degrade, or cannot be reconciled.

(iii) Democratic Gridlock may occur over a particular resolution, wherein further business may continue, or it shall cause the end of a Hub General Assembly Meeting.

(iv) No later than seven days after Democratic Gridlock has been determined, the Hub Director shall convene the Hub External Advisory Board and provide the Meeting Minutes which shall contain the written reasons for Democratic Gridlock.

(v) The Hub External Advisory Board shall meet independently of members of the Hub that fall within the definition of Hub-wide in Article XI, Section 1, thus meeting independently of the Hub Director, any from the Hub Leadership Team, any from the Hub General Assembly, and any from the Hub Subcommittees, to discuss the matters which have caused the Democratic Gridlock, vote on the solution, and provide reasons for their recommendation.

(vi) No later than 30 days after Democratic Gridlock has been declared, the Hub External Advisory Board shall convene simultaneously with the Hub General Assembly wherein their recommendations shall be presented to the Hub General Assembly.

(vii) The recommendations provided by the Hub External Advisory Board shall represent a Gridlock-breaking judgement that the Hub General Assembly shall honor.

ARTICLE XI. HUB-WIDE COMPOSITION AND VOTING PROCEDURE

Section 1. Hub-wide Composition

The term Hub-wide Composition shall refer to the entire collective of Hub leadership and representation including all of the Hub Management Team, the Hub General Assembly, and the Hub Subcommittees. The Hub External Advisory shall not be included in referendums but may be included in Hub-wide convening activities such as a Hub-wide Conference.

Section 2. Governance Premise

(i) The founding members of the Mid-South Hub share a deep commitment to inclusive excellence and collaborative scholarship as reflected in this collaborative governance structure, championed by the establishment of the Hub General Assembly.

(ii) This democratized, hierarchically flat structure, with focused subcommittees, supports coordination of the Hub’s vision, focus areas, and key activities.

(iii) To best support inter-organizational collaboration involving multiple institutions across the region, the Hub’s governance approach supports collaboration at multiple participation levels.

(iv) This Constitution is an agreement between consortium partners, founding and memorializing the fundamental principles and established precedents that will determine how the Mid-South Hub as a consortium will self-govern.

Section 3. Voting Procedures

(i) All voting shall occur electronically through virtual survey, collection, and tabulation methods as proposed by the Hub Leadership Team, most notably the Hub Director, and administered by the Hub Evaluation Lead via the Hub Coordinator.

(ii) The electronic voting methods shall be congruent across all Hub Subcommittees, the Hub General Assembly, and Hub-Wide.

(iii) Voting occurring through the External Advisory Board during Arbitration shall be administered through the congruent electronic voting methods and administered by the Hub Evaluation Lead via the Hub Coordinator.

(iv) All voting results, as well as votes cast by individuals, shall be made available Hub-wide for transparent accountability.

(v) All voting results shall be appended to the resolutions or meeting minutes for proper record keeping by the Hub Coordinator.

(vi) In the Hub General Assembly, on a per resolution basis, a non-blanket measure, in the event where security or sensitivity measures are paramount, individual voting measures may be deemed non-transparent by a majority, Hub-wide transparent vote, of the Hub General Assembly.

(vii) Unless otherwise specified within this Constitution, basic decision outcomes shall be determined by majority vote rules.

(viii) Unless otherwise specified within this Constitution, decision outcomes which require the selection of one option from three or more options shall be determined by ranked voting rules outlined in Article XII Section 4.

(ix)  Unless otherwise specified within this Constitution, decision outcomes which require the selection of multiple options from three or more options shall be determined by single transferrable voting rules outlined in Article IX Section 6.

Section 4. The Mid-South Summit

(i) At an annual frequency of no less than once per calendar year, the Mid-South Hub shall hold a formal, Hub-wide Conference to formally institute, initiate, or continue Hub activities shall be held, formally referred to as the Mid-South Summit.

(ii) The Mid-South Summit shall be held in-person, unless deemed otherwise appropriate due to emergency or unforeseen circumstances, wherein hybrid accommodations shall be provided.

(iii) The location of the Mid-South Summit shall be determined by the Hub Leadership Team.

(iv) The Mid-South Summit shall be intentionally designed to foster cognitive proximity, community building, solidify regional relationships, plan core Hub training activities, and commence or continue capacity building.

(v) The Mid-South Summit shall contain a plenary session called the Mid-South Hub Convocation wherein the Hub Director shall present “The State of the Hub” presentation or address.

(vi)  The Mid-South Summit shall contain a plenary session called the Mid-South Hub Convocation wherein the Hub Director shall confirm and bestow to Hub members, of the newly convened Hub General Assembly, Hub Subcommittees, and Hub External Advisory Board, powers authorized by and under this Constitution.

(vii) The Mid-South Summit shall contain a plenary session wherein representatives from each Hub Partner Institution shall briefly present on their current activities allowing all Hub members the opportunity to visualize activity across the region and foster opportunities for cross-region collaboration.

(viii) The Mid-South Summit shall assemble non-plenary, breakout sessions led by the Mid-South Hub Lead and Hub Partner institutions who have demonstrated robust activity (e.g. I-Corps) wherein fostering the Hub-mediated capacity building at Hub Partner Institutions or New Partner Institutions shall continue or commence.

(ix) The Mid-South Summit shall assemble the Hub Subcommittees in non-plenary, breakout sessions which shall lead the organization of the performance of the key activities of the Mid-South Hub.

(x) The Mid-South Summit shall also commence the Formal Confirmation process of New Partner Institutions during the Mid-South Hub Convocation.

ARTICLE XII. NEW PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

Section 1. Definition

Institutions of Higher Education who formally join the consortium of the Founding Hub Partners Institutions, the Mid-South Hub, shall be called New Partner Institutions.

Section 2. Allowances

New Partner Institutions shall only be added to the Mid-South Hub consortium as Hub Partner Institutions if equivalent funds are available by external means, agency, governmental, or private, for the New Partner Institution’s participation as a financially equivalent partner in the consortium, and only for a duration for which those particular and relevant funds remain available for deployment.

Section 3. Recruitment of New Partner Institutions

The Hub Leadership Team, most notably the Hub Director, shall lead the initial recruitment of New Partner Institutions, as guided by recommendations of the current Hub Partner Institutions, and shall create and maintain a listing, the New Partner Institution Waitlist, or Waitlist, of the Aspiring New Partner Institutions.

Section 4. Selection of Candidate New Partner Institution

(i) The Hub Management Team shall provide the Waitlist to the Mid-South Hub General Assembly for Recommendation for Candidacy as New Partner Institutions in the form of a Hub General Assembly Resolution.

(ii) The reason for Candidacy of each Aspiring New Partner Institution shall be described within the Hub General Assembly Resolution.

(iii) The Hub General Assembly shall discuss reasons for the Candidacy of each Aspiring New Partner Institution.

(iv) The Hub General Assembly shall select one Candidate for the New Partner Institution vote using a ranked voting system, or preferential voting or ranked choice voting, here instant-runoff voting, wherein voters will rank the Aspiring New Partner Institutions in a sequence of first or second, or third (or fourth, etc.) in order of preference on their respective ballots. Ballots shall be initially counted for each voter’s top choice. If an Aspiring New Partner Institution receives more than half of the first-choice votes, that Aspiring New Partner Institution wins. If not, then the Aspiring New Partner Institution with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the Hub General Assembly Representatives who selected the defeated candidate as a first choice shall then have their votes added to the totals of their next choice. When the field has been reduced to two, it shall become an instant runoff which shall allow a comparison of the top two candidates head-to-head. This process shall continue until an Aspiring New Partner Institution receives more than half of the votes, where they shall become recognized as the Candidate New Partner Institution.

(v) Any democratic gridlock in the Hub General Assembly shall be rectified by an executive decision made by the Hub Director.

Section 5. Confirmation of the Candidate New Partner Institution

(i) The Hub Leadership Team, most notably the Hub Director, shall work with the Candidate New Partner Institution to prepare all documentation to acquire the equivalent funds (e.g. the National Science Foundation Hub New Partner Institution (NPI) Supplement, or the equivalent) as required by Article XII, Section 2.

(ii)  Only upon award shall the Candidate New Partner Institution be Formally Confirmed as a New Partner Institution, a new Hub Partner Institution.

(iii) Formal Confirmation of the New Partner Institution shall occur through a Hub General Assembly Resolution.

(iv) Confirmed New Partner Institutions shall be Formally onboarded at the Mid-South Summit.

(v) Confirmed New Partners shall be required to complete an assessment as deemed appropriate by the Hub Leadership Team, most notably the Hub Research Lead.

ARTICLE XIII. RULES OF ORDER

In general, Robert’s Rules of Order shall be the guide in the conduct of all formal meetings, provided the point at issue is not clearly covered by this Constitution. In case of a tie vote, the deciding ballot shall be cast by the Hub Director.

ARTICLE XIV. AMENDMENTS  

These statutes and regulations may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Mid-South Hub General Assembly, provided any such amendment, proposed through Hub General Assembly Resolution, is approved by a majority of the Hub-wide Composition via referendum.  All Hub General Assembly Resolutions which propose Constitutional Amendments shall be data-driven, or supported by quantitative or qualitative evidence.

ARTICLE XV. BINDING AGREEMENTS

The Mid-South Hub shall not enter into binding agreements unless otherwise specified by external consortium-based memorandums of understanding or consortium-based binding agreements, external to this Constitution, entered unto or into by each individual Hub Partner Institution that form together to comprise the Mid-South Hub.

ARTICLE XVI. UNPRECEDENTED REGIONAL COLLABORATION

Notwithstanding Article XV, this Constitution provides the unprecedented Organizational architecture wherein Such radical regional collaborations and arrangements may be introduced, discussed, voted upon, and operations may be immediately instituted forthwith upon the formation of binding agreements external to this Constitution, thus bestowing onto the individual Hub Institutions the provisions of a joint entity, that binds the once disparate opportunities and perspectives, into impactful cognitive proximity under this Constitution.

SIGNING HUB LEADERSHIP MEMBERS

SIGNING GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS

SIGNING HUB FACULTY LEAD SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS

SIGNING HUB PI SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS