The University of Missouri - Columbia (MU) encourages entrepreneurial activities of its faculty, staff and students in a manner that is consistent with the mission and goals of the University. As a part of its efforts to encourage entrepreneurism MU is working with community leaders to establish a Technology Business Incubator that will provide space and services that nurture technology start-up companies. In spite of the lack of such an incubator at the present time, MU will still have opportunities to incubate MU-related start-up companies. Almost all such incubation activities will, by necessity, need to occur within the existing space in Schools, Colleges and Centers on campus. The following guidelines have been developed to provide a framework for faculty, staff and students who want to incubate start-up companies within current University-owned facilities. (It should be noted that a different set of guidelines will be established in the future upon MU obtaining and/or constructing an Incubation Facility).

A. Organizational Process
The Office of Technology Management and Industrial Relations, in collaboration with the Missouri Innovation Center (MIC), will be the primary staffing point for incubation requests at MU. These two departments will assist the incubation requestor in preparing all necessary paperwork and obtaining all approvals necessary to get the requestor up and running as quickly as possible. These approvals will include department chair or center director, dean or center director supervisor (if the center director supervisor is administratively higher than a dean, otherwise the center director's dean), Conflict of Interest Committee, applicable compliance committees and offices (including, for example, the Institutional Review Board, Animal Care and Use Committee, and Office of Environmental Health and Safety), and other approvals required by the particular circumstances, as well as approval of the Advisory Committee on Space (ACS). Prior to bringing a request for allocation of incubation space to the Advisory Committee on Space, all other approvals regarding programmatic viability and compliance must have been obtained. The final decision on space allocation will reside with the Capital Review Committee (CRC). The ACS will forward its recommendation to the CRC, which will make the final decision on space allocation.

B. Minimum Requirements
The following minimum requirements must be met before a request for use of University facilities for incubation space may be granted:

1. Adequate space is not available in an incubator facility.
2. The space is temporarily not needed for the academic mission of the department or unit and the University.
3. The use of the space supports the mission and goals of the department (or center), College, School and University.

C. Order of Priority for Incubation Requests
If the foregoing minimum requirements are met, the following criteria will be used to establish the order of priority for the allocation of incubator space on campus.

1. Incubation projects that support the development, transfer and/or commercialization of University intellectual property; and/or incubation projects in which the tenant sponsors research at the University via SBIR/STTR sub-awards or via other mechanisms.
2. Incubation projects that more generally support faculty, staff or student entrepreneurial activities.

D. Procedures Used for Requesting Space for Incubation Purposes on Campus

1. A College and/or School must identify facilities available within its own existing space in order to accommodate an incubation request. If space is not available within a College and/or School, then a request can be made to Space Planning and Management for campus space.
2. A College and/or School will complete a Space Request Form, obtain proper internal signatures and forward the signed form to Space Planning and Management for review and Committee approvals.
3. The Capital Review Committee (CRC) shall have final say on approving or dis-approving the assignment of incubation space on campus.
4. The tenant agrees to relocate to an Incubation Facility when construction of such a building is completed, provided there is space in the building to accommodate the tenant's incubation function.

.pdf version of these guidelines