FB94 RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND CENTERS

Boston College Fact Book, 1993-1994

Contact:  factbook@bc.edu 

Date Posted: 02-15-94

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RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND CENTERS



The Center for Corporate Community Relations

--------------------------------------------

   Established in 1985, The Center for Corporate Community 

 Relations at Boston College is an international research,

 consultation, and executive training center.  Its purpose is

 to advance the understanding of a corporate social vision

 as a way for companies to position themselves favorably and

 positively in society.  The Center:

  <>  conducts community relations Institutes, seminars, and

      forums for corporate executives;

  <>  offers custom training to corporations;

  <>  consults with corporations on the design, planning, and

      management of community relations programs;

  <>  engages in and promotes research on community relations

      and corporate citizenship;

  <>  serves as a professional network for 1,500 community 

      relations executives;

  <>  conducts an annual international community relations 

      leaders conference;

  <>  houses a resource center of community relations informa-

      tion that includes materials on over 1,500 corporations;

  <>  publishes a monthly newsletter.



   A major objective of The Center is to promote Boston College

 as the worldwide center for the teaching and study of corporate 

 citizenship.



   The Center is a membership organization composed of nearly 

 250 corporations (as of June, 1, 1994). It is served by an 

 International Advisory Board composed of CEOs, corporate 

 community relations executives, faculty of Boston College, 

 and public policy executives from around the world.





The Jesuit Institute

--------------------

   The Jesuit Institute is a research institute whose

 purpose is to foster the Catholic, Jesuit character of

 Boston College precisely as a university. It does this by

 supporting the efforts of the university community to

 explore issues that are central to the character of the

 University, i.e., that emerge when religious faith,

 especially that of Catholic Christianity, intersects

 culture.  It works in cooperation with existing schools,

 programs, and faculty, primarily but not exclusively, at

 Boston College. The institute offers interdisciplinary

 faculty seminars as well as year-long visiting fellowships 

 to distinguished research scholars. It sponsors visiting

 lecturers nominated by University departments and visiting

 scholars who conduct retreats for the faculty of

 individual departments. By special grants the Institute

 supports academic projects that engage its mandate.





The Social Welfare Research Institute

-------------------------------------

   The Social Welfare Research Institute (SWRI) is a

 multidisciplinary research center founded at Boston

 College in 1970. Its staff specializes in research on the

 social and political implications of economic relations.

 In recent years the research agenda of the Institute has

 included such diverse projects as:

  <>  empirical analysis of surveys on philanthropy and

      wealth that focuses on determining giving patterns by

      income class and the social, financial, demographic

      and psychological determinants of giving and

      volunteering;

  <>  microsimulation of the economy to produce detailed

      estimates of the impact of the economic activity by

      government and industrial sectors on individuals and

      the economy as a whole; and

  <>  an interdisciplinary study of the social, economic,

      historical, psychological, financial, theological, and

      literary aspects of Christmas.



The Institute for Space Research

--------------------------------

   Formed in 1954, the Institute for Space Research (ISR)

 is the largest sponsored research center at Boston

 College. With annual funding of about four million

 dollars, the ISR has provided the Department of Defense

 and NASA with a team of physicists, mathematicians, and

 other specialists capable of providing data support

 systems for numerous space missions.  The work of the team

 includes the development of all elements encompassed in a

 data management plan for a space mission. A typical plan

 describes the data processing efforts and management

 concepts required to generate databases for researchers to

 analyze flight results, including the development of

 database structures, algorithms, software, and validation

 procedures.

   The ISR also conducts theoretical research in space

 studies sponsored by the National Science Foundation,

 which includes the development of models of ionospheric

 constituents for comparison with actual flight data.

 Most recently, the Institute has attempted to diversify,

 applying its analysis expertise to databases containing

 seismic, oceanographic, and medical data.



The Center for the Study of Testing,

Evaluation and Educational Policy

------------------------------------

   The Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation and

 Educational Policy (CSTEEP) at Boston College was

 established in 1980 to meet the measurement, research, and

 evaluation needs of local educational agencies as well as

 those of government agencies, private foundations, and

 private corporations. The aim of the Center is to advance

 the study of educational testing, evaluation and policy so

 as to improve both the quality and fairness of education.

 Boston College and its School of Education have made a

 strong commitment to CSTEEP both by housing it on the B.C.

 campus and by providing it with a substantial budget for

 proposal development and related costs. CSTEEP provides a

 variety of testing, consulting, optical scanning and data

 analysis services to Boston College faculty and staff.

 Additionally, the Center regularly administers various

 national admissions tests.



Weston Observatory

------------------

   Boston College's Weston Observatory, a research

 institute of the Department of Geology and Geophysics, was

 founded in 1928 by the Society of Jesus. Two years later

 its first seismograph began recording earthquakes,

 beginning a tradition of geophysical research that has

 ranked Weston Observatory as a nationally renowned

 research institution. Today the Observatory's faculty and

 staff of geologists and geophysicists engage in many

 varied state-of-the-art research projects in geophysics,

 geotechnical engineering, and geographic information systems.

 Graduate students conduct scientific research as a part of a

 Master's in Science (M.S.) degree. Weston Observatory

 operates a seismic network with 15 stations located around

 the New England region. In addition to research concerning

 naturally occurring seismic events, the Observatory also

 participates in research aimed at monitoring nuclear test

 ban treaties.





Source: Individual Institute and Center directors