Wayne State University's centers and institutes play an integral role in the university's emphasis on encouraging innovative scholarship, providing service to society and strengthening its performance as a nationally recognized research university. WSU's centers and institutes embrace the multidisciplinary nature of scholarship and research within the university, and expand university boundaries by fostering collaborations with government, industry and organizations to enhance economic growth and the quality of life locally, nationally and globally. Our centers and institutes vary greatly in size, focus and mission. Some promote a primarily research-focused agenda, while others focus on instruction and/or community service.

The most recent version of WSU's policy on centers and institutes, adopted on November 30, 2005, identifies a two-tiered category of centers and institutes. Centers are grouped first into university or college centers. University centers are engaged in activities that involve more than one college/school and are under the direct administrative supervision of the President or designee. Within the university centers are Type I (primarily academic) or Type II (research centers) with oversight generally falling to the Provost or the Vice President for Research, respectively. A college center is engaged in activities that primarily involve one college/school and is under the direct administrative supervision of the dean of that college/school.