1. The mission of the Institute is to promote collegiality, stimulate discourse, foster inquiry, and disseminate knowledge among professional scholars of achievement and distinction within the academic music community. The Institute is an independent organization funded entirely by private individual contributions with no institutional support from Mannes College of Music or from any other host institution or public or private source. The Institute is not designed to provide professional development, educational training, or experience for junior or midlevel scholars, graduate students, or others not actively involved or recognized within the professional scholarly community. Some of these may become eligible for future programs as their careers and work develop.

2. The Institute serves the professional needs of the scholarly music community by providing a vehicle for sustained intellectual exchange among distinguished scholars at the highest level of discourse. At the same time, it seeks to serve a broad constituency and maximize participation within the overall scope of its mission. The Institute balances these objectives to the best extent possible.

3. Participants are selected by a committee consisting of the two faculty co-chairs and the Director in accordance with the mission and policies of the Institute. Some distinguished scholars under special circumstances may be invited to attend. Given its intensive nature and interactive methodology, enrollment is necessarily limited.

4. All participants are required to hold a doctoral degree in music (theory, musicology, composition, ethnomusicology). Graduate students and, in almost all cases ABD candidates, are ineligible and urged to apply at later stages of their career. The Institute favors established scholars with a demonstrated record of scholarship in accordance with its mission. The Institute is designed both to foster dialogue among those practicing in a specific area, as well as educate peers working in different areas of research.

5. Established scholars are not required to have expertise in the particular subject matter of the Institute, and may qualify on the basis of professional achievement and distinction in other areas. Midlevel and, in rare cases junior, scholars may qualify on the basis of demonstrated achievement and distinction within the particular subject matter of the Institute.

6. Participation in prior Institutes may be a limiting factor in the application and selection process. In the absence of special circumstances, participants are generally not permitted to attend the Institute more than two years in a row, excluding service on the faculty. To the extent possible, applicants are advised to plan ahead for future programs. In certain situations, qualified applicants who have previously attended may be requested to defer to another year.

7. All participants are expected to actively contribute to the Institute's proceedings, and engage in a spirit of cooperation and collegiality in accordance with its mission and participatory methodology. The faculty's function is not exclusively to lecture but to guide communal working sessions and facilitate interactive dialogue. Each member is expected to do the required reading and advance preparation for the workshops to advance the purpose of the Institute.

8. There is no charge or fee for attending the Institute. These costs are entirely subsidized by the private donors supporting the Institute. The Institute also provides complimentary breakfasts, receptions, and on occasion, a banquet. Participants are required to pay for their own transportation, the materials they choose to acquire, their own lunches and dinners, and the cost of housing.

9. The Institute pays the out of pocket costs of workshop leaders to attend the Institute in the year of their workshop, in addition to a preestablished honorarium. Where possible, such faculty members are requested to obtain prior reimbursement from their home institutions in order to minimize the financial burden on the Institute.

10. Workshop leaders are requested and expected to attend at least one prior Institute to gain experience and familiarity with the Institute's distinctive spirit of collegiality and participatory mode of interaction before conducting their own workshop. The Institute is not able to finance the cost of attendance for prospective workshop leaders.

11. Participants enroll in two of six workshops, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Faculty members enroll as participants in one workshop in the period in which they are not conducting their own workshop. Each workshop meets for three sessions of approximately three hours each. Once assigned, they remain with these workshops throughout the Institute and are not entitled to change or attend other sessions without the express permission of the Director.

12. Every effort is made to enroll participants in at least one of their first two choices, but there is no guarantee regarding placement. The Institute reserves the right to enroll participants in different workshops than those preferred to balance distribution and diversity.

13. The Institute is an intensive experience requiring a full and exclusive commitment of time and energy to maximize intellectual exchange, professional collegiality, and social engagement among participants at all times. There is little if any free time. Members are not permitted to participate in the Institute on a casual drop-in or selective basis. Members agree to attend and participate fully in all Institute proceedings, both formal and informal, including workshops, plenary presentations, and panel discussions, as well as social functions and communal gatherings such as meals, breaks, reception, and banquet.

14. Given the intensive and collegial nature of the event and the full commitment it entails, members are advised not to come accompanied by their spouse, partner, child, or friend, or to plan social activities with others outside of the Institute. Members may not bring nonmembers to Institute events without the express permission of the Director.

15. The Institute begins with registration and complimentary breakfast at 8:15 am on the first morning of the Institute, which all members are expected to attend. The Institute ends at approximately 1:00 pm on the last day of the Institute.

16. At the end of the Institute, the Director asks all participants, including faculty, to submit a typewritten letter in hard copy on their institutional letter within expressing what the Institute meant to them. All participants are expected to do this within three weeks of the Institute as the final act of their participation.