Define MMA school designation in detail?

There is no official body to decide what the term 'Mixed Martial Art' means. Also, there are really now three distinct meanings of the term, namely

(1) the sport, as defined by various rulesets which - more or less - allow striking and grappling, stand up and on the ground, with victory by knockout, TKO or submission, but with rules somewhat less permissive than 'no holds barred' or Vale Tudo.

(2) the style of fighting generally favoured by MMA fighters, usually a combination of boxing and/or Muay Thai, wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. There are, of course, various people who do different things, but this is the archetypal MMA skillset and usually what schools who advertise 'MMA' mean. Someone like Forrest Griffin would be I think an example of somebody who fights in a very 'typical' MMA style.

and

(3) the concept of training in multiple established styles to create a personal hybrid style of fighting which should deal with all ranges of combat (standing, clinch and ground) better than any one individual style would. Meant like this, it could really refer to any combination of arts, and is usually used either

(a) by people who are attempting to create new approachs by mixing styles, with a focus on competition but not necessarily with the regular MMA styles mentioned above (like for instance the Dog Brother's Kali Tudo stuff, applying Filipino MA to competition fighting), or someone like Tim Cartmell who blends various Chinese styles and San Da with Brazilian jiu-jitsu

or (b) by shysters who tack on bad grappling they got from a video or half-remembered high school wrestling onto their regular karate/Tae Kwon Do/Japanese jujutsu/other style and claim it's MMA. This practise is rather shady but does technically fiit the definition.

In terms of a school, if it isn't obviously advertising karate, kung fu or something exotic alongside the 'MMA' program, then it probably fits the boxing/MT/BJJ/wrestling blend I mentioned above.

If I am not mistaken, I believe that the UFC was the first highly publicized MMA event in the states. Mixed martial arts was first referenced as the mix of two opponents fighting with different styles, or a glorified street fight if you will. One may be well versed in a particular style of Karate, while the other may just be a bar brawler. Prior to UFC labeling it "the greatest show of mixed martial arts", it was just considered a fight. Example: When I was in high school, Major League Baseball only had four divisions and a "cut and dried" playoff series. Over the past decade, they have evolved into expansion teams and a much more intricate post season. My understanding of the new structure is still a bit unclear, but I do realize that in order for baseball to evolve and move forth to meet the demands of the fans, players, and team owners, changes had to be made. The MMA that disturbs you has pretty much followed that exact pattern. At first, it signified that two different fighting styles were being represented in the octagon, cage, or ring. Over the past decade, fighters have found that certain styles of competition fighting are very well complemented by using bits and pieces of other disciplines. Hence, they diversify in order to keep up with modern competition, which has in turn multiplied the number of specatators, promoters and fighters. Where 20 years ago mixed martial arts was virtually non-existent, it is today the most highly publicized form of competition fighting. I hope my rambling has shown some sort of evidence that MMA is the new direction of hand to hand competition.

"what is the authorizing organization."

Unfortunately there is none. There is no single authorizing body for most martial arts; since MMA isn't a martial art, exactly, it is subject to even less scrutiny than, say, Shotokan or Wing Chun.

"What process does a Dojo,Studio,Gym go through for using this designation."

Pretty much whatever they want. Most "legit" MMA schools, that is that they teach what you see on TV, may actually be Brazilian Jiujitsu, Muay Thai, Judo, etc gyms that also have an MMA program. Most places around here (Atlanta) are primarily BJJ gyms that have separate coaches for striking, and maybe conditioning and wrestling, in addition to the BJJ instructors.

However, I've also seen schools advertise "MMA" classes that are basically karate with some Judo throws and (usually) poor ground skills, derisively nicknamed "crappling". I've seen other schools combine, say, Kali and Wing Chun in an "MMA" class. Under the strictest definition of "mixed" martial arts, they're not technically lying, because they're mixing aspects of different martial arts together. However, students in those programs would be poorly prepared to compete in modern MMA competitions. These programs are usually attempts to capitalize on the MMA craze, the same way "Ninjutsu" schools started popping up in the 80's and "kung fu" schools started popping up in the 70's. Often, the people teaching these "MMA" programs have little skill in an area outside of their expertise, much to the detriment of their students.

"MMA" does not follow the traditional martial arts system of being able to trace its history to the founder. If you want to go that route than how about claiming to be part of the Gracie system since they were the ones who popularized the brand name UFC. You can make a good argument about the "McDojo" being nothing but a money making scheme with nothing being taught at all other than showing the "students" a few fancy punches or kicks. Anybody can claim to be a "MMA" gym but to be "accredited" they have to have a "champion" who made it big in the sport of MMA.

Don't expect to be a ninja or Bruce Lee after a month of training....

The term "MMA" is sometimes used by gyms just to make money, as you can claim to teach it just to make money.

For a good school, you should expect knowledgeable instructors with alot of experience, as MMA fighters

think of mma as an event rather than a style, its an event for mix martial artists to compete.