Overall Rating Platinum - expired
Overall Score 87.10
Liaison Alex Davis
Submission Date March 5, 2020

STARS v2.2

Arizona State University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Alex Davis
Asst. Director
University Sustainability Practices
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Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
Yes

A brief description of the student sustainability research program:

Multiple programs:

The Global Development Research Program encourages international student research in sustainability. ASU is among six universities chosen to partner with the Global Development Lab of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Through this partnership, ASU created the Global Development Research Program, which enables graduate students to obtain USAID Research and Innovation Fellowships to co-design sustainable solutions to development challenges. https://global.asu.edu/usaid

Innovation Space is an entrepreneurial joint venture among four schools at ASU. The program brings together students from the Design and the Arts, Engineering, Business, and Sustainability. The goal of the transdisciplinary education and research lab is to teach students how to develop products that create market value while serving real societal needs and minimizing impacts on the environment. Students gain hands-on experience working with students and faculty from other disciplines for credit. https://innovationspace.asu.edu/students/

The Humanities Lab has included sustainability topics in their workshops that bring students together. https://humanities.lab.asu.edu/

The Walton Sustainability Solutions Service hires students from various academic programs to assist with faculty on research and solutions-oriented projects with external organizations. https://sustainability.asu.edu/sustainabilitysolutions/

The Changemaker Challenge encourages ASU students to make an impact with their project, prototype, venture or community partnership, including through a “Sustainability & Impact” category. https://eoss.asu.edu/changemaker-challenge

GISER (Graduates in Integrative Society & Environment Research) is a graduate student organization at ASU dedicated to exploring, enabling, and encouraging integrative, collaborative work that engages with environmental and societal themes. Collaborative work happens through a diverse set of programming, including in-person gatherings (collaboratories, workshops, guest speakers, and field trips), virtual (newsletter, project archives, and student networking), and resourcing (funding program). GISER has received crucial financial and organizational support form ASU’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, School of Sustainability, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, School of Life Sciences, and Graduate College. http://giserasu.org/
The Global Development Research Program encourages international student research in sustainability. ASU is among six universities chosen to partner with the Global Development Lab of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Through this partnership, ASU created the Global Development Research Program, which enables graduate students to obtain USAID Research and Innovation Fellowships that foster global collaboration, advance use-inspired research and improve lives. https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/degrees/usaid-ri-fellowships/

School of Sustainability:

Sustainability Undergraduate Research Experience Program at Arizona State University
The SURE program offers a tiered approach to research opportunities for undergraduate students in the School of Sustainability. The three levels of the program provide different types of involvement, experiences, and time commitments.
https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/sure/

Students pursuing a sustainability degree through Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability are eligible to apply for a number of grants to support sustainability research:
https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/admissions/grants/

The School of Sustainability offers a Sustainability Champions Scholarship to incoming, undergraduate students that wish to incorporate sustainability into their studies at ASU. Students that are awarded can either apply the scholarship to their tuition and education expenses, to their sustainability research, or to an applied project during their time at ASU. https://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/admissions/scholarships-grants/champions/

SustainabilityConnect provides a listing of sustainability internship and project opportunities for students wanting to gain employment, research, educational, or volunteer experience in sustainability. https://sustainabilityconnect.asu.edu/


Does the institution have a program to encourage academic staff from multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
Yes

A brief description of the faculty sustainability research program:

Sustainability Scientists and Scholars is a special designation for university researchers who conduct important work on sustainability topics. Sustainability science requires a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, integrating practical experience with knowledge and action drawn from the spectrum of disciplines in the natural and social sciences, medicine, engineering, mathematics, humanities, and the arts. The formalization of a community of sustainability scientists and scholars from throughout the university—and ultimately from other research institutions—is meant to accelerate the pace of discovery and formally recognize the many contributors to this field.

Sustainability scientists and scholars participate in working groups organized around particular research themes. They receive specialized research development support, including training and proposal support. They are invited to events dedicated to expanding their knowledge and their collaborative networks. The Institute provides support with events, meetings, marketing, and communications and other services.

The website URL where information about the faculty research program is available:
https://sustainability.asu.edu/scientists-scholars/


Has the institution published written policies and procedures that give positive recognition to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research during faculty promotion and/or tenure decisions?:
Yes

A copy of the promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
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The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:

Institution-wide goal:
ASU's charter sets an institution-wide goal to "Establish ASU as a leading global center for interdisciplinary research, discovery, and development by 2025"
More information: https://president.asu.edu/asu-mission-goals

Departmental policies:
Tenure policies are not set at the institutional level. Instead, they are set by the college or department. A majority of ASU's tenured or tenure-track faculty work in departments with written policies that given positive recognition to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research during faculty promotion and/or tenure decisions.

One example is the policy of ASU's College of Health Solutions, which states that "The College of Health Solutions values research that makes meaningful contributions to the health and well-being of society. The diverse faculty expertise across CHS facilitates meaningful impact across the spectrum of basic to applied research; and the structure of the College is designed intentionally to promote transdisciplinary, translational, and collaborative team science efforts that can rise to the challenge of solving complex societal health issues at scale." Another example is ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, which states that "It is recognized that research may involve multiple collaborators from a range of disciplines and that some faculty member’s research programs may be highly collaborative. This is encouraged in Engineering and reviewers should consider this to be a positive attribute in evaluating applications for promotion and/or tenure."


Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research:

ASU Library provides ongoing sustainability research support on many levels for ASU faculty, staff, students, and community users. ASU Library liaison librarians provide research assistance regarding sustainability research within their subject expertise role. The library purchases sustainability materials via approval plans, and via librarians, with sustainability assignments. ASU Library supports information literacy for sustainability research by assisting ASU students via web-accessible library or research guides, which include database research, course guides for sustainability classes, citation support, learning objects, and statistics. ASU Library has several research guides related to sustainability.

ASU's libraries match their support for sustainability research with sustainable operations. The Hayden Library, located on the Tempe campus, recently underwent a significant remodel, which included the addition of many resource-saving features. Sustainability achievements included:
• the use of recycled materials, which diverted approximately 80% of materials from a landfill.
• the re-installation of solar panels, which provide approximately 13% of the annual energy expense for the building.
• an overall redesign that reduced energy costs by 47%.
• the addition of low-flow plumbing features that reduced potable water demand by 37% and the addition of plant materials and new irrigation that reduced irrigation needs by 80%.


Website URL where information about the institution’s support for sustainability research is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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