Ball State University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Ball State University's Aspire Internal Student Grant Program provides project support for travel, research, and creative endeavors.

Programs of the Academy for Sustainability provide students with interdisciplinary studies that examine the interactions of social, economic, and environmental factors which challenge our ability to maintain sustainable systems for future generations. These programs help prepare 21st century leaders who apply systems thinking to envision and implement solutions that contribute to the healthy viability of cultures, ecologies, and economies.

The Cohen Memorial Fund was established in 1984 to support the Benjamin V. Cohen Peace Fellowship Program, which awards funds to Ball State faculty members and graduate students for research in fields related to progress toward a peaceful world.

The Center for Energy Research/Education/Service (CERES) at Ball State University, is an interdisciplinary academic support unit focused on issues related to energy and resource use, alternatives and conservation. Faculty associated with CERES have engaged in research ranging in scale from community planning to materials technology. The primary emphasis of the CERES research is the interrelation of disciplines in energy-related methods of analysis, performance evaluation, and decision-making.

The Cohen Memorial Fund was established in 1984 to support the Benjamin V. Cohen Peace Fellowship Program, which awards funds to Ball State faculty members and graduate students for research in fields related to progress toward a peaceful world.

Discovery is a women’s collaborative philanthropic group created to support and fund innovative projects and programs at Ball State University – impacting students and benefiting our local, national, and international communities. Discovery funds projects that are in line with Ball State University's Beneficence Pledge, and will contribute to the University's aspiration of being a model student-centered and community-engaged university.

Ball State University's Aspire Internal Faculty Grant Program provides funding to faculty to support projects in the areas of research, scholarly studies, and creative endeavors.

Ball State University’s Office of the Provost and Office of Immersive Learning provides support for projects that are considered “immersive learning.” Immersive Learning is considered collaborative, conducted under a faculty mentor, fills needs for a community partner, is conducted by a team of undergraduate research, and results in a specific outcome or deliverable. Funding comes in pilot projects (one year) or three-year sustained project grants. Interdisciplinary research is encouraged.

The SUBMIT incentive program is designed to provide individual support to investigators that submit an external proposal for over $20,000. Project Investigators (PI) or Co-Investigators (Co-PIs) who follow the University’s Proposal Submission Policy are eligible to receive funding that may be used for research-related expenses through a Research Incentive Fund (RIA) transferred monthly.

BALL STATE UNIVERSITY GUIDELINES FOR PROMOTION AND TENURE:

35.2. Guidelines for Promotion and Tenure - Definitions:

35.2.11. Scholarship is the process of attaining new knowledge, creating a new work, or recreating/interpreting existing works, and disseminating the results. Generally this takes the form of appropriate peer reviewed publications, presentations or exhibits, performances, other creative endeavors and grant proposals. Scholarship can occur in four areas: discovery, integration, application, and teaching.

35.2.11.1. The scholarship of discovery is traditional research and creative endeavors that pursue and contribute to new knowledge for its own sake.
35.2.11.2. The scholarship of integration makes connections across disciplines bringing together isolated knowledge from two or more disciplines or fields to create new insights and understanding.
35.2.11.3. The scholarship of application applies knowledge to address significant societal issues.
35.2.11.4. The scholarship of teaching studies the development of knowledge, skill, mind, character, and/or ability of others.

45. Policy for Evaluation of Scholarship:

45.1 Ball State University recognizes the importance of providing a climate in which professors pursue independent or collaborative scholarly activities or creative endeavors.

45.1.1. Departments will recognize and reward the four areas of scholarship: discovery, integration, application, and teaching.
45.1.2. Each department or school shall define its own emphases and the appropriateness of each faculty member's scholarly productivity and creative endeavors.
45.1.2.1. Faculty shall not be required to participate in each of the four areas of scholarship.
45.1.3. Each faculty member shall communicate clearly to the chairperson or director his or her goals and accomplishments which contribute to the departmental goals and emphases.
45.1.4. Each faculty member shall communicate clearly to the chairperson or director the appropriateness of his or her creative endeavors and means of disseminating results of scholarly productivity. The traditional methods of dissemination through refereed publications, presentations, exhibitions, productions, concerts, and other recognized professional formats currently evolving will be considered.

The Architecture Library's Building Material Samples Collection offers many sustainable building materials that students, faculty members, and staff architects can learn about and experience in person. The Building Materials Librarian helps library users research materials and manufacturing processes, learn about sustainability standards such as LEED, Cradle to Cradle Product Standards, or Energy Star, and find materials in the collection. The building material samples are included in the library catalog and are assigned subjects such as "energy performance," "recyclable," or "renewable" as appropriate. The Building Materials Librarian teaches online workshops, and there is an online research guide available for building materials (https://bsu.libguides.com/samples). Instructors can request online research guides for classes or projects, and the Building Materials Librarian works with instructors to develop exercises or class activities that make use of the collection.

The university offers a "subject guide" in Natural Resources & Environmental Management, which includes articles, internet resources, literature reviews, and annotated bibliographies. Additionally, users are able to virtually "ask a librarian" or work one-on-one in person or over the phone to receive individualized assistance with research projects. Additional "subject guides" are available for sustainability-related topics in architecture, landscape architecture, biology and urban planning.

https://bsu.libguides.com/

Architecture Library: https://www.bsu.edu/academics/libraries/research/architecture-library
Materials collection, highlighting sustainability building materials: https://bsu.libguides.com/c.php?g=41265&p=262967
Science Library: https://www.bsu.edu/academics/libraries/research/science-library