Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 62.57
Liaison Kylee Singh
Submission Date Feb. 16, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

California Polytechnic State University
AC-10: Support for Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Kylee Singh
Sustainability Coordinator
Energy Utilities and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student Sustainability Research Incentives 

Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct research in sustainability? :
Yes

A brief description of the student research program, including the incentives provided and any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
The College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Science (CAFES) Center for Sustainability offers various paid internship opportunities that allow students to research sustainability initiatives within the field of Agriculture Sciences. In addition to the CAFES Center for Sustainability there are a variety of centers and institutes that offer student internship opportunities to research sustainability within the engineering, architecture, and renewable energy fields.

Faculty Sustainability Research Incentives 

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

A brief description of the faculty research program, including the incentives provided and any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
The College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Science (CAFES) Center for Sustainability offers various paid fellowship opportunities that allow faculty to research sustainability initiatives within the field of Agriculture Sciences. In addition to the CAFES Center for Sustainability there are a variety of centers and institutes that offer faculty fellowship opportunities to research sustainability within the engineering, architecture, and renewable energy fields.

Recognition of Inter-, Trans- and Multi-Disciplinary Research 

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 brief description of the institution’s support for interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research, including any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
The Cal Poly Political Science Department ask that candidates for review, promotion and tenure describe the nature of the work they completed on inter-, trans- or multi-disciplinary projects, and count them as a full publication toward review by policy. Many, if not most, of their faculty participate on inter-, trans- or multidisciplinary research, teaching and/or service work. The Architectural Engineering Department has developed and run an upper-division interdisciplinary project based studio for the past five years. They have published five papers on the course, applied for grants to support this effort, and successfully fundraised to support this course. They have added an upper division interdisciplinary experience for Architectural Engineering students as a requirement for graduation. Faculty member's interdisciplinary efforts are highlighted in promotion and tenure evaluation reports. BioMed has been a leader and active participant in multidisciplinary efforts, both within the College of Engineering (e.g. Multidisciplinary Sr. Proj, MEDITEC Consortium, etc.) and across campus (e.g. Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Biomechanics Research Lab, CIRM Stem Cell Program, CSUPURB, etc). Their two most recent hires were joint appointments (BMED + EE, BMED + OCOB). Department policies and Retention, Tenure, and Promotion process specifically recognizes and rewards inter/trans/multidisciplinary research.

Library Support

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, including any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
The library maintains a Sustainability Research Guide and subscribes to several related databases and websites such as GreenFile, BuildingGreen, and Urban Land Institute (ULI) Case Studies.  Collections support is handled by subject-specific “College Librarians” and supplemented with substantial, centralized CSU-wide resource support in the form of e-resources and databases.  College Librarians are charged with staying abreast of and collecting in support of all curricular needs, including sustainability.  They are notified about new course proposals and participate in collections assessment and development for new majors, minors and other programs.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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