Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 79.37
Liaison Jillian Leach
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

California State University, Chico
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Sandrine Matiasek
Professor
Geological and Environmental Sciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:

The Associated Students Sustainability Fund Allocation Committee administers a student approved sustainability fee, which generates approximately $100,000 per year that is awarded to student sustainability projects. Students can apply for up $5000 per award.
https://as.csuchico.edu/sustainability/sfac

The Center for Water and the Environment offers Student Research Award for research focused on water, energy, and the environment. Students receive a $1000 award after a competitive application process.


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:

The Center for Water and the Environment is the CSU, Chico center for research on water, energy, and the environment. CWE cultivates collaboration for a multidisciplinary perspective on complex environmental and societal issues. CWE supports research with staff support, funding, space and instrumentation. As a Center of Excellence at CSU, Chico, CWE’s mission is to:
- Connect people from across campus as well as with the community outside the University
- Respond to societal needs.
- Expand competitiveness in the research of water, energy, and the environment.
- Expand and explore out-of-classroom learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.
CWE collaborates with local, state and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, and educational institutions, focusing within CSU, Chico’s 12-county service region in northern California. https://www.csuchico.edu/cwe/

Additionally, faculty tenure and promotion procedures consider contributions to the University's Strategic Priorities, including Priority #3: Resilient & Sustainable Systems: ""Advance environmental, social, and economic sustainability; striving toward a just and resilient future.
- Work to be climate neutral by 2030.
- Cultivate knowledge, research, and practice to increase awareness that our individual and collective actions have impact regionally, nationally, and globally.
- Be wise stewards of resources and embrace sustainability and resilience as a way of living.
- Integrate sustainability and resilience into curriculum, research, and campus operations to better serve students and meet the needs of society.
- Recover and adapt to significant difficulties or challenges and recognize our responsibility to forge resiliency in the communities we serve.

Faculty can be supported in fulfilling this University Strategic Priority using the university's internal grants for:
--Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities
--CSE Scholars
--Faculty Development
https://www.csuchico.edu/cse/grant-funding-opportunities/internal-grants.shtml


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:
The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:

Excepts from the CSU, Chico Faculty, Personnel Policies and Procedures (FPPP) for academic year 2020-21:

"Three areas of evaluation must be considered at all review levels in making recommendations on retention, tenure, and promotion (RTP): Instruction; Professional Growth and Achievement; and Service that contributes to the Strategic Plans and Goals of the Department/Unit, College, and University and to the Community."

Professional Growth and Achievement includes research and is specified by the Department standards. https://www.csuchico.edu/oapl/faculty-development/department-standards.shtml

Service requirements may also include research. Service must contribute to the Strategic Plans and Goals of the Department/Unit, College, University, and Community.

Promotion and tenure requirements can also include a statement related to strategic plans and goals. Such activities or achievements may include, but are not limited to, innovations in diversity, sustainability, service learning, civic engagement, and service to the North State.


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:

--Meriam Library hosted a Climate Literacy Symposium in 2020: https://library.csuchico.edu/events/climate-literacy-symposium
--Research guides for Sustainable Management (https://libguides.csuchico.edu/MGMT460), Environmental Studies (https://libguides.csuchico.edu/c.php?g=414241), Environmental Sciences (https://libguides.csuchico.edu/GEOS315), Pollution Science (https://libguides.csuchico.edu/c.php?g=414221), and more.
--Subject Librarians dedicated to assisting with research, materials selection, and curriculum development efforts across multiple subjects, including sustainability (https://library.csuchico.edu/subject-librarians)
--In terms of Meriam Library collections, doing a simple Subject search for “Sustainability” yields over 200K results.
--E-book collections: Ebsco ebooks, ProQuest ebook central (including specialized collections related to sustainability)
--Database subscriptions that hold many sustainability-related resources (including some that specialize in sustainability/environmental science topics) – Wiley Online Library, ScienceDirect, American Chemical Society, GeoRef, Oxford Journals, GreenFILE, SpringerLink, USGS Publications Warehouse, SAGE Journals Online, CAB Abstracts, JSTOR, Academic Search.
--Meriam Library YouTube page – online video tutorials on conducting research
--DIY Research Guides
• Research help – guides on determining a topic, what is empirical research
• Scholarly sources


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

Additional Sources can be found with the following URLs:
https://www.csuchico.edu/strategicplan/priorities.shtml
https://www.csuchico.edu/cwe/
Meriam Library hosted a Climate Literacy Symposium in 2020: https://library.csuchico.edu/events/climate-literacy-symposium


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