Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 51.18
Liaison Joseph Kahn
Submission Date April 20, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Central Michigan University
AC-10: Support for Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 4.00 Thomas Rohrer
Director Great Lakes Institute for Sustainable Systems
Humanities, Social & Behavioral Science
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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 Institute for Great Lakes Research, or IGLR, an institute of Central Michigan University, provides monetary and educational incentives to encourages students, faculty, and local scientists to conduct sustainability research. Utilizing a $10,000,000 grant from the EPA, IGLR launched the first-ever Great Lakes basin-wide coastal wetland monitoring program. Students are funded to conduct field research, data collection and analysis to that has resulted in a sustainable ongoing and long-term monitoring system designed to act as a wetland heath/condition assessment.


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 Great Lakes Institute of Sustainable Systems promotes faculty research in sustainable fields. Incentives include public and organizational recognition, publication, factors playing into tenured decisions, as well as resource support during 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?:
No

A brief description of the institution’s support for interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research, including any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
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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 CMU Library maintains a collection of materials that supports sustainability research. Its collections of journals, books, media items, and other materials is maintained for the purpose of providing research support to both faculty and student researchers. An increasing percentage of the library’s resources are available in electronic formats, meaning they are accessible around the clock and from wherever the researcher happens to be.

If a researcher needs a copy of an item not owned by the CMU Library, there is an interlibrary loan service available. Materials can be obtained from other libraries at no cost, with the typical processing and delivery time being within 24-48 hours.

The library has subject librarians who have expertise in areas related to sustainability (e.g. the sciences, social sciences, health, education). These librarians are available to provide research assistance to both faculty and students and to provide instruction in the use of library services and resources to graduate and undergraduate classes. They can also help faculty identify and access both library-owned resources and open access materials that will support the course development process.

A subject librarian has created a research guide on the topic of sustainability, and it can be found at http://libguides.cmich.edu/sustainability

Positive outcomes include highly specialized research consultants, whom effectively aide in students' efforts to focus literature retrieved for both basic and applied research, leading to more specific, well-informed and defendable research conducted by students and faculty.


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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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.