Chatham University
AC-10: Support for Research

The Falk School of Sustainability has developed the Summer Fellowship Program that provides a generous stipend to allow students the opportunity to focus on helping communities and the world with their work and research. Graduate students will be guaranteed up to $5,000 income for their summer placements. These opportunities may be either student acquired or come from one of the Falk School's developed placements with organizations working on various sustainable projects. The Falk Summer Fellowship program is competitive, with priority given to applicants who express a preference in international and/or community development contexts. In addition, students can participate in sustainable research as part of an independent study which counts as college credits and allows the student to work with the faculty and the research project. Graduate students are encouraged to do an independent study with the sustainability office and undergraduate students are encouraged to do their senior independent research project called tutorial on sustainability. The sustainability office actively seeks students to do their tutorial projects on sustainability and the Director of Sustainability sits on undergraduate and graduate thesis boards. The students receive college credit for their projects. We also have internships and assistantships in both the undergraduate and graduate programs for the sustainability office, the Eden Hall Farm, and assisting with Falk School of Sustainability faculty research. These are paid internships and assistantships.

Chatham University requires faculty in the Falk School of Sustainability to conduct research related to sustainability as part of their faculty positions. Research is conducted by faculty with assistance from graduate students as part of fellowships, assistantships, or course work. For example, as part of the course Community Research: Food and Health, Falk School faculty member Mim Siedel is conducting a research program at Wilkinsburg WIC Clinic to encourage participants to shop at farmers markets. In addition, faculty in departments that house sustainability concentrations must conduct sustainability research in order to teach sustainability related or focused courses.

With Chatham's historic liberal arts focus and the requirements of our mission initiatives of sustainability, women's issues, and global affairs, much of our research is by necessity interdisciplinary in nature. A recent statement released by our Vice President for Academic Affairs stated, “Interdisciplinary research has been greatly valued at Chatham University, and it is given equal weight as research from a single academic discipline.”

The JKM Library on the Shadyside campus has a library liaison dedicated to the Falk School of Sustainability by offering library technical support, research assistance, content guides, and sustainability-focused journal subscriptions.