Green Mountain College
AC-10: Support for Research

The institution encourages student research in sustainability in three ways. First, to graduate, every undergraduate Green Mountain College student must conduct a substantive piece of sustainability research in the capstone ELA course entitled "A Delicate Balance" and must earn a passing grade. The general description of this assignment is provided here: The “Delicate Balance Project” Assignment Project Overview: The Delicate Balance project is a culminating service activity that you research, design, carry out, and write up. The project is both scholarly and action oriented: that is, you both write a paper that supports your project and carry out the project. Required elements include: 1. Project Proposal (group (if applicable), 5%) (pitch presentation and written proposal) 2. Essay #1 (individual, 10%) (5-7 pages) 3. Essay #2 (individual, 10%) (5-7 pages) 4. Poster Presentation (group (if applicable), 5%) 5. Final Project “Package” (synthesis of #2 +#3, individual, 10%) Project Description: This is where you are to put your well-researched ideas and idealism into action. The project is the scholarly and real-world expression of your environmental and social ethics—a public activity that addresses a need. You are to find a problem involving community sustainability (broadly defined), use your research skills to understand and contextualize the problem and possible solutions, and deliver a solution through civic engagement. Projects will be negotiated in class, based on your interests, goals, disciplinary skills, and the needs of the community. Past examples will be made available. The default is that you’ll work in a small group—working individually requires instructor approval. Second, full-time faculty can provide $500 of funding per semester to Undergraduate Research Assistants (URAs). Four out of the eleven URAs in 2013 were working with faculty engaged in sustainability research. Finally, in FY 2013, two scholarships were offered to students, for which sustainability research or sustainability projects were an important consideration in the application. These include the following: Program: Sustainability 2020 Award Eligibility: Awarded to students who have demonstrated excellence through past and current participation in community service, leadership roles in academic and extracurricular settings, and/or dedication to environmental practices. Award Amount: Ranges in amount up to $7,000 per year. How to Apply: Submit a detailed resume of community service, leadership and/or environmental advancement experience with the admissions application. Deadline: A detailed resume or the Sustainability 2020 Award Worksheet must be submitted with the application for admission. How to Maintain: Renewed annually as long as the student remains in good academic standing. Program: Demonstrated Excellence in Environmental Practices Scholarship (DEEP) Eligibility: Offered to students once they are a part of the Green Mountain College community. Students must demonstrate a passion for the environment through academic research, community service, poetry or art. Award Amount: $1,000 awarded each year.

Because of the College's mission and academic focus on sustainability, we encourage all faculty to engage in sustainability-related research, and most of those faculty engaged in research do so (see faculty research in AC 9). Consequently we do not need a specific program to encourage sustainability research. During contract renewal and promotion, we do give extra weight to research that advances the College's strategic plan Sustainability 2020.

Yes, we give positive recognition to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research during faculty promotion and/or tenure decisions because this kind of research is essential to the structure of our academic programs.

Griswold Library at Green Mountain College supports the institution’s broader sustainability efforts by subscribing to a series of carefully selected and specific research databases. Two of the leading databases are Environment Complete and Agricola/Agriculture Journals. Also of value and receiving much use by library patrons are the databases BioOne and JSTOR Biological Sciences. The library homepage directs patrons to LibGuides that provide the researcher with guided tutorials in a number sustainability subject areas (see links below in the notes section). In addition, Griswold Library is committed to offering library patrons access to new and historical resources and therefore actively purchases books, serials, and DVD/documentaries in a variety of subject areas to include environmental studies and sustainability studies in general, and in particular the subjects agriculture, animal studies, ecological design, environmental ethics, food systems, natural resources management, renewable energy, and sustainable/green business.

This is a link to our research database, Environment Complete : http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/search/advanced?sid=e91f4c1b-795d-437e-981c-30ec751f17d9%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=126 The database provides citations and abstracts for 1,600+ publications that focus on the natural environment. Accompanying full-text coverage is available for 600+ of the titles This links to Agricola/Agriculture Journals: http://search.proquest.com/advanced?accountid=26436&selectids=10000055,1007160 Agriculture and related fields of study are the focus of the database. Both historical and current literature in the form of journal articles, book chapters, technical reports, and more are available in this database. The following homepage links take the library researcher to specific subject guides that support the study of sustainability : Research Guides by Subject Agriculture--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=208969 Biology--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=220746 Business--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=220823 Economics--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=221057 Environmental Studies--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=221100 Natural Resource Management--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=221170 Renewable Energy & Ecological Design--http://greenmtn.libguides.com/content.php?pid=488834