| Overall Rating | Silver - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 57.65 |
| Liaison | Michelle Seppala Gibbs |
| Submission Date | March 6, 2020 |
Hope College
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 4.00 |
Michelle
Gibbs Director Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
A brief description of the student sustainability research program:
Students in every discipline can get involved with research at Hope College.
"Hope is consistently awarded more National Science Foundation grants for undergraduate research than any other liberal arts college in the country and was ranked fourth behind the University of Michigan, Stanford and MIT for undergraduate research and creative activity in the initial rankings by US News & World Report."
During the summer of 2016 the Hope Green Team hired four students to conduct research on campus about sustainability. There was a student for each of the topics which include: energy, water, a campus garden, and the history of sustainability at Hope. This project was a big success and the group is looking to continue and possibly expand it in the future. This opportunity is open to all majors.
Hope College offers a program called "Day One" which helps students plug in to hands-on research projects and solve real-world problems in laboratories and in the field, right from day one. As part of the program students can:
Investigate water quality and help the local community address issues
Design a product to meet the needs of the community
Learn professional geology skills while exploring Northern Michigan
Discover a new virus and investigate its genome
Study environmental issues in the Great Lakes region
Live with other Day1 students in the newly renovated Lichty Hall during your first year
Additional Information about the program can be found at: http://www.hope.edu/academics/day1/
Does the institution have a program to encourage academic staff from multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
A brief description of the faculty sustainability research program:
While it is not specifically for sustainability Hope College recently received a major grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) which will enable the college to strengthen existing relationships and build new ones as the college continues to emphasize its acclaimed model of teaching through faculty-student collaborative research in the sciences.
Emphases will include enhancing research efforts in the biomedical sciences at Hope, with particular attention to collaborations with other institutions; increased emphasis on training K-12 science and mathematics teachers; increasing diversity in science, both at Hope and beyond; and initiating and participating in efforts to promote and develop scholarly lessons concerning teaching and learning at the college as well as within the broader higher education community. The full story can be found at: http://www.hope.edu/news/2008/04/22/major-grant-emphasizes-external-research-ties.html
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?:
A copy of the promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
There is no written policy on interdisciplinary research, but faculty that have interdisciplinary research are hired and obtain tenure and promotion. Within the Natural and Applied Sciences Division there are faculty that have joint appointments between multiple departments. The goal of those joint appointments was to support the further development of interdisciplinary research.
A recent article showcasing a student's interdisciplinary program "majoring in both biology and English with a writing emphasis" can be found at: https://magazine.hope.edu/winter-2016/merging-majors/
Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research:
The library at Hope does not currently have a website/resources devoted to sustainability research but they do have hundreds of resources (journals, books, digital, written, audio/visual, etc...) that can aid in research on such topics. https://hope.edu/library/
Over the past few years we have added additional resources to the library with support from our Green Team Fund Dollars. These have ranged from films to books (adult and children).
Website URL where information about the institution’s support for sustainability research is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.