Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 62.34
Liaison Christie-Joy Hartman
Submission Date Jan. 27, 2022

STARS v2.2

James Madison University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Benjamin Delp
Director of Research Development and Promotion
Research & Scholarship
"---" 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:

JMU’s Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World provides partial travel funding for students to present at conferences and to participate in student competitions. The application process is competitive. Full time students are eligible to apply. Students must be presenting work related to environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Details for the funded conference presentations follow:
-Evaluating Stream Restoration Program Effectiveness Using Benthic Macroinvertebrates as Proxy for Stream Health, Lucas Manweiler (undergraduate student), Association of Southern Biologists Annual Meeting, Memphis, TN, April 3-6, 2019
-A Sustainability Decision Making System Architecture for Cybermanufacturing Systems, Scott Layne (undergraduate student), 2018 International Conference of the American Society of Engineering Management, Coeur d’Alene, ID, October 17-20, 2018


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 ISNW continued to encourage research and engaged learning by providing partial funding toward conference presentations.

Details for the funded conference presentations follow:
-"The Wait for Water: An Analysis of Water.org’s Digital Campaign Messaging Strategies", Cate Bruns (instructor), Central States Communication Association Convention, Omaha, NE, April 4-6, 2019
-"Life Cycle Assessment of Large Chiller Equipment Manufacturing," Dr. Hao Zhang (assistant professor), 2018, International Conference of the American Society of Engineering Management, Coeur d’Alene, ID, October 17-20, 2018
-"Divergent Conceptualizations of Sustainability – Considerations for Instrument Design," Dr. Debbie Sturm (associate professor), Symposium on Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education, Scotland, UK, March 14-15, 2019


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:
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The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:

The following promotion and tenure guideline recognize cross-disciplinary scholarship:

(1) Department of Psychology: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/PT-PSYCH.pdf

Under "Excellent Performance" (in Scholarly Achievement and Professional Qualifications): "In addition, faculty must show evidence of one or more of the following [1 of 5 listed here]:

Engage in high quality research projects (e.g., Involvement in research projects with potential for significant impact on theory, practice, and/or teaching; Development of comprehensive research strategies to address a particular important research question; Well-managed pursuit of multiple research questions; particularly innovative research strategies; or research that fosters multidisciplinary approaches)"

(2) School of Engineering: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/PT-Engineer.pdf

Under Scholarly Achievement and Professional Qualifications, Part B. Evidence:

"We value cross-disciplinary scholarship and understand that such scholarly products vary in levels of investment. Thus, the AUH and AUPAC will be mindful that not all scholarly products can be equally weighted…It should also be noted that the Department of Engineering values both single-author and
collaborative scholarship, especially collaborative work with students.”

(3) Department of Biology: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/PT-BIO.pdf

Under II. Scholarly Activity: "Collaborative research with other scientists in biology or other disciplines is valued and encouraged, but such activities should complement, not replace leadership of their own independent program...."

(4) Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/PT-Interdis.pdf

Under Part 1. General Considerations, G. Standards for Promotion and Tenure:

“IdLS faculty members’ scholarship and professional development can be interdisciplinary, degree based, or a combination of the two. Evaluations of IdLS faculty members’ scholarship and professional development shall focus on the quality and quantity the faculty members’ work, not whether it is interdisciplinary or degree based. Further, scholarship that is co-authored, published in scholarly venues in languages other than English, and demonstrated in forms other than traditional publications, but which are appropriate to the disciplinary standards in the candidate’s expertise, is valued and encouraged.”

(5) Department of Management: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/_documents/PT-MANG.pdf

Under Criteria for Evaluation of Faculty Seeking Promotion, part b) Scholarly Achievement Criteria: “The Management Department supports a broad range of scholarly activities in disciplines such as Organizational Behavior, Strategic Management, Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations, Entrepreneurship, and International Management, as well as interdisciplinary research (e.g., collaboration in areas such as economics, marketing, CIS, etc.)”

(6) Department of Mathematics and Statistics: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/PT-MATHSTAT.pdf

Under 2. Yearly Evaluation, 2.2. Scholarship: “Scholarly activity involves scholarly exploration in an aspect of mathematics, statistics, or mathematics education, including interdisciplinary work...When the PAC evaluates scholarship, it considers a variety of evidence, including: peer-reviewed research publications (which could be interdisciplinary in nature), scholarly presentations, mentoring undergraduate research projects that generate original results, peer-reviewed pedagogical publications, discipline-related books, peer-reviewed presentations or proceedings, scholarly-related grant activity, and innovative consulting projects.”

(7) School of Nursing: https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/PT-NURS.pdf

Under Scholarship/Professional Development: “Scholarship refers to systematic and diligent inquiry for the purpose of creating, discovering, developing, integrating, creatively applying, or refining knowledge...Interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship is valued by the School of Nursing.”

Under Criteria for Nursing Faculty Tenure Track Promotion; Creative Scholarship: “Shows evidence of independent or collaborative scholarly outcomes.”

Under Criteria for Nursing Faculty RTA Promotion; Creative Scholarship: “Demonstrates record of seeking out/leading collaborative scholarship with practice partners to improve patient and/or organization outcomes (e.g. evidence-based and quality improvement projects, policy analysis, program evaluation, research projects etc.)”

(8) Additionally, the Provost’s Award Winner for Excellence in Research and Scholarship includes, "Selection Criteria. Candidates are evaluated for qualifications in any of the following areas: [1 of 8 included here] "Implementing an interdisciplinary approach to research/creative work." https://www.jmu.edu/research/RSAward.shtml

(9) In JMU's Core Qualities and University Goals of JMU's Strategic Plan for 2020-2026, under Academic Quality: Excellence in Teaching and Scholarly Endeavors: “Goal 4B: The faculty will model interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to learning as pathways to innovation, knowledge creation and problem-solving in our complex global environment.” https://www.jmu.edu/jmuplans/core-qualities-goals.shtml#TeachingExcellence

Accessed November 2021


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:

Library materials relating to sustainability include the following call number ranges: GE 1-350 Environmental sciences; QC 851-999 Meteorology, Climatology; QH 1-199.5 Natural history, including nature conservation, geographical distribution; QH 540-549.5 Ecology; Environmental technology, Sanitary engineering. Books and eBooks in these call number ranges are purchased with a fund designated for science, technology, and business monographs.

Database subscriptions include BioOne, the ProQuest Environmental Science Collection, and Environment Complete.

Online research guides are maintained for the following areas:
-Integrated Science and Technology, http://guides.lib.jmu.edu/isat
-Geographic Science, http://guides.lib.jmu.edu/geography
-Engineering, http://guides.lib.jmu.edu/engineering
-Energy and the Environment, https://guides.lib.jmu.edu/energy
-Green Building and Design, http://guides.lib.jmu.edu/greenbuilding

Applied Sciences Librarian Kelly Giles and Science & Math Librarian Alyssa Young maintain these guides and are available by appointment to meet with faculty and students and assist with sustainability-related research.


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

Responsible party for information about student conference presentation support: Amanda Bodle, Program Manager, ISNW

Responsible party for "Library Support" information: Kelly Giles, Associate Professor, Applied Sciences Librarian. Entered by Essa Paterson, ISNW, March 11, 2021.

Responsible Party for Faculty Sustainability Initiatives information: Ben Delp, Director, Research Development and Promotion

Essa Paterson, ISNW, reviewed all available Promotion and Tenure Guidelines on https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/pnt-guidelines.shtml in March 2021 to complete 'Recognition of interdisciplinary, transdisciplnary and multi-disciplinary research' field. Links confirmed November 29, 2021.


Responsible party for information about student conference presentation support: Amanda Bodle, Program Manager, ISNW

Responsible party for "Library Support" information: Kelly Giles, Associate Professor, Applied Sciences Librarian. Entered by Essa Paterson, ISNW, March 11, 2021.

Responsible Party for Faculty Sustainability Initiatives information: Ben Delp, Director, Research Development and Promotion

Essa Paterson, ISNW, reviewed all available Promotion and Tenure Guidelines on https://www.jmu.edu/academic-affairs/policies-and-reports/pnt-guidelines.shtml in March 2021 to complete 'Recognition of interdisciplinary, transdisciplnary and multi-disciplinary research' field. Links confirmed November 29, 2021.

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