James Madison University
AC-9: Research and Scholarship

The total number of employees that conduct research only includes those in academic department equivalents. In consultation with AASHE and Ben Delp, Director of Research Development and Promotion, the methodology for number of employees that conduct research was consistent with the last JMU STARS submission: the number of full-time instructional faculty at JMU was used, as research is a component of annual evaluations and departmental expectations at JMU for many full-time instructional faculty. This is a conservative estimate since some full-time instructional faculty may not have research responsibilities. 

Source for number of full-time instructional faculty in 2023 Common Data Set 2022-2023: https://www.jmu.edu/pair/ir/research/cds/cds2022/cds-2022i.pdf

Essa Paterson, ISNW, reviewed and updated the research inventory submitted to STARS in December 2022. Faculty no longer at JMU were removed from the list. New entries were made based on 1) a manual search* of Scopus.com and Lens.org and 2) an Advanced Scopus search**, which identified JMU faculty who published sustainability-related academic articles between 2020 to time of search, 3) ISNW staff referral, 4) faculty referrals, and 5) review of JMU’s faculty experts (https://www.jmu.edu/university-communications/faculty-experts/index.shtml).

All faculty from the 2020 list were offered an opportunity to update their entry. New faculty identified in methods 1-3 above were contacted and offered multiple opportunities to decline inclusion. New faculty identified in methods 4 & 5 above were contacted to confirm that their research met the AASHE STARS definition of sustainability research, and to confirm that they would be listed. Faculty were not included if they did not believe their research met the criteria, they requested not to be included, or they did not meet full-time instructional faculty classification.

The full-time instructional faculty classification was used to be consistent with the methodology for the total number of faculty who conduct research. Faculty were identified as being full-time instructional faculty using a publicly released database of salaries and classifications for full-time JMU employees. A draft of the research inventory was posted on the ISNW website and a link sent to all faculty included on the inventory for their review. Edits were made according to feedback from faculty.

*Manual Search of Scopus.com and Lens.org: Lens.org was used by ISNW staff to identify JMU employee citations between 2020 and June 17, 2022. INSW staff searched “James Madison University” under “Scholarly Works” tab at Lens.org Results were filtered to include only citations from 2020 to present [June 17, 2022], and affiliation (James Madison University). This generated a list of 971 publications. These were reviewed manually by reading titles and keywords for each entry. ISNW staff identified 59 that were related to the environmental SDGs. At the Scopus.com site, ISNW staff searched for James Madison University under ‘Affiliations’ tab. Refined search by choosing years of interest (2020-present [September 8, 2022]). This generated a list of 1160 publications. ISNW staff reviewed titles and keywords for each entry and identified 69 that were related to the environmental SDGs. More information about Lens.org: https://about.lens.org. (Accessed 10/12/23) More information about Scopus.com: https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus?dgcid=RN_AGCM_Sourced_300005030 (Accessed 10/12/23).

**Advanced Scopus search: This search was completed in two phases. Phase one consisted of ISNW staff using the advanced search option at the Scopus.com site in which the user chose from a list of 16 of the 17 SDGs (SDG 17 is not included). Each environmental dimension SDG was selected individually (6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15), and Scopus.com populated the search field with a list of search queries, developed by Elsevier data science teams, related to the specific SDG. After the query list was added, ISNW added the search criteria of 'JMU affiliation' and refined the search to '2020-present [October 25, 2022]'. Phase two followed the same procedure as phase one but included only the non-environment SDGs (1-5, 8, 10), with the search dates including '2020-present [March 13, 2023]'. (Note that the publication search did reveal some publications which would be published in 2023 – these were included.) ISNW staff removed only citations that were authored by faculty members no longer at JMU or that were authored by a JMU student that did not have a JMU faculty co-author. More information about the SDGs on Scopus and the search option can be found at: https://blog.scopus.com/posts/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs-on-scopus. (Accessed 10/12/23)

The following faculty conduct research but were not counted for this credit because they were either in a department that did not meet the criteria for academic department equivalent, or they were not full-time instructional faculty at the time of inventory. (This list includes faculty classified as Administrative/Professional, who do not qualify because they are not instructional):

1. Barnard-Kubow, Karen; Department of Biology

2. Blackstone, Sarah; Planning, Analytics and Institutional Research

3. Breneman, Daisy; Department of Justice Studies

4. Cocking, Dean; Department of Biology

5. Delp, Benjamin; Research, Economic Development and Innovation

6. Flint, William; Department of Biology

7. Foust, Richard; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

8. Gosselin, Sarah; School of Theater & Dance

9. Harned, Alleyn; Virginia Clean Cities

10. Hartman, Christie-Joy; ISNW/School of Integrated Sciences

11. Holland, Keith; Research, Economic Development and Innovation/Department of Engineering

12. Hulton, Linda; School of Nursing

13. Kolvoord, Robert; Interim Provost

14. McNaught, John; Training and Technical Assistance Center, College of Education

15. Miller, Andrew; School of Strategic Leadership Studies

16. Muhonja, Besi Brillian; Research, Economic Development/Innovation, Department of English

17. Myers, Joy; Grow Your Own

18. Oh, Juntack; Department of Kinesiology

18. Pangle, Remy; Center for the Advancement of Sustainable Energy/School of Integrated Sciences

20. Pendleton, Tilda; Department of Physics and Astronomy

21. Shorish, Yasmeen; JMU Libraries

22. Sparkman-Key, Narketta; Academic Affairs; Learning, Technology and Leadership Education

23. Switzer, Tina; School of Nursing

24. Temple, Louise; School of Integrated Sciences

25. Tongen, Anthony; Research, Economic Development and Innovation, Mathematics and Statistics

26. Whitescarver, Robert; School of Integrated Sciences

*Research, Economic Development and Innovation was Research and Scholarship, a unit under the Provost's Office, at the time of inventory.

Responsible party for total number of the institution’s faculty and/or staff that are engaged in research (headcount) https://www.jmu.edu/pair/ir/research/statsum/2022-23/t4-1_2022.pdf (Accessed 10/12/23): Benjamin Delp, Director, Federal Relations and Communications; Research, Economic Development and Innovation

Responsible party for conducting inventory and confirming with faculty: Essa Paterson, ISNW. Unit names updated at time of submission (8/15/24).