Sonoma State University
AC-10: Support for Research

Watershed Academics To Enhance Regional Sustainability (WATERS) is a collaborative endeavor between Sonoma State University and Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) to undertake projects that enhance watershed management and academic training of students. The WATERS Collaborative maximizes academic participation in local watershed management projects. Project data and results are posted to this website and presented by students at an SSU Spring Science Symposium. WATERS recognizes Sustainable SSU as a key partner in promoting watershed related academic initiatives on campus. The WATERS Coordinator is a standing a member of the Sustainability Executive Committee (SEC) which is responsible for coordinating and supporting sustainability activities at SSU. The Coordinator works with the SSU Director of Sustainability to pursue mutually beneficial collaborations surrounding sustainability and water-related issues.

The Sustainability Executive Committee sponsors grants through the California State University system to develop sustainable pedagogy. These grants total $6,000 a year. We also have the Center of Environmental Inquiry to facilitate research in environmental studies and research. Office of Research and Sponsored Program provides funding for faculty research and new course development.

t is the Department RTP Committee’s responsibility to write a document supported by factual statements (documented or referenced as appropriate), which evaluates the candidate’s performance under each of the criteria as described in Section II. The departmental evaluation document shall include: an overview or introduction. an evaluation of the candidate's teaching effectiveness (or equivalent for librarians, counselors and SSP-ARs). an evaluation of the candidate's scholarship, research and creative achievements. an evaluation of the candidate's service to the University. an evaluation of the candidate's public service and service to the community. a concluding summary of the candidate's overall performance and explicit recommendation.

Open Access Resources Open Access Week continues with a look at a few of the many resources dedicated to providing open access to scholarly information. A good place to start is with the Directory of Open Access Journals, which indexes scholarly journals that meet high standards in terms of both openness and editorial transparency. When you search our own database indexes, you will find prominent open access resources for scholarly materials such as PLoS, ArXiv and the Journal of Digital Humanities. Many subscription journals will also offer some open access content. Our Research Guides contain information about Open Access materials in different subject areas. Open Access can help along new developments in research, as well as in preserving and sharing the cultural record. The HathiTrust Digital Library brings together digitized collections from partner libraries, providing full and partial access to a wealth of books and other materials. Not all Open Access publishers have the best of intentions. The blog Scholarly Open Access maintains a list of questionable and predatory Open Access publications that do not comply with best practices. It's a good reminder to always evaluate sources! The best resources will make use of ethical standards and codes of conduct to ensure that the information they provide access to is high quality and can be trusted.

An additional website re. sustainability research: http://www.sonoma.edu/newscenter/2016/01/peanuts-at-work-panel-discussion-brings-cartoonists-to-ssu-library.html