State University of New York at Oneonta
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

The campus’ annual Student Research & Creative Activity (SRCA) Day provides a professional forum for students to showcase research to the campus and greater community. Although open to all disciplines, sustainability projects are encouraged, and relevant projects are designated by the President’s Advisory Council on Sustainability (PACS) as such in the SRCA program and on the presentations. In the six years that sustainability-focused presentations have been designated, 225 student projects from myriad disciplines presented at SRCA showcases have been so designated, representing a significant percentage of total presentations (e.g., 47 percent of all 2022 SRCA presentations had the sustainability-related designation).
The Student Grant Program for Research & Creative Activity provides funding for independent projects conducted by students with faculty sponsorship, with applications rounds in both the fall and spring semesters. Engagement of students in scholarly work with faculty mentorship, including sustainability-focused and related projects, is supported through four different ‘tracks’ of the Student Grant Program for Research & Creative Activity: (1) The ‘traditional’ track awards funding for (I) independent research/CA projects conducted by individual students with faculty sponsorship [up to $2,100], and (II) research teams working on a sustained research program [up to $4,200]. (2) The ‘shadowing’ track is intended to broaden student engagement in scholarly activities, whereby a student with little-to-no experience joins a faculty member’s research/CA endeavor as an “observer” or a junior team member [up to $1500 for project expenses and faculty mentor and ‘shadow’ student stipends]. (3) The ‘course-based’ track is intended to support activities that expose students to the breadth, depth, and application of scholarly/creative work [up to $1,000 for activities that enhance this element of a course]. (4) The ‘summer fellowship’ track is intended to assist undergraduate students with costs related to participating in actively mentored summer research/CA [up to $3,800 for independent projects and $7,600 for teams including student fellowships, faculty stipends, and project-related expenses; student are eligible for on-campus housing at no cost. Students can apply for up to $1,500 for expenses needed to carry out the project; and also receive a $300 fellowship when the project is presented at a SRCA Day event. (Faculty sponsors also receive a $300 fellowship.) During the most recent program year (2021/22) approximately $150,000 was allocated to the Student Grant program. Additional funding in the amount of ~$50,000/year is available for students to travel to academic and co-curricular conferences/meetings. Students conducting sustainability-related work and attending/presenting at related conferences are encouraged by the Sustainability Coordinator and faculty in the Environmental Sustainability program to apply to these opportunities.

The annual faculty showcase event, the Life of the Mind (LOTM), spotlights research and scholarship made by faculty to the intellectual life of the campus community and beyond. Although open to all disciplines, sustainability projects are encouraged; and, as with SRCA Day, organizers began designating sustainability-related projects as such in the LOTM program and on the presentations. Since 2016, when the sustainability designation of projects began, 85 presentations from a variety of disciplines have been so designated by the PACS, representing an average of 30 percent of total projects presented over the six-year period.
Campus-based funding is allocated annually for faculty to conduct scholarly projects in all disciplines (currently up to $2,000 per project), made available through application to the Faculty/Professional Staff Research & Creative Activity Grant Program, a competitive program with awards made through a peer-review process. Funding priority is given to interdisciplinary/ multidisciplinary projects and those that relate to the college’s current mission and priorities. Sustainability is one of three stated core values of the college, along with inclusivity and service.

The college's library website hosts a LibGuide for sustainability. The LibGuide allows for easy navigation through of the library's collection of articles, books, journals and other online resources.