Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 56.79
Liaison Ryan Chabot
Submission Date April 23, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of Central Florida
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 4.00 Ryan Chabot
Sustainability Coordinator
Arboretum and Sustainability Initiatives
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Student sustainability research incentives 

Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
No

A brief description of the student sustainability research program:
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Faculty sustainability research incentives 

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:
UCF’s Faculty Cluster Initiative, first introduced in 2014, is designed to foster the development of strong, transdisciplinary academic teams focused on solving tomorrow’s most challenging societal problems.

Nine faculty clusters are currently active, three of which are relevant to sustainability research. The three relevant to sustainability research include UCF Coastal: National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Center, and Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT). The Office of the Provost provides 100 percent of the faculty line and 65 percent of the start‐up costs. The colleges, departments, and institutes are expected to cover the remaining 35 percent of the start‐up costs for these positions.

UCF Coastal: National Center for Integrated Coastal Research

UCF Coastal focuses on integrating science and societal needs to address coastal issues and teach students conservation and resource management. This Center, which has grown from its original cluster origination, works to understand complex local, national and global problems related to natural changes in coastal systems and those caused by humans. The threats and challenges Florida faces are the same that coastal communities around the world face. The solutions, methods and technologies developed at UCF will have immediate application to other geographic locations, with the potential to be statewide and national models for how coastal states should address future environmental and economic challenges as well as growth opportunities.

UCF Colleges Involved in Sustainable Coastal Systems:
*College of Business Administration
*College of Engineering and Computer Science
*College of Sciences
*Rosen College of Hospitality Management
*College of Community Innovation and Education
*College of Medicine

Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) Center

Resilient, Intelligent and Sustainable Energy Systems (RISES) is the university center on energy systems at University of Central Florida. Its multi-disciplinary and highly-productive team of faculty and students commit themselves to transformative and collaborative research in resilient and sustainable energy systems. Through partnerships among university, utility and government stakeholders, we aim to facilitate deployment and integration of renewable energy resources, as well as provide innovative solutions that make electricity grids self-organizing, efficient and resilient. The center focuses upon holistic analysis, design, development and deployment of distributed renewable energy resources (PV systems in particular), advanced information, communication, control and optimization technologies, along with supporting economic and management policies. Through meeting these technical goals, we can reliably integrate renewable resources, achieve better power quality and best use markets to enable customers to make intelligent and environmentally conscientious decisions.

UCF Colleges and Centers Involved in Sustainable Energy Systems:
*College of Engineering and Computer Science
*College of Community Innovation and Education
*College of Optics and Photonics
*Florida Solar Energy Center



-Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT)

UCF’s Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation Cluster, or REACT, is developing new, alternative materials for catalysis to power technology and chemical processes that are safe for people and the environment. The production of electricity from renewable sources, like solar, is a cost-competitive alternative to fossil-fuel-generated electricity, and alternatively powered forms of transportation are rapidly gaining acceptance. Essential to harnessing these forms of alternative energy is research into the materials needed to produce and store them. Energy research is critical in slowing growth in carbon emissions without slowing economic growth. Within the past few years, increases in carbon emissions are now less than the rate of economic growth, due in large part to new renewable energy sources coming online.

UCF Colleges and Centers Involved in Energy Conversion and Propulsion:
*College of Engineering and Computer Science
*College of Sciences
*Florida Solar Energy Center
*NanoScience Technology Center
*Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center

Recognition of interdisciplinary, transdisciplnary and multi-disciplinary research 

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:
Interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research and involvement are considered during faculty promotion and/or tenure differently between college/departments at UCF. The following colleges/departments are some examples of those that make theses considerations during promotion and/or tenure decisions:

- Department of Criminal Justice
- Department of Anthropology
- Department of Chemistry
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Physics
- School of Performing Arts
- College of Engineering and Computer Science
- Department of Food Service and Lodging Management
- Department of Tourism, Events, and Attractions

A full list of UCF departmental promotion and tenure criteria can be found at:
https://facultyexcellence.ucf.edu/promotion-and-tenure-criteria/

Library support

Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
No

A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research:
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Optional Fields 

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:
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