University of Dayton
AC-10: Support for Research

The University of Dayton sponsors the annual Stander Symposium recognizing and celebrating academic excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, including multidisciplinary, sustainability-focused research and student projects. This annual event provides an opportunity for students from all disciplines to showcase their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. This event offers a forum for students to present their work to the university and Dayton communities. The 2017 Symposium included student research and work on a variety of sustainability themes such as the Climate Choices deliberative dialogue, Sustainability Approaches to economic development in Dayton, Carbon Lock-In on university campuses, and an assessment of water quality impacted by invasive species on stream salamanders. The 2018 Symposium included student research and work on sustainability themes such as Creating Inclusive Communities, strengthening neighborhoods through narratives, impact of non-native invasive insects on herbaceous cover in old growth forests, factors influencing waterbird diversity in the Great Miami river, and data modelling supporting the Energy GPA program implementation. The University of Dayton’s Hanley Sustainability Institute also supports graduate assistants in sustainability research, offering a stipend and tuition waiver. HSI also supported undergraduate fellows conducting composting feasibility studies and carbon footprint of dining services food purchases (2018). This support has resulted in theses and peer-reviewed publications, engagement programs on campus and in the community, and mentoring for undergraduate students.

The Hanley Sustainability Institute (HSI) announced a grant program that will make available, on a competitive basis, funds for scholarly work to faculty and affiliated research staff across the university. The first awards were made in spring 2015. Up to $150,000 in grant funds are available for research, scholarship and creative production that will contribute to the emerging mission of the Hanley Sustainability Institute. The first recipients of Hanley Research Grant awards were selected from applications submitted by teams from across campus. The six teams funded include UDRI researchers, and faculty from the Schools of Business Administration, Engineering, and the College. The $150,000 distributed among the six teams represents less than 25% of the total requested and present a broad research agenda. The grants range from funding for a Clean Fuel Retrofit of a Gasoline‐Powered Campus Shuttle, A Proposed Framework for New Product Development through Upcycling, to the creation of a Documentary Project on Huffman Prairie. STEM Catalyst Grants: The University of Dayton launched a new initiative to invest in and support faculty and student research across the sciences, engineering and mathematics at the University. The STEM Catalyst grant program is intended to advance new and existing research programs that have the potential to rise to national prominence. The competitive grant program will provide up to $500,000 to support research during summer 2017 and 2018. Application is open to all tenured, tenure track and non-tenure track faculty. The grants are offered through a collaborative effort among the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and University of Dayton Hanley Sustainability Institute.

While the university does not have institutional level policies that specifically reward faculty scholarly work that uses interdisciplinary approaches and methods, it does have a long track record of rewarding the scholarship of faculty members who choose to use such methods. From the university’s faculty handbook, p.100, section 1, university commitment to research: “in fulfillment of its mission to render public service, the university offers its physical and human resources to support the research needs of the public and private sectors of our society. It encourages the establishment of team-oriented, multidisciplinary research programs which are responsive to the complex problems facing contemporary society.” The University’s faculty workload guidelines (updated in 2012) state: - “Expectations for the allocation of the faculty's professional responsibilities align with policies and criteria for the award of tenure, promotion in academic rank, post-tenure career progression, and the award of annual merit. “ - “Faculty members search for ways to connect all aspects of their responsibilities [of teaching, scholarship and service].” - “Off-campus educational experiences, service-learning projects, and interdisciplinary approaches to integrating learning are relevant to the determination of individual teaching assignments.” - “Extent of integration of service activities with an individual’s teaching, scholarship and/or research” is desirable, should dovetail with P&T expectations, and is relevant to the determination of a faculty member’s workload. In addition, a recent University-wide visioning process identified the support of transdisciplinary research as a priority. This initiative was announced as part of the University new president's inaugural address in 2017.

The library continues to support sustainability research and learning with an active materials acquisition program for faculty involved with sustainability research and creating sustainability-focused research guides for student learning. Further, the University Libraries support faculty and student research with more than 1 million print and electronic books; subscriptions to more than 200 databases; access to more than 68,000 print and electronic journals; and expert advice from an integrated team of knowledgeable librarians and staff. Through OhioLINK, a statewide library consortium, our students, faculty and staff can access more than 50 million additional items, delivered on demand within a few days.

Brother Joseph W. Stander Symposium: https://www.udayton.edu/provost/stander/