University of South Carolina
AC-10: Support for Research

The university has several programs to encourage student research in sustainability. These are offered in various formats to support undergraduate and/or graduate student efforts. -The Magellan Scholar program was created to enrich the academic experience of USC's undergraduates through research opportunities in all disciplines from science, technology, and medicine, to theatre, music, and art. By providing access to faculty mentoring relationships and a professional research experience, this program enables students to creatively explore their interests at a more in-depth level than can be attained in the classroom. The Magellan Scholar program provides opportunities for undergraduates to build a competitive edge in the job market. http://www.sc.edu/our/magellan.shtml . The Magellan program is a major outlet for top performing students to implement campus sustainability efforts and recent efforts included an edible orchard and a campus rain garden. - Discovery Day (an annual event for undergraduates at USC, all years, all disciplines) showcases students’ scholarly pursuits in and out of the classroom. Students present their experiences or findings from: • research/scholarly projects, • study abroad, • internships and co-ops, • leadership activities, • service-learning and community service, and • national fellowship competitions. Students have the opportunity to make poster, oral, creative, or artistic presentations as well as visual art displays. This includes theatrical, musical, or creative writing presentations. https://sc.edu/about/signature_events/discover/usc/index.php . Sustainability related projects are identified by Sustainable Carolina and labeled in the program and at the presentation as “sustainability approved”. -Discovery Program: Discover is an 8-week, not-for-credit seminar aimed at connecting and developing relationships with faculty; understanding current issues related to ethics, intellectual property, and copyright laws; learning about opportunities for funding and showcasing research; and creating a plan for research during your college experience. http://www.sc.edu/our/discover.shtml Leadership Scholar Program: The program provides competitive grants to undergraduate students to research and implement projects on campus that promote leadership. Nearly half of the last round of grants were awarded to sustainability and included projects such as Eco Rep training, Green Leadership and a Carbon Neutral Athletic Event. http://www.sc.edu/provost/leadership/ -Capstone Scholars and Honors College students all take on a senior research project that may include sustainability focused efforts. -Masters in Earth and Environmental Research Management offers a thesis or capstone option that allows students to focus their research on sustainability issues. -Engineering offers an Undergraduate Student NSF Research Experience that has a major thrust area of sustainable energy. http://www.che.sc.edu/centers/REU/ -Several courses require students to take on research and/or implementation projects specifically focused on sustainability to include Civil Engineering Senior Design Course and Sustainability Project Management. -The annual Sustainability Showcase allows students, faculty, and staff from across the university to present on their interdisciplinary sustainability research.

The university offers several programs to encourage faculty research into sustainability: -The Faculty Development Workshop to encourage sustainability in the curriculum is also intended to connect faculty and initiate relationships that will lead to interdisciplinary research. -The Environmental & Sustainability Program represents a wide range of synergistic disciplines, with over 100 affiliated faculty cutting across the Columbia and regional USC campuses. Interdisciplinary teams conduct research on complex problems related to sustainability, eco- and earth systems, climate change and weather, environmental risks and hazards, water resources, and society and the environment. It strongly encourages and promotes interdisciplinary research and works to connect researchers from across the campus and the country. -The Research Office has initiated new internal funding mechanisms to advance research and scholarly activities, called ASPIRE. There will be 3 major tracks of funding designated ASPIRE-I, ASPIRE-II and ASPIRE-III to promote Innovation, Integration and Infrastructure. The programs are used to bring faculty together into interdisciplinary efforts and provide seed money for new efforts. The Environmental & Sustainability Program targets the ASPIRE program for projects. http://www.sc.edu/researchdev/aspire.shtml

The university’s research commitment to achievement in research, teaching and service extends to interdisciplinary research, teaching and service. This priority is presented in the USC Faculty Manual. It is also extensively identified in the Faculty Manual for the Environment and Sustainability Program, which is made up of faculty from the various schools across campus. The Program works to facilitate a university-wide focus on the environment by: supporting interdisciplinary research and scholarship among faculty and students, promoting awareness of environmental and sustainability opportunities and accomplishments on the campus and beyond, providing an interdisciplinary environmental education to undergraduate and graduate students, and providing outreach to the broader public communities. Critical to the accomplishment of the mission are the faculty of the E&SP, their collaborative work, and their interactions with students. One of the primary goals of the program that reaches across traditional academic boundaries is: To foster interdisciplinary collaborations on environmental and sustainability issues and problems and thereby advance complex research initiatives or education platforms. Additionally, the program puts an emphasis on joint hiring of faculty by departments. USC General Faculty Manual may be found at: http://www.sc.edu/policies/facman/Faculty_Manual_Columbia.pdf

The University Libraries are committed to supporting open access research as an alternative to traditional, subscription scholarship. USC does not have a policy on open access but we do provide information and support for faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars who wish to publish in open access platforms or use open resources in their teaching. Open Access Fund: The University Libraries and the Office of the Vice President for Research help facilitate public and immediate access to the outstanding research performed by University of South Carolina scholars. The University Libraries, with support from the Office of the Vice President for Research, helps defray the costs of publishing in fully open access journals. Offering stipends for article processing charges (APCs) on a first-come, first-served basis until the fund is depleted. UofSC Columbia faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars can apply.