Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 46.29
Liaison Suchi Daniels
Submission Date March 4, 2022

STARS v2.2

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

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Thomas Frazer
Dean
College of Marine Science
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Student sustainability research incentives 

Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
Yes

A brief description of the student sustainability research program:
"UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
As early as their freshman year, students are encouraged to engage with faculty and get involved in research. Learn about the resources available to students in the Office of Undergraduate Research to promote and support real-world discovery."

"GRADUATE RESEARCH
As one of the nation's top 50 public research universities, USF provides graduate students outstanding opportunities to work alongside internationally renowned faculty and researchers in a variety of settings."

https://www.usf.edu/research/student-research.aspx
https://www.usf.edu/graduate-studies/funding/graduate-student-research-funding/

USF WORLD FUNDING AND SCHOLARHSHIPS
https://www.usf.edu/world/for-students/funding-scholarships/research-resources.aspx

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:
USF Research and Innovation, Sponsored Research
“We recognize that the ability to search funding opportunities, connect with faculty, and access scholarly data is critical to the USF research enterprise. For that reason we have taken measures to ensure that a resource to provide those functions is available to USF faculty and staff who wish to use it.” https://www.usf.edu/research-innovation/sr/funding-resources.aspx
Internal Awards Program: https://www.usf.edu/research-innovation/sr/internal-awards-program.aspx

USF World provides information on research and funding
https://www.usf.edu/world/for-faculty/research-funding.aspx

USF Research and Innovation, Points of Pride
https://www.usf.edu/research-innovation/about-usfri/points-of-pride.aspx

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:
---

The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
HISTORIC CONSOLIDATION CREATES ONE USF
"Faculty on each campus can take advantage of new opportunities for interdisciplinary research collaborations and access to more community partnerships."

"USF began operating under a single accreditation for the Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses on July 1. Consolidating from three separately accredited institutions was a requirement of a Florida law passed in 2018 and amended in 2019, and the consolidation plan was approved by the executive council of the regional accrediting agency that oversees higher education in the southern United States. Consolidation provides a wide range of new opportunities for students and faculty and ensures that every student can earn their degree from a Preeminent State Research University. USF now offers additional majors, scholarships, support services and study abroad opportunities to students on any campus, as well as expanded access to student organizations and intramural or club sports teams."
https://www.usf.edu/news/2020/2020-an-unprecedented-year.aspx

Many USF's colleges support interdisciplinary research include the College of Engineering, Business, Public Health, Education, Behavioral Health and Community Sciences,
https://www.usf.edu/engineering/research/research-centers.aspx
https://health.usf.edu/publichealth/researchcenters
https://www.usf.edu/cbcs/graduate/bcs-interdisciplinary-focus.aspx
https://www.usf.edu/education/areas-of-study/interdisciplinary-education/
https://health.usf.edu/publichealth/ctr/about

Library support

Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research:
"Changes to the global environment mark an existential threat to our planet. To combat climate change and help drive solutions to ever-growing environmental challenges, the USF Libraries established the Florida Environment and Natural History (FLENH) Collection. FLENH focuses on unique materials that effectively document Florida’s changing environment and provides opportunities for research to influence the future health and wellbeing of all living things."
"This rich collection integrates more than 20 existing collections, and includes raw data, photographs, and rare and important works of local and regional environmental scholars and conservationists. Explore these collections by visiting the FLENH Hub at flenh-usflibrary.hub.arcgis.com.

FLENH features scholars such as USF Integrative Biology Professor Emeritus John Ogden, PhD, who has donated thousands of photos from his research on tropical coastal marine ecosystems along with their accompanying journal publications, maps, data, and field diaries. It’s a living collection intended to provide a window to the past to help future oceanographic exploration."

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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