Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 45.22
Liaison Mei May
Submission Date Nov. 27, 2019

STARS v2.2

University of Texas at San Antonio
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 4.00 Mei L May
Director Office of Sustainability
Sustainability
"---" 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:
The UTSA Office of Sustainability, the Sustainable Energy Research Institute and the UTSA Council on Sustainability all encourage research and have supported individual student research projects. Numerous projects have been presented at local and national conferences. Sustainability research poster participated at the 2019 AASHE conference.

The Office of Sustainability funded a number of research projects in FY18-FY19
Agro-ecological Research of Indigenous-Peasant Biodiverse $2,000.00
Fast Wireless Pulse Charging of UTSA Electric Golf-carts $4,000.00
Hand-Painted Signs and Commercial Murals $1,000.00
Minimizing flooding impacts $2,500.00
THE IMPACT OF VEGETATION ON ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AT UTSA $4,000.00
Unmanned Ground Vehicle Navigation $2,781.00
ESE Bee Undergraduate Research Program $14,000.00
Self Powered Sensing, Warning $38,921.00
SAWS Collaboration for Potable Water Reuse $13,500.00
Student Rain Garden $3720.00

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:
UTSA has several research programs providing funding for interdisciplinary research in sustainability-related areas.
These include:
1 - Connect program Connecting through Research Partnerships. Eligible: Full-time, tenure-track and tenured faculty at UTSA. Proposals must include multiple (2 or more: at least one from each institution) interacting investigators with PI status from both UTSA and SwRI. Priority funding given to multiple disciplines including alternate and sustainable energy.

Office of Sustainability has an ongoing program to fund faculty and staff for programs, projects, initiatives or research. We funded Faculty Researchers in FY 2018-2019:
Evaluation of Vegetation and Soils $26,906.00
UTSA Sustainable Positive Energy Sustainable House Design $15,000

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?:
No

A copy of the promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
---

The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
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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:
All library systems include vast interlinked resources allowing unlimited potential for sustainability research. UTSA membership in national and international database and geodatabase data files allow extraordinary research potential. Library staff includes full service research assistants providing easy access to all available resources.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s support for sustainability research is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
http://research.utsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/FY2019-2020-Connect-Program-Guidance.pdf
https://sustainability.utsa.edu/sustain-program-2/

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.