Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.26
Liaison Caitlin McLennan
Submission Date Oct. 10, 2022

STARS v2.2

Utah State University
AC-10: Support for Sustainability Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 4.00 Blake Tullis
Associate Vice President
Office of Research
"---" 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?:
No

A brief description of the student sustainability research program:
The university provides undergraduate and graduate research grants to fund USU research, including sustainability. These programs, like the majority of the research office's programs, are not specific to one research area.

Faculty sustainability research incentives 

Does the institution have a program to encourage academic staff from multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct sustainability research?:
No

A brief description of the faculty sustainability research program:
o Grant-writing Experience through Mentorship (GEM)
"The Grant-Writing Experience through Mentorship (GEM) program provides funding to enhance the capacity and professional development of investigators through one-on-one research/creative scholarship and grant-writing interaction with a more established colleague willing to serve as a mentor. It is expected that funded GEM projects will result in the development and submission of at least one proposal to an external funding agency. GEM grants provide one-year seed funding. Budgetary requests should be consistent with the scope of the proposed activity but cannot exceed $10,000."
o Research Catalyst (RC)
"The Research Catalyst (RC) program provides funding to help applicants develop new initiatives or directions in their discipline and generate outcomes that will lead to future external funding. It is expected that funded RC projects will result in the development and submission of at least one proposal to an external funding agency. RC grants provide one-year seed funding. Budgetary requests should be consistent with the scope of the proposed activity but cannot exceed $20,000 to assist investigators exploring new avenues of research that will lead to new externally funded grants."
o Seed Program to Advance Research Collaborations (SPARC)
"The Seed Program to Advance Research Collaborations (SPARC) program provides 1-year seed funding of up to $35,000 to catalyze development of interdisciplinary research teams and projects that involve scholarly research in more than one department, research center, college or institution."

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:
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The promotion or tenure guidelines or policies:
Interdisciplinary collaborations are expected and considered in tenure decisions. Many positions include interdisciplinary research in the job description.

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:
The university has subject librarians for every program at USU. Each is available for meeting and has guides and databases posted online. Subject specialists are available with research guides for Environment & Ecology (which includes Environment & Society) and Plants, Soils & Climate.
https://libguides.usu.edu/

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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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.