Overall Rating	Silver
Overall Score	61.63
Liaison	Leslie North
Submission Date	March 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Western Kentucky University
AC-9: Research and Scholarship

Status	Score	Responsible Party
	11.54 / 12.00	Leslie North Director of Sustainability Geography and Geology

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Part 1. Sustainability research

Total number of employees that conduct research:

451

Number of employees engaged in sustainability research:

148

Percentage of employees that conduct research that are engaged in sustainability research:

32.82

Part 2. Sustainability research by department

Total number of academic departments that include at least one employee who conducts research:

Number of academic departments that include at least one employee who conducts sustainability research:

Percentage of departments that conduct research that are engaged in sustainability research:

69.23

Research Inventory

A copy of the inventory of the institution’s sustainability research (upload):

SustainabilityResearchers_Ay24.xlsx

Inventory of the institution’s sustainability research:

See attached file. A brief description of the MAIN research area for the researcher is included. Each researcher has conducted research in the past year which has a sustainability component, either from a social equity OR ecological perspective. This list was verified by both the Associate Dean for Research in each College. In some instances, research cannot be further described because of its exploratory or priority nature at this particular point in time.

A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the research inventory:

The Office of Sustainability worked with the Research and Creative Activities (ORCA) and contacted the Associate Dean for Research of each College. In most cases, the Associate Dean then reached out to the chairs of department in their respective collected who filled in information in the attached spreadsheet. A brief description of the applicable research area for the researcher is included, as that is how the researcher is identified in the WKU Office of Research and Creative Activities and by their College Council. The description is not inclusive of the wide variety of research areas a researcher main focus their research. Each researcher has conducted research in the past year which ALSO has a sustainability component, either from a social equity OR ecological perspective. In some instances, research cannot be further described because of its exploratory or priority nature at this particular point in time. This method resulted in self-reporting of sustainability research by each college, following the AASHE definition and guidance for sustainability research.

Optional Fields

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability research is available:

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Additional documentation to support the submission:

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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

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