Western Michigan University
AC-10: Support for Research

The Student Sustainability Grant (up to $75,000 annually) is available to all students who pay the sustainability fee. Any proposal that promotes a campus culture of sustainability and potentially benefits all students is eligible. Proposals must be safe, legal, adequately budgeted, and possible within existing university infrastructure to qualify. Selection is through a blind-review process by student peers. Gibbs House Fellowships are year-long opportunities open to all students who pay the sustainability fee. Fellows participate in leadership and discovery-driven learning opportunities and are paid to research and work on campus sustainability projects and policies. Wesustain Internships are year-long opportunities open to all students who pay the sustainability fee. Interns participate in leadership and discovery-driven learning opportunities and are paid to research and work on campus sustainability projects and policies.

Sustainability Across Research & Teaching (StART), a ground-up, faculty-driven effort in the form of a new University-wide learning community on education and research in the broad areas of sustainability. The intent of the learning community is to build understanding, develop skills, and promote conditions to improve quality of life for all through sustainability teaching and research.

Ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning in the form of: Research guides - within the Environmental Studies subject guide at http://libguides.wmich.edu/environ we point to 2 databases that refer to sustainability. One of these is called GREENR and the other is GreenFILE. Those same databases are referred to in the Communications Media and Social Change library class guide http://libguides.wmich.edu/content.php?pid=510843&sid=4203354 Materials selection are driven according to teaching departments, faculty requests and identified focus areas. No particular funds are dedicated to supporting sustainability research as such, instead it is generally covered as a subsection of environmental studies (or possibly business, technology or social science as appropriate). Now that sustainability has been identified as a research focus area at WMU we have ensured that this topic in included in our book purchasing profile. There would also be greater support for journals and databases that address sustainability if these come before the collection development committee for consideration. The Office for Sustainability also maintains a growing sustainability resource library (books, journals, and digital materials). It was established in 2012 and is focused on appropriate technology, ecological design, curriculum development, and sustainability literacy. It is accessible to all students and faculty.