Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.99
Liaison Megan Butler
Submission Date July 18, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Macalester College
AC-10: Support for Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.00 / 4.00 Suzanne Savanick Hansen
Sustainability Manager
Macalester Sustainbility Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a program to encourage student sustainability research that meets the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s program(s) to encourage student research in sustainability:

The Sustainability Office maintains a “Potential Student Projects List” where possible campus sustainability student research projects are posted. The Sustainability Manager also mentors students who are researching campus sustainability topics. In addition, the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar typically researches sustainability-related topics. Senior Seminar Classes have calculated the first greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the college, recommended actions for the institutional climate action plan, developed “zero waste” projects, and developed projects about the Katherine Ordway Natural History Site. Environmental Studies major can also apply to complete an Honors Thesis research project. Some of these research projects are on sustainability issues. A foundation also supported student-faculty research on sustainability.


The website URL where information about the student research program is available:
Does the institution have a program to encourage faculty sustainability research that meets the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s program(s) to encourage faculty research in sustainability:

A foundation has supported faculty-student research on sustainability issues in 2012 and 2013.


The website URL where information about the faculty research program is available:
---

Has the institution formally adopted policies and procedures that give positive recognition to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research during faculty promotion and/or tenure decisions?:
Yes

A brief description or the text of the institution’s policy regarding interdisciplinary research:

In addition to the “typical” evidence of scholarly excellence (e.g. number and significance of refereed articles and books and publicly performed artistic works), non-traditional scholarship that interdisciplinary scholars often produce, such as “publicly disseminated reports from action research and/or service-learning projects” and “technical reports from consulting projects” are recognized as credible evidence of excellence. In addition, Macalester's focus on “the quality of the activity and involvement” rather than on simple quantitative measures of scholarship supports interdisciplinary work.

Source: Citation: Hornbach, D. (2011) Macalester College; A Cross-Cutting Case Study, in Pfirman et al, Interdisciplinary Hiring and Career Development: Guidance for Individuals and Institutions, National Council for Science and the Environment. Edited by Helen Warren, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Macalester College.


The website URL where information about the treatment of interdisciplinary research is available:
---

Does the institution provide ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning that meets the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

A brief description of the institution's library support for sustainability research and learning:

The library supports sustainability efforts by working in collaboration with the Sustainability Office in several ways. We do annual programs to educate students on printing awareness to reduce paper use for printing. In addition, we support the Sustainability Office in their reading group program. In terms of research support, in addition to the databases that we provide that cover sustainability issues, we support the Sustainability Office by providing a storage space for their data is which is openly accessible for others wishing to conduct research. Individuals may use the materials located in the repository here - http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/sustainability/
Additional information on our programs and services will be found on our website page listed below.


The website URL where information about the institution's library support for sustainability is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.