University of California, Irvine
ER-19: Interdisciplinary Research in Tenure and Promotion

The strategic plan for UC Irvine, 2005-15, includes the following as one of 10 principal objectives for the campus: “Develop innovative programs in emerging disciplines, support interdisciplinary collaboration and establish new research centers by reserving some of the growth resources for these initiatives” (p. 10). Over the past 10 years, we have reserved a portion of new faculty lines for allocation directly to programs and centers focused on interdisciplinary research. For example, the UC Irvine Environment Institute received several new lines to recruit people for appointment in various departments with an interest in interdisciplinary sustainability research. Through the Institute recruiting, UCI seeks to build on its strengths in environmental research and develop broad, campus-wide collaborations that relate global change, energy, and sustainable resources to societal needs. Faculty recruitment focuses on key anthropogenic systems and forces driving global change today. Recruited faculty teach and conduct research in their primary departments within the School of Biological Sciences, Schools of Physical Sciences, or The Henry Samueli School of Engineering. In addition, these faculty will work as members of the Environment Institute to strengthen environmental research across UCI. See http://environment.uci.edu/people/frp.

In addition, UC Irvine has instituted various personnel and budgetary policies to support interdisciplinary research, including (1) formal joint appointments of faculty in two or more disciplinary units with participation of both units in personnel reviews and promotions; (2) enrollment policies that share credit among different departments for students enrolled in courses that cross departmental and school lines; (3) creation of interdisciplinary graduate degree programs that report centrally to Graduate Division rather than to one department or school; (4) accounting changes that allow faculty to credit extramural funding partially or wholly to interdisciplinary research centers rather than to a single home department.

These policy changes have been implemented in conjunction with the more general commitment to innovative interdisciplinary organizations that have characterized UC Irvine since its founding in 1965. For example, organized Research Units (ORUs) are academic units established by UC Irvine to provide a supportive infrastructure for interdisciplinary research complementary to the academic goals of departments of instruction and research. In accordance with “UC Administrative Policies and Procedures Concerning Organized Research Units,” ORUs are established on single campuses, whereas Multi-campus Research Units (MRUs) exist on two or more campuses. An ORU must be complementary to the academic goals of the University. See http://www.research.uci.edu/centers/guidelines_oru.htm

The functions of an ORU are to facilitate research and research collaborations; disseminate research results through research conferences, meetings and other activities; strengthen graduate and undergraduate education by providing students with training opportunities and access to facilities; seek extramural research funds; and carry out university and public service programs related to the ORU's research expertise. For example, the UCI Environment Institute sponsors inter-disciplinary research projects to promote campus research and education in the areas of global change, energy, and sustainable resources. See http://environment.uci.edu/research/ei/seed