Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.15
Liaison Phil Valko
Submission Date Aug. 6, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

Washington University in St. Louis
ER-19: Interdisciplinary Research in Tenure and Promotion

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Chad Henry
Operations Manager
International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES)
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution's treatment of interdisciplinary research meet the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

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

The University’s Policy on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure established the basic guidelines for tenure and promotion decisions. And the Provost has established a Policy on Joint Appointments that is used for formal appointments that span multiple departments. Each school at the University is responsible for managing faculty appointed in their disciplines. Arts & Sciences has a specific policy governing Procedures for Faculty with Joint Appointments Between a Program and a Department in Arts and Sciences that discusses the proper valuation of interdisciplinary research and ensure proper expertise is solicited in the external review process. The role of interdisciplinary mentoring for junior faculty has also received attention. In 2009 the Provost convened a Diversity Working Group Subcommittee on Mentoring that issued recommendations on Best Practices for the University’s non-medical campus. Those recommendations underscore the value and help provide different approaches to interdisciplinary mentoring.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability is one such entity on campus that provides direct support to faculty, I-CARES Professors, who pursue interdisciplinary research in sustainability related fields. I-CARES Professors have been appointed in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. A position is currently being recruited for an endowed professorship in environment biology.

In recognition of the value of interdisciplinary growth, the Vice Chancellor for Research just announced a new internal funding program designed to “foster new interdisciplinary collaborations that result in innovative research.” Funding up to $25,000 will be provided for such projects and will help new research teams work across departmental boundaries on projects that will spawn new research which is competitive for extramural support.


The website URL where information about the treatment of interdisciplinary research is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Additional websites:
Washington University in St. Louis Policy on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure: http://www.wustl.edu/policies/tenure.html

VCR URSA: http://aladdin.wustl.edu/research/rss.nsf/WSM/86257443007322038625788E00653E7C


Additional websites:
Washington University in St. Louis Policy on Academic Freedom, Responsibility, and Tenure: http://www.wustl.edu/policies/tenure.html

VCR URSA: http://aladdin.wustl.edu/research/rss.nsf/WSM/86257443007322038625788E00653E7C

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.