Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 55.66
Liaison Marian Brown
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Wells College
AC-10: Support for Research

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 4.00 Marian Brown
Director
Center for Sustainability and the Environment
"---" 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:

Each semester, the College supports academic internships, independent study projects and capstone experiences related to sustainability. In addition, in summer, the College supports two paid academic internships to support the Aurora Farmers Market and to develop and maintain campus gardens.

In addition, Wells College offers funding to support research grants that bring faculty and students together on campus during the summer months. A total of $15,000 is available; the number of projects supported will depend on budgetary needs of projects submitted but we hope to support projects at the $3000-$5000 level. Applications are due
February 15th to the office of the Provost and Dean of the College. Applications will be reviewed by the Dean’s Council. Criteria for review include:
 Clarity and completeness of the description of the proposed project
 Confidence that the student(s) involved will benefit from the experience
 Likelihood and quality of a scholarly outcome of the project proposed
 Adequacy and appropriateness of budgeted items and their costs
The Dean’s Council will recommend whether to fund, fund with a revised budget, or not fund. Faculty awarded funding are responsible for selecting the student(s) involved in their project. Students will be eligible to live in campus housing during the time period of the project upon approval of the Dean of Students.

In addition, academic departments and the Office of the Provost have provided financial support for student researchers to be able to travel to conferences and academic meetings to present their work.

Moreover, each semester, the Office of Experiential Learning and Career Services hosts an Internship/Research Fair at which students explain posters of their research, internship, or independent study work.

Recent summer research projects included work completed by Dr. Jaclyn Schnurr and two student researchers to document the impact of deer browse on quantity and diversity of vegetation in the campus forested lands.


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:

Wells College offers funding to support research grants that bring faculty and students together on campus during the summer months. A total of $15,000 is available; the number of projects supported will depend on budgetary needs of projects submitted but we hope to support projects at the $3000-$5000 level. Applications are due
February 15th to the office of the Provost and Dean of the College. Applications will be reviewed by the Dean’s Council. Criteria for review include:
 Clarity and completeness of the description of the proposed project
 Confidence that the student(s) involved will benefit from the experience
 Likelihood and quality of a scholarly outcome of the project proposed
 Adequacy and appropriateness of budgeted items and their costs
The Dean’s Council will recommend whether to fund, fund with a revised budget, or not fund. Faculty awarded funding are responsible for selecting the student(s) involved in their project. Students will be eligible to live in campus housing during the time period of the project upon approval of the Dean of Students.

In addition, the Office of the Provost provides a pool of funding for faculty accepted to present their research work at academic conferences and meetings.


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?:
No

A brief description or the text of the institution’s policy regarding interdisciplinary research:
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The website URL where information about the treatment of interdisciplinary research is available:
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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 Long Library offers a research guide for Environmental Studies which lists many relevant references and resources. The Library media group has also partnered with the Center for Sustainability and the Environment to purchase film titles for use for campus educational screening events and also to be added to the permanent collection.


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