Interdisciplinary Environmental Programs: Opportunities and Challenges For Faculty and Students

Stephanie Pfirman, Barnard CollegeSharon Hall, Arizona State University

Tom Tietenberg, Colby College Diana Rhoten, Social Science Research

Council and NSF

Chronicle 2005

Site visits to environmental programs at liberal arts colleges for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ES&T May 2005: Pfirman, Hall, Tietenberg, and PKAL

Resource: Hall, Tietenberg and Pfirman Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD)

analyses Chronicle of Higher Education, February 2005: Pfirman, Collins,

Lowes, and Michaels, and PKAL Resource “Interdisciplinary Hiring, Tenure and Promotion: Guidance for

Individuals and Institutions” November 2, 2007 Women and interdisciplinarity

Rhoten and Pfirman, 2007, Research Policy, Inside Higher Education and upcoming Workshop November 12-13, Columbia

Background

http://www.barnard.edu/envsci/dept/pfirman/pfirmanpage.htm

Exciting thinking often lies at the borders of academic disciplines, and

neither scholarship nor teaching should be constrained by the

boundaries of disciplinary training.[C]itizenship with its challenge of

solving complex problems, and scholarship as an intellectual pursuit,

cannot be limited by these [departmental] distinctions.

UNC website

Exciting thinking often lies at the borders of academic disciplines, and

neither scholarship nor teaching should be constrained by the

boundaries of disciplinary training.[C]itizenship with its challenge of

solving complex problems, and scholarship as an intellectual pursuit,

cannot be limited by these [departmental] distinctions.

UNC website

Environmental Program AnalysisBarnard, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Colgate, Colorado College, Hobart & William Smith, Lewis & Clark, Middlebury, Mount Holyoke, Whitman

Common Directions Local environmental

engagement and service learning

Interdisciplinary student research

Building community Common spaces and

resources – connecting via GIS

Campus greening & programming

Jill Bubier (Mt. Holyoke) and students at a wetland research site in New

Hampshire Photo by Ralph Morang

Common Challenges Staffing courses

Cross-departmental commitments

Team teaching Staffing activities

Balancing education and scholarship

Program management Service learning Campus greening Student internships

Diversity Faculty Students

Junior people (women) in difficult positions …

Recommendations from Mellon Review

Institutions should take responsibility for interdisciplinary programs and faculty Invest in community building (on campus and off) Incentives and rewards for cross-departmental

contributions Staff programs Institutionalize faculty career path

ES&T May 2005: Pfirman, Hall, TietenbergPKAL 2005: Hall, Tietenberg and Pfirman

Interdisciplinarity and Academia Challenges Recommendations

Pfirman et al., Chronicle 2005

Spectrum of Interdisciplinary Involvement

Commitment and Investment

Modest Intermediate Significant

Students and Curriculum

Minor Concentration,Special Major

Major

Administration Committee Center, Program InterdisciplinaryDepartment

Faculty Affiliated Hire in DisciplinaryDepartment

Adjunct,Off-ladder,Joint Hire

Tenure-track in Interdisciplinary

Department

Research Scientists

Soft-money Support for

Single or Short-term Project

Multi-year Support Institution-committed Career Interdisciplinary

Research Scientist Line

Students

Best served by department or program with own space, control over staffing and resources Balanced, sustainable curriculum Continuity in academic and career advising Up-to-date facilities Sense of community Opportunities for research

Problems with Joint-Appointment, Junior, Tenure-Track Hires Even if the chairs are committed and all

agreements are put in writing, what happens to the junior hire when the chairs rotate off? Burden on junior hire to figure out how the

units will get along Department does not feel as responsible

for hires sponsored by another source as they do when they invest their own resources at the outset “If they were really good enough, they would

have been hired the regular way”Art Small, III

““You don’t You don’t adopt a adopt a child to child to

sort sort through through whether whether

or not you or not you want a want a

marriage”marriage”

But Junior, Joint Hires Are Not The Only Ones With Concerns

Graduate Students Reported that interdisciplinary activities have adverse

effects on their careers, but they are convinced of its value Interdisciplinary Researchers – Biocomplexity

Awardees About 30 percent reported that their interdisciplinary

affiliations had not helped or had hindered their careers

Research by Rhoten on Biocomplexity Awardees; Rhoten , D. and A. Parker. 2004. Risks and Rewards of an Interdisciplinary Path. Science. Vol. 306: 2046 (December 17).

Interdisciplinary Research

  Often Early Attraction … But Later difficulties …

New area Can break new groundLess competitionLess urgency

Lack of recognition by established scholars

Lack of sustained funding opportunities

Lack of journalsLack of peer reviewersCareer trajectory not knownLong start up timeNo one to correct flaws

Social/Applied Connections

Appeals to social conscienceConnect with public good

Less prestigious research areaConsidered less rigorous

Complex questions Holistic approach required Less amenable to theoryConsidered less rigorous

Collaborative Build on strengths of othersUse people skills

Time to cultivate and maintainCritical literature in other fieldDependent on collaboratorIdea origin not clear

Between Depts/Centers

Freedom because outside of established hierarchy

No one has responsibility for you

Inter-institutional Broadens network for letter writers

Requires travelLess visibility on home campus

Interdisciplinary Education and Community

  Often Early Attraction … But Later difficulties …

Teaching Exciting subjectStudent interest+/-Co-teachingField experiencesService learning- No textbook, resources

No textbook, resourcesLack of infrastructure and rewards

to sustain “extra” activities (field, service)

Co-teaching

Campus Life Campus programmingCommunity connectionsBridge between disciplines:

search committees, presentations

Become known on campus

Everyone wants a piece of you

Scholarly Participation

Field more open, can initiate programs

Few high level, prestigious committees

Not as many honors as in disciplinary fields

Promotion and Tenure

  Criteria often disadvantage interdisciplinary scholars

“Are there impediments to interdisciplinary research at your current institution?”

Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, 2004, Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research, 2004, Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public

Policy (COSEPUP) ConvocationPolicy (COSEPUP) Convocation

What Can We Do?CEDD Interdisciplinary Hiring, Tenure and PromotionPfirman and Martin, co-chairs, 2007 (www.cedd.org/interdisc)LIFE CYCLE: Issues and

recommendations Sample language (case studies)

Links to resources

Structural Considerations

Position creation and institutional acceptance

Search and hiring

Junior development, mentoring and protection

Dossier preparation and evaluation (3rd, 5th year reviews, tenure)

Senior development

Tenuring Interdisciplinary Scholars Letters from external evaluators

In half of the 12 (!) cases reported in our CEDD survey, when letters were sent to external evaluators, they were specifically asked to comment on interdisciplinary contributions and impact

Annotate CV Individual contributions to publications Publication choice

Guidelines documenting FAQ Recognize and confront systemic issues so that the review

committee does not see this particular candidate as weak, just because these issues are raised

Cross-fertilization – adapting and using ideas, approaches and information from different fields and/or disciplines

Team-collaboration – collaborating in teams or networks that span different fields and/or disciplines

Field-creation – topics that sit at the intersection or edges of multiple fields and/or disciplines

Problem-orientation – problems that engage multiple stakeholders and missions outside of academe, for example that serve society

Intrapersonal: Cognitive Connections

Interpersonal: Collegial Connections

Inter-departmental:Cross-fieldConnections

Stakeholder:Community Connections

Valuing Interdisciplinary Scholarship

Rhoten and Pfirman, 2007a,b

Time Spent on Interdisciplinary Research:UK Gender Differences

Responses from 5,505 researchers in higher education

institutions in the United Kingdom, Evaluation Associates,

1999

Related, but not the Same

Disciplinary

Hierarchical

Departmental

Mainstream

Specialized

Discovery

Specialization

Laser

Basic

Established

Interdisciplinary

Collaborative

Interdepartmental

Non-mainstream

Diverse

Integration

Integration

Searchlight

Applied

New

UWisc

Leahey

Boyer

Gardner

Porter

http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/initiatives/survey/results/facultypre/profact/interact/summary.htm

Study of Faculty Worklife at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Faculty Perception of Colleagues’ Valuation of Research by Faculty of Color and Majority Faculty

Conclusions

Institutions have a responsibility to the people they hire and teach – They should create a culture, implement procedures,

and allocate resources that will allow interdisciplinary scholars and students to thrive and prosper

If women and minorities are indeed more attracted by interdisciplinary research Institutions interested in increasing their diversity may have

a greater chance for success if they value interdisciplinary scholarship

Institutions interested in increasing interdisciplinary research may have a greater chance for success if they involve women and minorities