Table of Contents

10.1 Faculty Scholarship and Research Policy and Practices

10.2 Examples of Significant Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity

10.3 Facilities

10.4 Faculty

10.5 Research Funding

10.6 Recommendations

Appendix X-A Summary of Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activity

The Faculty Handbook of the University of Nevada, Reno contains a compilation of documents that detail the expectations for faculty scholarship and research and creative activity. Relevant passages include: the Mission Statement of the university Chapter II, pg. 2; Intellectual Property Policy, Chapter II, pg. 9; Vice President for Research, Chapter II, pg. 15; Sabbatical leave policy, Chapter II, pg. 23; Faculty Development Program Chapter II, pg. 30; Academic Freedom, Chapter II, pg. 35.

In addition to the Faculty Handbook, written policies and advice on procedures are available from the offices of the Vice President for Research and the Assistant Dean for Research of the School of Medicine. Several standing committees provide oversight of activities important for conducting research including: Radiation Safety, Chemical Hygiene, Biomedical Human Subjects, Social/Behavioral Human Subjects, Institutional Animal Care and Use, Recombinant DNA Research, and the Research Advisory Board. The functions of these committees are overseen by the Vice President for Research. Policy and procedures for investigating fraud and misconduct have been developed in the past five years and are overseen by the office of the Vice President for Research. Some departments also have specialized committees or additional requirements for conduct of research.

Scholarship and research are fundamental to the mission of the University of Nevada. As the academic master plan emphasizes, the university "is first and foremost a center for scholarship and learning," a place where scholarship and instructional activities are "inseparable." As a publicly funded, land grant institution, the university has a mandate to serve the public by discovering, studying and "teaching what is known"-- and also by "seeking that which is not known and instilling the methods of creative and thorough scholarly inquiry in our students" (Appendix I-A, p. 4). While scholarship and research is a university-wide expectation, Colleges and Schools vary somewhat in the specific expectations and policies governing scholarship and research

Advantages have clearly accrued to the university through research in recent years. The university is better known and better regarded both among the public and among its academic peers that it was a decade ago. This is evidenced by its Carnegie standing as a Doctoral I institution--nearing Research I classification--as well as by recent rankings in annual ratings of American colleges and universities. As its reputation in research and scholarship has grown, the university has been able to hire increasingly distinguished and professionally active faculty members from around the world, many of whom are well known in their particular disciplines, and have brought substantial extramurally funded research projects to the institution.

Faculty scholarship and research have done a great deal to enhance the quality and effectiveness of academic programs at the University of Nevada. This can be seen most immediately in the significant growth and markedly improved quality of graduate education at the university, which will be discussed in Standard XI. The positive effects of faculty research are equally evident in undergraduate education--in research opportunities for undergraduate students, particularly in the sciences; in increasingly diverse course offerings, which reflect new areas of faculty research and expertise; and in the increased emphasis on interdisciplinary skills and thinking at the undergraduate level, evident in the capstone courses offered across the university as the senior level portion of the core curriculum

It is true that research does sometimes point out difficult problems in society, industry or commerce, and politics that must be addressed. This is a part of the process of developing and refining human knowledge. Research findings may not always be popular, but they serve a necessary if sometimes difficult role in our society. By including students in research projects, and scholarship in the curriculum, the university becomes a setting in which students learn how difficult issues are framed, investigated, understood, and resolved in a complex, technologically sophisticated world.

Since the last self-study, the university has seen scholarship develop strikingly in both quantity and quality; it has also acquired many new facilities and established numerous center for interdisciplinary research. In the next decade, as the university continues to develop as a research institution, we emphasize the importance of quality. Relatively rapid growth in research has enhanced the university dramatically; it has also, as the recommendations that follow indicate, brought some growing pains. At least for the immediate future, priority should be placed on improving the quality, depth, and institutional support for research programs already in place and the services that contribute to those programs.

10.2 Examples of Significant Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity. The number and quality of scholarly research projects conducted at the University has expanded dramatically since the previous accreditation site visit. Topics included in the summary below were chosen to illustrate a few projects or programs that have made significant impact in their field. These examples represent a small fraction of more than 500 sponsored projects and probably an equal number of unsponsored scholarly activities conducted at the University. A more extensive summary of projects conducted in each School and College is included in Appendix X-A.

Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. Agriculture research which is directed toward the protection, utilization and management of soil, water, air, plant and animal resources has significant studies dealing with the devastation of the forests for Sierra Nevada by aggregations of bark beetles. In addition, research at the Nevada Test Site Desert Face Facility (NDFF) is determining the response of a desert ecosystem to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration.

Biomedical Sciences. Much of the research conducted at the School of Medicine is directed towards a better understanding of the structure, function and chemistry of animal and microbial cells and viruses with the ultimate aim of understanding causes of human diseases. Some of the projects underway on the UNR campus and at the Veterans Administration Medical Center include: i) Studies by faculty of the Department of Microbiology of opportunistic pathogenic fungi and viruses important in mortality of AIDS; ii) characterization of molecular genetic variability of Hantavirus strains; iii) development of gene transfer techniques employing hematopoetic stem cells; iv) investigations on cellular and molecular mechanisms of electrical and biochemical signaling in mammalian cardiac, skeletal and smooth muscles conducted by faculty in the Departments of Physiology/Cell Biology and Pharmacology.

Business. Most of the research conducted in the School of Business is applied, with the focus ranging from local to international issues. Faculty from accounting, economics, and managerial sciences are conducting research on gaming, tourism and health care. Nevada’s growing warehousing industry is also attracting research interest. Applied and policy oriented research is being conducted on foreign countries and continents, including China, Japan, Europe, and Africa.

Chemical and Physical Sciences. The Department of Chemistry has consistently been among the most productive and widely recognized group of researchers at the University. The many significant projects in the department are illustrated by three examples: research on the design and synthesis of reagents and sensors for clinical chemistry, studies of the chemistry of bile pigments, and studies of reactive molecules at low temperatures. In the Department of Physics, three research groups are using the Multicharged Ion Research facility to investigate fundamental interactions involving highly charged ions. One group is carrying out experimental studies on multi-electron processes in low energy collisions of highly charged ions with atoms. Another group is investigating collisions of multiply charged ions with atoms, molecules and electrons. The latter involves crossed-beams coincidence measurements of electrons and ions. A third project employs electron and photon spectroscopy in his studies on ion-atom collisions.

Ecology and Environmental Sciences. A strong multidisciplinary group of investigators from the Colleges of Arts and Science and Agriculture conduct research focusing on biological diversity. Among the strengths of this group are population biology, behavioral ecology, plant response to climate, conservation of endangered species and restoration of natural ecosystems. Another multidisciplinary group of investigators from the departments of Nutrition, Environmental Resource Sciences, and Biochemistry, as well as faculty from the Desert Research Institute, conduct studies on the chemical and environmental problems associated with mining. Some studies focus on issues related to the mining, while research in Hydrology and Hydrogeology examines the diverse field of surface and subsurface aqueous environments including the study of aqueous geochemistry, contaminant transport (surface and subsurface), global climatic change, groundwater hydraulics, vadose zone hydrology, soil physics, surface water hydrology, and water resources engineering.

Education. Scholarly activity conducted by faculty of the College of Education focuses on teaching, learning, counseling, and leadership issues. One example of current research includes studies to improve the training of addiction treatment providers and to incorporate alcohol and other drug curricula in the training of mental health professionals and allied health professionals. Other programs include Project PRESS, the use of computer technology in education, and studies of teaching spelling and vocabulary.

Engineering. A very broad range of projects in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering are conducted at the University. One project in Civil Engineering is conducting proof testing to provide the State of California’s Department of Transportation with the information needed to finalize the seismic retrofit of the Richmond San Rafael Bridge. In Electrical Engineering, a current project involves characterization of security features for U.S. and 13 international paper currencies, analysis of current validation technologies, current sensor signature collection and analysis, and security feature analysis. In Mechanical Engineering, a project titled "Experimental Measurement and Numerical Modeling of Augmented Heat Transfer in Intermittently-Grooved Channels" will explore the mechanisms leading to heat transfer enhancement in intermittently-grooved channels, and provide guidance to designers of industrial exchange devices.

Fine and Performing Arts. The scope of activity includes the revitalization of the Argenta Quartet, the summer festival of chamber music, the new graduate Nightingale String Quartet, the revived University of Nevada, Reno Opera Theater, the growing University of Nevada, Reno Jazz Festival, numerous choral activities, and the expanded exploration of theatrical repertory in the Redfield Studio and Proscenium Theaters. In addition to performance activities, faculty in the arts are noted for their scholarly activities and publication efforts. In 1995, the Regents’ Award for Creative Activities was given to a member of the Art Department.

Humanities. Humanities research at the university has expanded almost exponentially in the last decade. Scholars working in literature, languages, philosophy, and history make use of a wide range of critical approaches to investigate topics as varied as the literatures and cultures of the Americas, Chinese history, early modern drama and publishing, writing across the disciplines, cultural Marxism in postwar Britain, the history of medicine and science, and the philosophy of violence. The quality of their work merits attention: it is now expected--and not at all surprising--to find Nevada humanities faculty publishing their research with major university and academic presses. A few examples will suggest the range and quality of present humanities scholarship. Significant contributions to the scholarly understanding of Nevada and both North and South America have been made by faculty who have written critical biographies of major figures in the state’s history and by faculty who study literature, culture and nature in the Americas. The university is one of four in the United States housing research on the New Variorum Hamlet, an encyclopedic, multimedia project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Faculty in literature, composition and rhetoric and foreign languages and literatures have published several widely-used textbooks, anthologies, reference handbooks and translations. This development at once demonstrates and helps to increase the interest of scholars elsewhere in work done by our faculty.

Mathematics. Two examples of scholarly efforts in the field of mathematics are studies of math in the curriculum and a study of NF Algebras. The math curriculum project aims to integrate mathematics into a broad range of courses, especially the University of Nevada Core Curriculum, and to disseminate the results nationally. The study of NF Algebras with scholars at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany focuses on a certain class of operator algebras called NF algebras, which appear naturally in the classification program for nuclear C*-algebras.

Mining and Earth Sciences. Faculty in the two state-wide research and service institutes and the three academic departments of the Mackay School of Mines direct a wide range of projects that provide information and expertise in earth science and engineering. The Geomechanics Rock Fracture Group, the Structural Geology Group, and the Center for Mineral Bioprocessing and Mineral Processing are examples of productive research groups maintained within academic departments of the Mackay School of Mines. The Geomechanics Rock Fracture Group addresses key problems in (1) fracture and fault mechanics, (2) rock-mass mechanics, and (3) planetary structure and tectonics. The Structural Geology Group encompasses a wide range of topics in regional structural geology over an equally broad region in California and Nevada. Ongoing research projects in the Sierra Nevada include: Paleozoic and Mesozoic tectonics of the western metamorphic belt, Tectonic evolution of Paleozoic and Mesozoic orogenic belts in the eastern Sierra and relations with the Mojave Desert region, and relations between Sierran plutonism and strike-slip faulting. The Center for Mineral Bioprocessing and Mineral Processing seeks new solutions to the environmental remediation of mining activities in the methods used to benefit mined products. The Center began with a successful effort to create a secure laboratory where the magnetic separation from soil of minerals contaminated with plutonium could be studied, competitively sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. The need for such technologies is severe in southern Nevada, where large areas were contaminated by above-ground nuclear testing and are now off-limits.

Social Sciences. The Great Basin has been an important geographic focus for social science research by faculty from a wide range of disciplines, including such projects as: anthropology of early cultures, ethnobiology and native languages; tracing the historical demography of Nevada; documentation of Basque tree carvings; research on paleoecology and paleoclimatogy; and studying county commissioners' water policy decision making and knowledge of water issues. Research, however, has not been limited to the Great Basin topics. The breadth, as well as the depth of social science research, has expanded significantly. Many researchers are working on comparative cultural, social, or political projects, including: a study of American Indian water rights in the western U.S. and Andean Ecuador, a study of long-term archaeological research in Zimbabwe and the American West, democratization in China, the legal issues surrounding the breast implant controversy, the socioeconomic impact of nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain, women's self-esteem as it relates to welfare and labor force participation, and comparative social and economic analysis of AIDS policies. Faculty in the Departments of Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies are studying and developing a wide range of programs to further the understanding and treatment of human behaviors. These projects include developing an innovative psychotherapy program for severe drug abusers, evaluating the effectiveness of sexual harassment programs, and studying the relationship between individual psychopathology and couple interaction.

Since the last self-study the amount of outside research funding brought into the university by faculty has increased dramatically. A primary beneficiary of this growth has been the office of the Vice President for Research, which administers most on-campus research funding (The office of Vice President for Research and the office of Dean of the Graduate School are presently combined, with research funding distributed through the former office. See also Standards VIII and XI). The office of the Vice President for Research has offered financial support for research centers, start-up equipment for new faculty, and faculty participation in professional conferences via partial assistance for travel to one or more conference annually. Colleges, schools, and departments may also provide some travel support. The Graduate School also offers limited funding for graduate student participation in professional conferences through the Graduate Student Association; some departments assist here as well. In addition, some individual departments and colleges have addressed the specific issue of supporting scholarship and research for tenure-track faculty. The College of Education, for example arranges for increased travel support and a reduced teaching load for first-year faculty. The College of Arts & Sciences, during a biennium with severe cutbacks, gave priority to funding conference participation by junior faculty.

Facilities. The University has made important improvements in the availability of state of the art equipment and facilities available for research. These include:

Geological and Geophysical Field Mapping Laboratory

Mineral Surface Science Laboratory

Mapping, Modeling, and Visualization Laboratory

Rock Magnetism Laboratory

Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry Laboratory

• Networking Laboratory

Equipment. As is the case for specialized facilities, the University has made important improvements to the quantity, sophistication and availability of equipment. Many of the instruments listed below are state-of-the-art devices that are vital to conducting modern, high impact research characteristic of first-rank research institutions. There is some redundancy with the facilities described above because much of the specialized equipment is shared among several faculty and often housed in specific facilities.

Centers. The University is home to a variety of specialized centers of scholarship and research. Some centers focus on specific research problems and conduct research germane to those problems, and others perform a combination of research activities as well as service to the community, state and nation.

Specialized Collections and Experiment Stations. The conduct of some types of scholarly activities requires specialized collections or experimental stations that are different from more familiar and traditional laboratory, library and office space. The College of Agriculture and the School of Mines are examples of two units of the University that rely heavily on such specialized facilities. Many of these facilities are unique to the Great Basin region and are distinguishing features of the University:

There are also some independent facilities that are associated with the University of Nevada, Reno that contribute to research and scholarship.

Scholarship and research productivity are requirements for promotion and tenure. UNS Code Section 3.4.2.2 requires "Demonstrated continuing professional growth related to the academic faculty member’s discipline or program area as shown by a record of scholarly research or creative activity in publication or comparable productivity." The community of UNR scholars shares an institutional culture which expects and encourages the faculty to be productive. Scholarship, research and creative activity are important components of annual evaluations and are essential throughout the University for promotion and tenure. However, application of the stated standards varies among departments of the various colleges and schools.

Several programs provide additional incentive and opportunity for scholarly activity. Chief among these are the university's sabbatical leave and faculty development leave programs, for which faculty are eligible to apply every seventh year. In addition, Junior Faculty Research Awards are available to newer faculty on a competitive basis. The program, administered by the office of the Vice President for Research, uses a small percentage of indirect costs generated from externally funded projects to enhance the research programs of promising junior faculty. Many departments also provide a reduced teaching load in the first year of a junior faculty member’s appointment to facilitate research and scholarly activity. The University also annually recognizes substantial achievement by more established scholars by means of the Outstanding Researcher Award. Awardees are chosen by a panel of past winners.

The faculty participate in the development and monitoring of research policy at multiple levels and to varying degrees in the schools and colleges of the University. However, while, faculty participate fully in the formation of research policy in theory, in practice, this is often not the case. One specific example is the Research Advisory Board, which currently meets to select recipients of the Junior Faculty Awards. The Vice President for Research could, use the this interested and expert panel of scholars for valuable guidance in formulating new research initiatives, for reassignment of space, and for allocation of discretionary funds in support of scholarship. To date, he has not chosen to do so (See also Standard VII).

The standing oversight committees of the University described in section X.1 have a part in setting and implementing policy. The Graduate School also involves faculty in defining research policy through the Graduate Council; the Biological Sciences Advisory Council, which consists of Department Chairs and Directors of interdisciplinary graduate programs in the biological sciences; and the Environmental Sciences Advisory Council, also composed of Chairs and Directors of graduate programs in the environmental sciences. The Faculty Senate also deals with research policy issues, and the Vice President for Research attends at least one meeting each year to report on research and address faculty concerns. Again, while mechanisms exist for broad-based faculty input on research policies, there has been limited implementation/utilization of these by the Vice President for Research.

The University of Nevada has done a great deal to support the growth in research by its faculty. In the last decade, the university has added a faculty development program to augment the existing sabbatical leave program. This program has offered invaluable support to scholarship and research by allowing increased numbers of faculty to go on leave, particularly those whose proposals are more oriented toward developing and enhancing professional skills than toward traditional scholarship. This has made it possible for faculty to develop new areas of expertise and to become up-to-date on significant technological and methodological changes in their fields of study. Research, product development, and entrepreneurship have been assisted significantly by the development of a well-defined intellectual property policy. These changes have been particularly important given the striking increase in the emphasis placed on research and graduate education at the university.

The university’s growing prominence in research reflects its highly dedicated, hard-working faculty. For the last several years, the university has completed detailed faculty workload studies each semester. These studies include all instructional faculty paid for through the state budget; they do not include research positions funded from other sources (such as the Agriculture Experiment Station or the School of Medicine). The workload studies reveal that the substantial growth in research we have described has come in part because faculty work an average of nearly 60 hours per week. It has come even while University of Nevada faculty have on average spent a significantly higher percentage of their time on instructional activities --58%--than faculty at doctoral institutions nationwide--47% (UCCSN Faculty Workload Report, Fall 1994).

Funding for sponsored projects has increased dramatically since the 1988 accreditation site visit. Growth over the last five years in extramural funding for all sponsored projects (Table X-1) and in research support specifically (Table X-2) is shown below. Figures for 1996 research funding, broken down by funding source (Table X-3) and by colleges and schools (Table X-4), are also shown below. These tables were composed using figures published in the annual Reports of Sponsored Projects, which are prepared by the Office of Grants and Contracts for the office of the Vice President for Research.

• Research Grants: Increased funding for research, scholarship, and creative activity--particularly in disciplines where external grant monies are minimal--continues to be a pressing concern for the university, as it was at the time of the last self-study. The academic master plan proposes altering the Junior Faculty Research Grant program to allow flexibility in size and duration of grants. It also emphasizes the importance of making more resources available to senior scholars and research faculty; we echo its emphasis. Given the university's interest in making opportunities to engage in scholarly and research activities more accessible to undergraduate students, increased support for professional academic conferences on campus and visits by scholars from other universities is also important.

In addition to the selected projects summarized in Section A above the subcommittee compiled a summary of scholarly activity and research projects from each component of the University. The detailed listing of scholarship and research below illustrates the substantial breadth of projects conducted and provides a telling contrast with the most recent self-study (1988). The growth in number, quality and significance of scholarly projects was impressive to the subcommittee and is reported here to fortify the conclusion that the University of Nevada, Reno has substantially improved the level of scholarly activity while maintaining quality instructional programs.

Anthropology

Basque Studies

English

Foreign Languages and Literatures

Geography

History

Oral History Program

Philosophy

Political Science

Psychology

Sociology

Western Traditions Program

Women's Studies

College of Agriculture. The four departments of the College of Agriculture, Applied Economics and Statistics, Environmental Resource Sciences, Biochemistry and the School of Veterinary Medicine focus on specialized areas within each discipline:

Department of Applied Economics and Statistics:

Department of Biochemistry:

• Plant responses to environment, including global change.

Department of Environmental Resource Sciences:

Conservation geology and management of plant and animal species in Nevada and the western United States.

School of Veterinary Medicine:

Accounting

Economics

Managerial Sciences

Department of Electrical Engineering

• Characterization/Performance Assessment of Final Waste Forms by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy: This project deals with studying the stability of encapsulated heavy metal wastes using the technique called Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy; Simulation and Animation of Temporal Radar Data at MMW Wavelengths.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

• An Active Damper System for Hybrid Control of Bridges Under Earthquakes: The objective of this project is to investigate the performance of electro-rheological fluid (ERF) and magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) dampers for vibration control of bridges when undergoing unpredictable strong motions.

School of Journalism: Four years ago the School of Journalism had one faculty member with a Ph.D. degree. He was, however, recognized by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication as one of the 10 most productive researchers in his field. Since that time, the school has added three more Ph.D.s and one MFA, all with active research agendas. Some highlights of faculty productivity include:

School of Medicine: The School of Medicine conducts research into the basic science underlying disease as well as clinical investigations of disease, health education and medical technique. Some of the research programs and specific projects underway on the UNR campus include:

Department of Biochemistry (Projects are summarized under School of Agriculture)

Department of Microbiology

Department of Medicine

Department of Pediatrics

Department of Physiology and Cell Biology

Department of Pharmacology

Other programs and projects

Research programs and projects are listed along with the source of financial support.