Led by Corbin M. Campbell, School of Education
College teaching excellence has been linked to improving individual outcomes of higher education (e.g. graduation rates, employment of higher education), democratic outcomes of higher education (e.g. civic engagement, voting participation, moral reasoning, intercultural competence, leadership skills), and equitable outcomes (increased equity of grades, graduation rates, sense of belonging). Building off of 15 years of research on college teaching, faculty, and institutional assessment, this SRI RICE project focuses on developing measures for a designation for Teaching Excellence Colleges & Universities (TECUs). TECUs are institutions that have demonstrated teaching excellence through their teaching practices, cultures, and policies. Campbell has completed the first multi-institutional multi-disciplinary large-scale observational study of college teaching in the U.S. with more than 700 courses observed. The TECU designation will build off this observational study by 1) Developing TECU metrics; 2) Conducting a pilot program of evaluating and designating 5-10 institutions as TECUs; and 3) Disseminating and translating the TECU designation with a detailed report and support for institutions based on report findings. TECU designation will be determined through Campbell鈥檚 observational protocol (tuned to the NASEM recommendations), a survey of faculty teaching culture and institutional policies, and examining equitable student success metrics. The TECU designated institutions will be pulled together in a new network to continue to innovate. This TECU designation project is connected to a broader national teaching excellence planning team, which brought together 70 stakeholders across higher education in summer 2024. The project will have an advisory board that includes the intended audiences: academic leaders, prospective students, and families.
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Led by Jonathan Fox, School of International Service
This research-practitioner partnership asks how a USAID project puts locally-led approaches into practice, with the goal of identifying both breakthroughs and bottlenecks. This agenda bridges two international aid reform priorities: open government and locally-led development. In 2021, USAID made a significant commitment to share resources and decision-making with local organizations. This study will document and analyze efforts to promote locally-led approaches within a USAID project in the Colombian Amazon that combines protection of natural resources, peace-building, improved governance, sustainable economic development and support for indigenous peoples.
Two national Colombian government priorities are very relevant in the region: more effective forest preservation and ongoing peace negotiations with multiple armed actors. Despite recent gains against deforestation, faltering peace negotiations have precipitated an expansion of environmental crime in the Amazon. Colombia also remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for environmental defenders. This USAID project responds to these challenges by focusing on improving both detection of and responses to environmental crime in the region, including collaboration between government agencies and diverse local stakeholders.
The research brings together ARC鈥檚 track record of applied research on public access to official project information with partner-led consultations with local and national stakeholders. Collaborative research and dissemination will build on a long-term partnership between the Accountability Research Center (ARC) at SIS and the Colombian civil society organization Viso Mutop, which supports local organizations to promote environmental justice, peace-building, and human rights in the Amazon region.
Led by Mary Eschelbach Hansen, College of Arts and Sciences; Juan Antonio Montecino, College of Arts and Sciences; Ignacio Gonz谩lez, College of Arts and Sciences; Secil Akin, College of Arts and Sciences.
The team at the Institute for Macroeconomic and Policy Analysis (IMPA) will translate foundational research on corporate taxation and its role in reducing economic inequality into actionable policy recommendations and tools for policymakers, policy professionals, and the public. Over the past decades, the U.S. economy has experienced two trends: an increase in market power among firms and a decline in progressivity of the tax code. These trends have concentrated wealth among the top 1%, while reducing the share of income and wealth held by most households.
IMPA鈥檚 foundational research challenges conventional critiques of corporate taxes by demonstrating through mathematical and quantitative macroeconomic models that taxing corporate profits鈥攑rimarily derived from market power鈥攄oes not harm investment or employment. Instead, corporate taxation promotes equity by redistributing wealth and supporting government revenue without stifling economic activity. Relatively small increases in the corporate tax rate can boost wages, stimulate investment, and significantly reduce wealth inequality. Conversely, preventing further cuts to taxes helps to keep wealth from becoming even more concentrated.
We will undertake three types of translational activities: (1) Writing policy briefs: Using the quantitative macroeconomic policy model, the team will evaluate and publish assessments of new tax policy proposals. Collaborations with partner organizations beyond AU will enhance these outputs. (2) Communicating findings: Findings will be disseminated via blog posts and press coverage to inform civic engagement and elevate public discourse on tax policy. (3) Making code open access: To maximize societal impact, the research team will make its macroeconomic model and documentation publicly available, enabling state and local policymakers, among others, to adapt it for their specific needs.
We propose this initiative at a critical juncture in U.S. tax policy, leveraging the upcoming debates over the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to inform policymakers, policy professionals, and the public about evidence-based, equitable, and effective economic policy.
Led by K.L. Knee, College of Arts and Sciences.
This project aims to translate research about groundwater flow, water quality, and ecosystem health in Nu`uuli Pala Lagoon, the largest remaining and most threatened wetland in American Samoa. Our NOAA-funded research was the first to quantify groundwater flow and groundwater-borne pollutant inputs into the entire Pala. It identified SGD hotspots in the Pala, quantified SGD, and characterized spatial and temporal variability. In this project, we plan to translate this research by: (1) Creating and installing a bilingual (English-Samoan) sign at a popular beach park adjacent to the Pala, (2) Creating and maintaining a bilingual (English-Samoan) website that links to the sign with a QR code and provides more detailed information, (3) Running workshops with stakeholders in American Samoa to disseminate and discuss research results and implications and determine next steps, and (4) Teaching a short course about hydrology and water quality for students in the Science Department at American Samoa Community College. The target audience is local stakeholders including American Samoa Community College, American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency, American Samoa Power Authority, Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources and Parks and Recreation, as well as community members in Nu`uuli and nearby villages. The research team has a prior relationship with these stakeholders that started when we submitted our research proposal in 2019 and that was strengthened in August 2022 and March 2023 during meetings we organized during our field campaigns. This translation project will benefit residents and stakeholders by making the results of our research more accessible and usable to them. This could include helping craft policies, writing proposals for future projects, and/or providing in-person or virtual training for local students or professionals. It will also promote civic engagement by helping ordinary people understand environmental issues and act on them through voting, personal choices, and/or village-level initiatives.
Led by Thurka Sangaramoorthy, Alanna Warner-Smith, Elise Ferrer, and the Department of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences
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Society today confronts a web of interconnected challenges, including social inequality, environmental degradation, labor precarity, mass migration, and political violence. American 青瓜视频鈥檚 Department of Anthropology has launched an ambitious initiative to address these challenges through its mission of 鈥渁nalyzing to intervene.鈥 The initiative, 鈥淩evitalizing Public Anthropology for Societal Impact,鈥 establishes a robust infrastructure for sustainable research translation that bridges rigorous scholarship with real-world impact.
Rather than focusing on individual research outcomes, this department-wide initiative creates a comprehensive translational apparatus with three interconnected components. At its center is the revival of AU鈥檚 Public Anthropology Conference, a dynamic platform that previously united scholars, policymakers, and community organizations from 2003-2018. The conference will serve as a hub for collaboration between communities, policymakers, organizers, and scholars, featuring interactive workshops, community dialogues, and satellite events at cultural institutions.
The initiative will translate diverse research including studies of incarcerated populations in medical research, ecological sustainability work with the Anacostia Watershed Society, grassroots resistance to gentrification, farmworker advocacy addressing migrant health disparities, and reparative justice practices in museum repatriation. Through partnerships with the Smithsonian Institution, National Park Service, and local advocacy groups, year-round programming will include methodological training workshops and community-centered events. All materials鈥攊ncluding policy briefs, advocacy toolkits, and research findings鈥攚ill be freely available through an open-access digital repository.
This infrastructure will strengthen AU鈥檚 position as a center for civic engagement and scholarship while creating a replicable model for translating academic research into societal impact. The initiative particularly emphasizes engaging marginalized communities and ensuring that research findings are accessible and actionable for those most affected by social challenges.听
Led by Garima Sharma, Kogod School of Business; Sarah Iverson, College of Arts and Sciences; and Nicole Darnall, Kogod School of Business and School of Public Affairs
Organizations鈥 procurement decisions account for most of their climate emissions and give rise to a suite of critical social justice concerns. Sustainable procurement offers a promising pathway to address these global sustainability challenges by integrating environmental and social criteria into purchasing decisions. However, widespread adoption remains elusive. Even organizations that have embraced sustainable procurement report substantial implementation hurdles. This research thus asks: How can organizations bolster their positive sustainable procurement impact?
Our two-year translation project tackles this challenge through collaboration with American 青瓜视频's (AU鈥檚) Procurement and Contracts Department, and Office of Sustainability. We build upon our existing Faculty Research Incubator Grant funded by AU鈥檚 Center for Environment, Community & Equity (CECE), which catalyzed our cross-unit collaboration. We will use Innovation Compass, a methodology for systems-based change to identify both opportunities and barriers within AU鈥檚 sustainable procurement practices.
The project will yield practical, actionable outcomes including detailed systems maps, implementation tools, and operational protocols implemented in partnership with AU students to embed sustainability into AU's procurement practices. To maximize impact beyond AU to other institutions of higher education, we will disseminate our findings via: a comprehensive public report hosted on a dedicated project website, a free educational webinar, presentations at key sustainability conferences, and targeted articles in civic engagement publications. This multi-faceted translation approach ensures that our project findings will also benefit other institutions advancing sustainable procurement.