The Faculty Climate Action Champion Award is meant to incentivize and support faculty leadership in scholarship, teaching, and community engagement about climate-action solutions. The program is funded at UCI in 2015/16 through President Napolitano’s Global Climate Leadership Council. This program is intended to support system-wide investment in climate neutrality and climate leadership, both on and off campus.
The UCI Faculty Climate Action Champion Award will support one faculty member with $25,000 to carry out a project from the Fall of 2015 through to December 31, 2016. Funds are intended to support activities in research, education, and engagement (of students and the community) surrounding innovative programs associated with climate change, including developing, studying, and/or implementing climate-action solutions.  An important program goal is to broaden and deepen climate change teaching and research on UCI’s campus. The Champion’s project will be part of a number of efforts to help meet and focus student demand for climate action and education. The Champion should also inspire a wider range of faculty to take up the challenge of engaged research and education and be prepared to provide campus-wide leadership on these topics.
The Faculty Climate Action Champion Award selection process is convened by the UC Irvine’s Academic Senate Council on Research Computing and Libraries in partnership with the Sustainability Initiative. We are accepting proposals for the Champion award through September 30, 2015. Proposals will be evaluated by a committee composed of the Sustainability Initiative Executive Committee members and Senate representatives. A Champion will be announced on October 15, 2015.
We encourage proposals from faculty across the disciplinary expanse of the entire university, as climate-action solutions are needed from every sector.  We are requesting short (5 page maximum) proposals that include the following elements:

1. An overall summary description of the research/education program

2. Intended use of the funds

3. Plan for engagement of the campus community including students, staff, and faculty

4. Plan for engagement of stakeholders off campus including local community members (including climate, social, and environmental organizations), non-profit leaders, government agencies, and/or business leaders

5. A more detailed description of the research/education program that includes how the proposed activities will have broader scope and application than to the specific academic field of the Champion and give the Champion an opportunity to pursue a new direction in scholarship or service

6. Description of teaching and other curricular innovations such as a seminar (targeted towards undergraduate and/or graduate students), a new course or set of courses, and/or significant infusion of climate action into an existing course or courses, including evidence of support from the academic unit for deviations in teaching obligations

Please provide a single document (as a pdf) to sustainability-initiative@uci.edu by 6:00 pm on September 30, 2015. 

Questions about the RFP may be directed to Travis Huxman (thuxman@uci.edu).