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The University Is Committed to the Development of Scholarship, Inquiry, and Creativity
CSU-Pueblo demonstrates an institutional commitment to supporting academic and creative inquiry in many ways. This is evidenced in policies, programs, activities, organizations, and time and funds dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. The institution provides faculty, staff, and students multiple opportunities to pursue personal development, research, or creative inquiry as a result of both official university policies and dynamic in-place arrangements. These are evident in all academic disciplines and in all facets of campus life.
Faculty and Staff
Sabbaticals
CSU-Pueblo promotes and expects the use of sabbaticals to pursue professional and scholarly development. Specific policies and expectations are clearly outlined in various documents, including the Faculty Handbook, where Sections 2.8.2, 2.8.3, and 2.11 detail sabbatical and educational leave policies and procedures. 162 Over the past seven years, CSU-Pueblo faculty have been awarded 60 sabbaticals, 29 of which were for a full academic year.
Tenure and Promotion
The university’s standards for tenure and promotion provide incentives for faculty research, scholarship, and creative activity. These policies also are outlined in the Faculty Handbook (Sections 2.9 and 2.10) and discussed further under Core Component 4b that follows.
Assistance in Obtaining Grants or Funds
The university has committed funding through grants and other means to encourage and support faculty research and inquiry and professional development of staff. The CSU-Pueblo Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) takes the lead in pursuing grants and research projects for the campus.163 The part-time director and an administrative assistant guide and support faculty and staff in the preparation of grant proposals seeking to enhance and expand research and learning opportunities for many of its constituents. An important role of this office is providing information about learning and research opportunities. The ORSP provides technical and expert assistance with the planning, application, post-award, implementation, compliance, and reporting phases of grants and program solicitations. The ORSP also tracks grant activities and awards and reports them to the Board of Governors. In addition, the ORSP organizes teleconferences with national funding agencies to assist in their mission of supporting scholarship on campus. During the 2005-2006 academic year, OSRP sponsored teleconferences on National Science Foundation (NSF) Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement, National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award, and NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates program grants. During the summer of 2005, the ORSP director and the campus hosted the Council of Undergraduate Research Grantwriting Workshop. There are several other examples of university-sponsored programs to help faculty, staff, and students obtain research grants and resources. For example, in 2005, CSU-Pueblo opened the Nanotechnology Resource Center for teaching and research in nanotechnology science and engineering. The College of Science and Mathematics (CSM) contributes to faculty research through its Seed Grant Program, most recently providing $25,000 to five faculty research projects. During 2004-2005, CSU-Pueblo won more than $3,400,000 in grants and contracts, including $400,000 to the Western Forensics Law Enforcement Education and Training Center for improving its analytical capabilities and services.164
CSU-Pueblo faculty often collaborate with colleagues from other universities to seek research funding. In the spring of 2005, for example, faculty from CSM worked with their counterparts at CSU in Fort Collins and the University of Northern Colorado to develop and submit two major grant proposals to the National Science Foundation for almost $2 million. Currently, there are several other grant applications filed in collaboration with CSU in Fort Collins pending. Other institutions partnering with the university in this manner have been the Colorado University Health Sciences Center, area community colleges, and Pueblo school districts 60 and 70.
Support for Travel
Faculty receive support for travel to conferences and collections, with special consideration given to those who have active roles as participants in scholarly conferences. Support often is provided for students who attend scholarly conferences under the sponsorship of faculty members.165
University Hosting of Academic Conferences
 Hosting of academic conferences is vital in the pursuit of knowledge and creative activity. Some examples of CSU-Pueblo-hosted conferences over the last few years include the Southern Colorado Policy Issues Forum on “The Future of Iraq,” sponsored by the political science program;[166] the Hasan School of Business (HSB) Lecture Series; the College of Humanities and Social Sciences’ (CHASS) “Democratic Experience” and “Immigration” lecture series; the Physics Seminar Series; the 5th Latin American Literatures and Cultures Conference sponsored by the Spanish program,167 and various musical and fine arts exhibitions and competitions discussed under Criterion 5. One of the most widely recognized conferences is the annual meeting of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery (SISSI), sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, which draws participants from across the U.S. and abroad.168 All of these venues are open and advertised to the greater southern Colorado community.
Students
CSU-Pueblo provides many opportunities for students to pursue both independent research and cooperative research with faculty. There are options in the curriculum for independent study within the schedule of classes as well as laboratory and topic-specific courses. These classes require research to complete a major thesis or paper.
Some of these research projects are taken by the students to national and international conferences and competitions such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) international competition, the annual SISSI Conference mentioned above, the Model United Nations regional and national competitions, the annual United States Air Force Academy Assembly Conference, the National Undergraduate Literature Conference, the National Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), the Southern Colorado Writing Marathon, the annual seven-state region musical composition competition, the annual CHASS Student Literatures and Cultures Conference, the Western Regional Bioethics Conference, and conferences and meetings of the American Chemical Society.
Several special topics classes help students prepare for and engage in these national or regional conferences or competitions. Courses in recent semesters include Model United Nations, Globalization, and the Mechanical Engineering Technology “Senior Design” class, the “Gateway to Space” class, a new “Nanotechnology” course, “Digital Signal Processing,” and other discipline-specific senior seminars.  Students in the sociology program regularly participate in seminars that help them prepare presentations for the annual SISSI conference.
The university also sponsors a broad range of internship opportunities for students. These include both paid and unpaid positions bringing vital knowledge, experience, and practice to those who participate in them.
- Students with interests in politics and community service serve as interns with state legislators, the district attorney, local courts, or social welfare agencies
- Students with interests in the arts and humanities are afforded opportunities to work with such organizations as the Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, the Southeastern Colorado Heritage Center, the Bessemer Historical Society, or the Rosemount Museum.
- Computer Information Systems students regularly participate in a “Senior Professional Project” class that undertakes projects (e.g., Web site design) for local organizations.
- Students in business and economics have the opportunity to develop regional surveys and undertake data analysis.
- Students in business regularly conduct business plans for area companies and nonprofit organizations.
- Students in the President’s Leadership Program serve as interns in a variety of non-profit and for-profit organizations and conduct service projects each year.
- CSU-Pueblo mass communication interns can regularly be found at the Pueblo Chieftain, local media outlets, and involved in public relations/marketing ventures.
- Art students annually take on design projects for local non-profit organizations.
- Social Work majors are required to volunteer 45 hours in a social service agency in a sophomore-level course, and seniors must complete a supervised internship of 448 hours in an approved agency to receive the degree. Placements include public, private, and non-profit social service agencies such as prisons, departments of social services, school systems, nursing homes, St. Mary Corwin and Parkview hospitals, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and child welfare agencies in Pueblo, Colorado Springs, and surrounding areas.
- Students in the Exercise Science, Health Promotion, and Recreation (EXHPR) Department obtain internships in a wide variety of locations, including the Olympic Training Center, the Air Force Academy, the YMCA, the High Intensity Training Center, the Pueblo City/County Health Department, the Pueblo Reservoir, Parkview Medical Center, and St. Mary Corwin Medical Center.
- In recent years, biology majors have interned at area hospitals, veterinary clinics, the Mayo Clinic, the Bureau of Land Management, and the University of Colorado Health Science Center.
- Chemistry majors have been placed in internships at Air Products Chemical, Goodrich Aerospace, Pueblo Chemical Depot, EarthTech, Colorado Bureau of Investigations (CBI), St. Mary Corwin Hospital, Western Forensic Law Enforcement Training Center, Colorado Springs Crime Lab, and the Denver Crime Lab.
In the 2006-2011 Strategic Plan, the university pledges to expand internship opportunities for students. In support of this initiative, in 2006-2007 the university created a new full-time position in the Career Center with specific responsibility for finding and coordinating internship positions for CSU-Pueblo students.169
CSU-Pueblo maintains study-abroad programs to encourage international travel and global exposure for students. The French and Italian programs regularly offer students the opportunity to travel to France or Italy both to improve their linguistic skills and to experience the culture first hand. Students who minor in Italian enjoy special scholarships that fund summer travel opportunities. The English program sponsors annual summer study trips to the British Isles. The university has established cooperative agreements with Tibiscus University in Romania, the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, and the Universität des Saarlandes in Germany. Recently completed arrangements with Ningxia and Weifang Universities in China and Rostov State University in Russia have opened further possibilities for international experiences through student exchanges as well as employment possibilities for CSU-Pueblo graduates.170
The institution is dedicated to promoting academic honor societies, which indicate the commitment of both students and faculty to excellence in scholarship and academics. Examples of active chapters on campus include Sigma Tau Delta (English), Psi Chi (psychology), Phi Alpha Zeta Delta (social work), Pi Sigma Alpha (political science), Sigma Delta Pi (Spanish), Beta Beta Beta (biology), and Beta Gamma Sigma (business). Since 1996, CSU-Pueblo has initiated more than 400 students into Phi Kappa Phi, the national honor society:
CSU-Pueblo supports a multitude of extracurricular activities and organizations that sponsor scholarly and creative activities, including funding of student conferences such as History Day, Math Day, Chemistry Day, the Young Women’s Real World Conference, the annual CHASS Literatures and Cultures Student Conference mentioned above, the annual Evening of Women’s Poetry, the Presidential Leadership Program Conferences, and the CSM Research Symposium. In addition, the annual Hirsch Lecture series has featured 16 prominent lecturers since its inception in 1990:
- Stewart Udall, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior
- Tatiana Yankelevich, daughter of Andrei Sakarov
- James Burke, host of the PBS television series Connections
- Michael Josephson, founder of the Michael Josephson Institute for Ethics
- James Humes, author, actor, statesman
- Nelly Toll, Holocaust survivor
- Ken Mattingly, astronaut
- Fred Hausheer, Alan Huang, and George Michaels, supercomputing pioneers
- David Carrasco, Princeton professor of American Religion
- Adam Werbach, former president of the Sierra Club
- James Randi, leading investigator and demystifier of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims
- Ann McGee-Cooper, recognized leader in the emerging field of brain engineering
- Franklin Chang Diaz, astronaut
- Patch Adams, physician and nationally known speaker on wellness, laughter, humor, and life
- Greg Moser, counterterrorism and homeland defense
- National Public Radio’s Clay Jenkinson as Thomas Jefferson
Many of the more than 50 university-sponsored clubs are involved in research, scholarly, or creative activity. Clubs such as the Political Science Club, the Past Masters History Club, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the ASME Club, the Chemistry Club, the English Club, and the Psychology Club all pursue the acquisition and discovery of knowledge relevant to their disciplines.
162 The Faculty Handbook is at http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/facultysenate/FacultyHandbook/.
163 For details about the ORSP, see http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/grants/
164 For information about this center, see http://partners.colostate-pueblo.edu/wfletc/.
165 Support for travel for faculty professional development is also discussed under Criterion Three.
166 See http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/news/releases06/037.htm.
167 See http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/news/releases06/023.htm
168 See http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/sissi/
169 Student internships also are discussed under Criteria Three and Five.
170 A list of foreign universities with which CSU-Pueblo has exchange agreements can be found at http://www.colostate-pueblo.edu/InternationalPrograms/exchangeprograms/Exchange.asp
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