VITAL

• Our programs employ coursework and underlying research addressing major local, national, and global challenges.
• A key guiding aim for our research and teaching is to understand and develop integrated solutions for critical real-world problems, whether technological, scientific, societal, and environmental.
• We offer a critical service for our local, national, and global community by contributing to a broader understanding of the nature of, and possible solutions to, major contemporary challenges facing people, governments, and industries worldwide.

INNOVATIVE

In our research and teaching, we look for new answers to critical problems using the latest and most relevant scientific and technical tools, social understanding, and analytical methods.

• Our faculty and student research both explore new subjects of interest and new methods to address them and apply existing technologies, methods, and knowledge in new contexts.
• We are innovative and entrepreneurial by fostering a spirit of openness to new ideas in research, teaching, administration, and collaboration (both internally and externally). A willingness to experiment in all areas of scholarship is one of the defining features of our degree programs.
• All our degree programs embrace innovation and flexibility in teaching, such as team teaching, the thoughtful use of technology in the classroom, and extensive student opportunities for hands-on learning in the field, lab, and community.

PRAGMATIC

• We build the skills needed to address problems practically. Building on scientific, social, environmental, and global understandings, we equip students with analytic methods to become versatile, thoughtful, and effective problem-solvers in the real world.
• As a confederation of scholars with an understanding of both academic and real-world perspectives, our insights can be of real value to local, regional, national, and global communities.
• With a range of technical, methodological, and social understanding from diverse faculty and students, we can offer appropriate and effective solutions to many complex, multi-faceted problems.
• Our graduates have knowledge and skills that allow them sufficient flexibility to adapt to and thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

GLOBAL

• Our students benefit from the global understanding offered in many courses within the school. Each degree program encourages a broad scope to convey the integrated global reality of contemporary human, environmental, societal, and technological challenges.
• Our students and faculty develop global, as well as philosophical and practical, understandings as a way to see problems in their context and offer appropriate solutions.
• Our students and faculty can contextualize problems and thus can develop appropriate and practical solutions.

INTEGRATED

• We look across disciplinary boundaries to develop the best solutions to contemporary challenges. Technological, social, and environmental problems cannot be neatly categorized by academic discipline; they require a range of scientific, technological, social, and human understandings. Each program’s research and teaching reflects that reality, seeking the best way to address the issues facing our world today.
• As a result, faculty frequently develop courses and research programs that go beyond the bounds of their disciplinary origins. These courses and research programs often address subjects and methods that need to be adequately addressed by traditional academic disciplines.
• Collaboration between diverse faculty across different programs, within and outside the school (and the university), is part of the ethos and culture of the School of Integrated Sciences. Collaboration with relevant external partners in government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and industry is also strongly encouraged.

Interdisciplinarity

While we value traditional academic disciplines, we also value approaches to scholarly inquiry that cut across traditional disciplines, bringing relevant information and problem-solving approaches from a variety of knowledge domains to bear.

Contextualized Knowledge and Skills

We value teaching and scholarship that produce knowledge and skills that are relevant to understanding and addressing contemporary problems, issues, or societal needs at global, national, and local scales. We acknowledge that relevance may be achieved through a diversity of approaches, teaching styles, and methods, including “hands-on” and other experiential learning.

Innovation

We value innovation as a critical element in problem-solving, and we seek to teach students to be innovative in their problem-solving approaches. We also value innovative teaching methods in the classroom.

Student Engagement

We value engagement with our students in order to produce meaningful learning experiences. We respect students by mentoring them in ways that can help them to be effective holistic problem- solvers; by collaborating with them in our scholarship when possible; by developing robust and engaging curricula that teach them critical skills; by learning with them; by creating opportunities for them to learn, ask questions, and articulate needs; and by championing them in their transition through their educational experiences.

Collaboration

We value a spirit of collaboration in curriculum development, team teaching, research, and service opportunities.

Inclusive Excellence

We value acceptance and respect for that which makes each individual unique. We recognize and embrace our individual differences. 

Autonomy and Work-life balance 

We respect and trust our faculty to make decisions regarding teaching, scholarship, and service. This includes their freedom of inquiry, their freedom to be innovative, and their freedom to critically question and challenge dominant assumptions. We value faculty autonomy in course development and delivery as a means to producing a dynamic, diverse, and interesting curriculum. We encourage our faculty and staff to pursue their passions in a way that maximizes the synergy between the personal and professional dimensions of our lives.

Transparent, Honest, and Fair Leadership

We value leadership, and policies and processes that treat all in a fair manner and provide opportunities to all equally. We value transparent administrative processes to promote fairness among all members of our community. We value honesty in communication promoting respect for each other's dignity.

Collegiality, Appreciation and Support

We value a culture of caring. We express appreciation and provide support for faculty, staff, and students.  We value administrative approaches to finds ways to help faculty members to succeed.