Mission and Goals
The Environmental Institute's mission is as follows:
Based on the multi-disciplinary nature of research today, the Environmental Institute's primary function is to be a national leader in the research of environmental sustainability issues related to air, water, and land resources. The mission of the UAEI is to facilitate and support environmental research locally, regionally, nationally, and globally by enhancing resources available to individual researchers and through building and sustaining teams of interdisciplinary researchers within the university. The UAEI fosters study of basic concepts, methods, and practices involving environmental sustainability. Through these efforts, the primary goal of the UAEI is to position researchers for leadership roles and participation in cross-disciplinary environmental research while promoting environmental stewardship.
Program goals are as follows:
- Enhance Reputation: To become nationally recognized as a center of excellence for environmental research by enhancing overall program growth and reputation through increased financing, greater participant involvement, and generation of new projects.
- To Foster Communication and Teaming: Facilitate UA faculty and staff through multi-disciplinary environmental research teaming.
- Increase Funding: Obtain external funding opportunities that will support environmental research and enhance reputation of our researchers and the university.
- Develop ENV Think-Tank: To build an environmental think tank for innovative approaches to sustain, manage, and maximize limited resources of the global environment.
- Enable Researchers. Provide environmental researchers with resources that will promote individual skill and group development and expand coordination and cooperation within the University and to area universities.
- Promote Stewardship: To generally promote environmental awareness and stewardship and become a national leader in environmental education and research.
- Inform. Provide a wide range of information from research available both to researchers and the general public.
- Foster Service Learning and Outreach. Expand community service-outreach efforts in West Alabama and beyond.
The UAEI primary objective is program growth related to the above areas. Objectives are accomplished through a number of activities, including the following:
- offer training workshops for agencies and industrial personnel in unique areas of UA environmental expertise
- offer mentoring assistance to new environmental faculty in departments that have historically little environmental research
- sponsor and organize special receptions at national technical conferences for regional members
- operate a clearinghouse for RFPs from governmental agencies that are relevant to environmental issues.
- create and maintain a directory of faculty and other university staff that have interests and expertise in environmental research.
- assist UA campus facilities folks in meeting changing environmental regulations
- organize and coordinate campus environmental laboratory facilities
- operate specialized campus environmental research facilities
- create relationships with industrial partners that can provide cost-sharing opportunities on proposals, coop opportunities for undergraduate students, jobs for graduating students, and that have research needs that we can help fulfill.
- coordinate current environmental course offerings and degree programs for students among the different collages on campus (Environmental Science and Environmental Engineering)
- maintain and expand current liaisons with elected state and local officials to offer assistance in environmental policy issues
- enhance relationships with state and regional governmental agencies needing environmental expertise
- increase faculty participation on national review panels
- actively lobby project directors at federal agencies