We need to transform the institution and culture and value and protect interdisciplinarity for students and faculty. It s a combination of integration and aggregation. The University has multiple purposes. As the People s University, interdisciplinary research can help us solve Saskatchewan problems, measured by research, extension, and public service. We need balance.
Grant money is publication dependent.
Departments and colleges need to be able to assess the value of interdisciplinary research. The tendency now is to ignore it. We need to set up interdisciplinary research to enliven and create new disciplinary departments. Now with a big project, interdisciplinary researchers have difficulties maintaining links to their original disciplines to get feedback. Interdisciplinary research requires more time which is why more senior faculty than junior faculty get involved since well-established disciplinary routes will produce two to three times the output.