Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 73.17
Liaison Megan Litke
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

American University
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Megan Litke
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability
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Part 1

Do the institution’s students have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a student council)? :
Yes

Do the institution’s students have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
The president of the Student Government and the President of the Student Bar Association are both elected by their peers and serve on the Board of Trustees.

Do the institution’s staff members have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a staff council)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s non-supervisory staff members have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
Staff council representatives are elected by their peers and the chair of staff council serves as a campus representative on the Board of Trustees.

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have a representative body through which they can participate in governance (e.g. a faculty senate)?:
Yes

Do the institution’s teaching and research faculty have an elected representative on the institution’s highest governing body? :
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which teaching and research faculty are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
The Faculty Senate provides opportunity for faculty to participate in governance. All members of the university community are invited to attend meetings. Faculty can also participate on university committees on specific topics. The Faculty Senate chairs, who are elected by the university faculty, serve as representatives to the Board of Trustees. Additionally, the Senate can appoint representatives to serve on Board committees.

Part 2

Does the institution have written policies and procedures to identify and engage external stakeholders (i.e. local residents) in land use planning, capital investment projects, and other institutional decisions that affect the community?:
Yes

A copy of the written policies and procedures:
Exhibit-3-Community-Dialogue-Process.pdf

The policies and procedures:
For AU's 2011 Campus plan, in an effort to involve its neighbors in the process for developing a new Campus Plan, the Campus Plan Task Force was created. This group, significantly larger than the last Campus Plan, comprised more than three dozen people representing neighboring communities adjacent to AU’s main campus and Tenley campus including Wesley Heights, Westover Place, Spring Valley, AU Park, Ft. Gaines and the Tenley area.

Does the institution have formal participatory or shared governance bodies through which community members representing the interests of the following stakeholder groups can regularly participate in institutional governance?:
Yes or No
Local government and/or educational organizations Yes
Private sector organizations Yes
Civil society (e.g. NGOs, NPOs) Yes

If yes to one or more of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which external stakeholders are engaged in institutional governance (including information about each stakeholder group selected above):
The American University Community Liaison Committee (CLC) was established to foster positive relations and to maintain regular communication between the university and its neighbors. As specified in the D.C. Zoning Commission Order for AU’s 2011 Campus Plan, the CLC comprises individuals from neighboring community organizations and representatives from the university. The CLC meets at least quarterly. One of the four meetings is a town hall meeting with the president of the university. The Community Liaison Committee is composed of university representatives responsible for implementing and monitoring the major elements of the 2011 Campus Plan and representatives from each of the following community organizations:  ANC 3D, 3E and 3F  Embassy Park Neighbors Association  Foxhall East Condominium  Ft. Gaines Citizens Association  Greenbriar Condominium  McLean Gardens Condominium Association  Neighbors for a Livable Community  Spring Valley – Wesley Heights Citizens Association  Sutton Place Condominium Association  Sutton Towers Condominium Association  Tenley Campus Neighbors Association  Tenley Neighbors Association  Tenleytown Historical Society  Ward 3 Vision  Westover Place Homeowners Association

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.american.edu/communityrelations/clc/index.cfm

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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