Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.96
Liaison Olivia Herron
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Miami University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Kelsey Forren
Sustainability Coordinator
Physical Facilities Department
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Miami University Office of Community Engagement and Service (OCES)

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus?:
The partnership simultaneously supports social equity and wellbeing, economic prosperity, and ecological health

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review? (Yes, No, or Not Sure):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability, including website URL (if available) and information to support each affirmative response above:

Miami University’s Office of Community Engagement and Service (OCES) is an information hub for everything from one-time service projects to deep social change and advocacy work. Through OCES, Miami students, faculty, and staff engage in efforts to create meaningful change. OCES also serves as the first point of contact for nonprofit organizations seeking to engage with Miami for the purposes of community service, Service-Learning classes, co-sponsorship of events or any other form of collaboration for public benefit.

From civic engagement initiatives and issue-based programming to short-term and long-term volunteer opportunities, OCES offers a wide array of programs for students to engage and serve in the communities surrounding Miami University. These programs include RISE alternative breaks, disaster response, Miami SOUP, Workshops, and Vote Everywhere. A brief description of each program is listed below and can be found on the OCES website (https://miamioh.edu/student-life/community-engagement-service/).

RISE Alternative Breaks: RISE Alt. Breaks invites students to learn, serve, grow, and rise as an active citizen. Each student-led RISE trip provides an immersive service experience over spring break. Focused on a particular social justice theme, each trip is rooted in education, direct service, and reflection. During these trips, students participate in 30+ hours of service, engage in meaningful reflection, explore RISE site, and build long-lasting community with Site Leaders and participants. In 2019, there will be three trips and the themes are Environmental Justice, Recognizing and Understanding Gentrification, and Education Inequity and Youth Development.

ComMUnity Connect: ComMUnity Connect (miamioh.edu/volunteer) is Miami’s online volunteer platform which launched in January 2018. The site allows Miami students, faculty, and staff to search and sign up for local volunteer opportunities. In August 2018, OCES partnered with Butler County United Way to create a sister site for local residents to access these volunteer opportunities and address more needs in the community.

Disaster Response: OCES became involved with coordinating disaster response and donations on campus when Hurricanes Irma and Harvey hit in 2017.

Miami SOUP: Miami SOUP represents Service Oriented Unity Projects. The mission of the program is to foster a sense of collaboration and community between Miami students and community partners to create social change through mini-grants, crowdfunding, and democracy. Miami SOUP invites the campus and local community to come together and create powerful community change. Audience members are invited to donate a few dollars at the door, enjoy a dinner together, and learn about community change proposals put together by students and community partners. It fosters collaborations amongst Miami students, staff, faculty, and Oxford community to create sustainable and ongoing partnerships to spark change in the Greater Cincinnati area.

Workshops: Over the years, staff and student leaders at Miami University have facilitated a lot of workshops and OCES makes these workshops public and available to Miami students, staff, and faculty. They have over 15 workshops in their library that fall under themes of political engagement, community building, community service, and community-engaged teaching.

Vote Everywhere: Vote Everywhere, a program of The Andrew Goodman Foundation, is a unique Civic Engagement Initiative rooted in a legacy of civil rights and social justice. Vote Everywhere carries on the work of Andrew Goodman, a sophomore at Queens College, who was murdered along with James Chaney and Michael Schwerner during Freedom Summer 1964 while attempting to register African-Americans to vote. Vote Everywhere empowers a national community of campus leaders to mobilize others to act on issues of importance using their votes, voices, and networks. Together, the AGF and OCES select Vote Everywhere Ambassadors, who help implement the goals of the program. Miami University has two Miami Students, who are Vote Everywhere Ambassadors, that help to organize voter registration efforts, plans and facilitates civic engagement workshops, engage students in the political process, and bring down barriers to voting.


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
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Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
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Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
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Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
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Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review? (2nd partnership) (Yes, No, or Not Sure):
---

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability, including website URL (if available) and information to support each affirmative response above (2nd partnership):
---

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
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Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
---

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
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Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (3rd partnership):
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Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners in strategic planning, decision-making, implementation and review? (3rd partnership) (Yes, No, or Unknown):
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A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability, including website URL (if available) and information to support each affirmative response above (3rd partnership):
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A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.