Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.48
Liaison Dayna Cook
Submission Date Sept. 28, 2020

STARS v2.2

Northern Arizona University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Matthew Muchna
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP)

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?:
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:

NAU has proudly housed the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professional (ITEP) since 1992. ITEP was created to act as a catalyst among tribal governments, research and technical resources at Northern Arizona University (NAU), various federal, state and local governments, and the private sector, in support of environmental protection of Native American natural resources. ITEP was established at NAU in 1992, in cooperation with USEPA. ITEP accomplishes its mission through several programs. ITEP works with Tribes nationally to educate and train environmental professionals along with leading climate change preparedness studies and adaptation plans for tribal groups. More locally on our campus, ITEP has worked with the Office of Sustainability on the 2020 update of the Climate Action Plan and other sustainability groups to provide the important, and often missing, indigenous perspective.

http://www7.nau.edu/itep/main/Home/


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Center for Health Equity Research

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):

The Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) is committed to finding solutions to end health disparities regionally, nationally, and globally by engaging researchers, healthcare providers, and communities in new ways that are culturally relevant and respectful. Our collaborative work provides solid information that our partners can use for their work to improve health and well-being for all.

One project, Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative, focused on increasing health equity and sustainability research in under-served tribal populations as equal partners in taking preventative health measures into their community in the Southwest region.

https://nau.edu/cher/


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Native American Cancer Prevention

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Sustainability-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):

The Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention (NACP) is the collaboration between The University of Arizona Cancer Center (UACC), Northern Arizona University (NAU), The National Institutes of Health (NIH), and The National Cancer Institute (NCI). The Partnership is funded under parallel grants, U54CA143924 (UACC) and U54CA143925 (NAU).

The mission is to alleviate the unequal burden of cancer among Native Americans of the Southwest through research, training, and community outreach programs in collaboration with the communities we serve.

Background
Programs are designed to facilitate the entry of Native Americans into biomedical research. Research projects include laboratory and community-based participatory cancer research focusing on the needs and interests of the communities we serve. All programs involving communities originate in those communities and are developed and implemented in partnership with NACP students and faculty.

Specific aims:
Aim one
Our Developmental Core will foster and support culturally-appropriate research capacity at our institutions both through research projects and through faculty recruitment and development.

Aim two
We will honor the culture of the Native American communities we serve by providing opportunities to integrate their values, beliefs and needs into every aspect of the NACP.

Aim three
We will increase the number of culturally competent biomedical researchers and health workers by increasing the number of Native American students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty trained in cancer prevention, cancer control, and cancer-related health care policy through our Training Core.

Significance
The NACP provides a unique and valuable opportunity for collaboration with investigators and the Native American communities to address their health concerns related to cancer as well as providing advanced training programs for Native American students entering undergraduate and graduate research.

Health disparities in Indigenous populations are a major sustainability issues for tribal communities which effect economics and ecological nature of tribal spaces. NAU's N.A.C.P. is committed to reducing cancer rates while providing access to education and research for more sustainable communities today and for the future.

https://in.nau.edu/nacp/


A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:

We have a new found relationship with the City of Flagstaff Sustainability Sector. The NAU Sustainability Manager attends the monthly City Sustainability Commission Meetings, and the City Sustainability Specialist, Jenny Niemann, is a members of the monthly NAU Coordinating Committee for Sustainability (CoCoSus) meetings. This collaboration has opened the doors for information and resource sharing around projects like community bike-share program and merging Climate Action Plans.


Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Data provided by: joshua.maher@nau.edu


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