Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.20
Liaison Jessica Thompson
Submission Date June 20, 2024

STARS v2.2

Northern Michigan University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Jessica Thompson
AVP Sustainability
People Culture & Wellbeing
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Climate Adaptation Task Force

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:

The Climate Adaptation Task Force (CATF) is a partnership between Marquette County, the Superior Watershed Partnership (SWP) and Northern Michigan University (NMU). Other partners include tribal community representation, educators from Michigan State University Extension, The Community Foundation of Marquette County, and city and county elected officials. In addition, the SWP, City of Marquette and NMU develop local climate planning tools and provide information on these tools to the local units of government and business partners. CATF has hosted a number of forums available to elected officials and community members to provide input into the planning process and ensure a socially acceptable outcome. The task force has considered the various aspects of sustainability as it relates to climate change, such as: robustness, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of electricity generation in Michigan's Upper Peninsula; assisting local governments and units in identifying and prioritizing problems related to climate change in their communities; climate change effects lake levels and aquifers, and other aspects of the local environment; raising public awareness of how local communities and businesses can take proactive action in response to extreme weather events and other consequences of climate change. Please refer to the link below for more information on the Climate Adaptation Task Force: http://superiorwatersheds.org/catf.html


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Northern Climate Network

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):
Not Sure

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

NMU hosts the Northern Climate Network - provides meeting space, and refreshments and supports faculty time to participate. This partnership is ongoing, initiated in 2014 with three founding community partners, and has continued with collaborative programming, policy guidance, and community engagement with local sustainability issues of climate resilience, and public health in an era of climate change. https://www.nmu.edu/northernclimatenetwork/home


Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Dead River Community Forest Project

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):
Not Sure

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

NMU's SHINE partnered with the U.P. Land Conservancy to provide students experiential learning opportunities and field-based research in a way that also advances the Dead River Community Forest Project. During the 2022 "Day of Giving" the NMU Foundation partnered with the UP Land Conservancy to raise money to support collaborative projects at the Dead River Community Forest. https://nmu.edu/shine/ https://www.uplandconservancy.org/dead-river-community-forest


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