Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 81.67
Liaison Mark Lichtenstein
Submission Date Feb. 28, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.75 / 3.00 Mark Lichtenstein
Executive Director of Sustainability
Energy and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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:
All students are eligible to vote for representation and/or run for office for either the Undergraduate Student Association or through the Graduate Student Association. The Undergraduate Student Association (see http://www.esf.edu/org/usa/) is the governing body for the undergraduate population. The Graduate Student Association Senate acts as the representative body of graduate students at ESF (see http://www.esfgsa.com/). Both the undergraduate and the graduate student associations elect a representative to be a member of the ESF Board of Trustees, the highest governing body at ESF (http://www.esf.edu/welcome/trustees.htm ). In addition, ESF also has a broader shared-governance body referred to as "Academic Governance" ( https://www.esf.edu/acadgov/), which includes the College's President, all Faculty, 16 elected students, and 30 elected staff representatives. In addition, Students have seats on the following College "shared decision-making" committees: Capital Planning, Diversity, Strategic Planning, and Sustainability.

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?:
No

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:
All staff are welcome to attend Academic Governance meetings and some work on committees. Professional staff (30 representatives) also have the right to vote in Academic Governance. The Bylaws of Academic Governance can be found at: https://www.esf.edu/acadgov/bylaws.htm

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? :
No

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:
Academic Governance at ESF (https://www.esf.edu/acadgov/) serves a variety of roles as defined by the SUNY Board of Trustees. Primarily, ESF's Academic Governance serves to help facilitate the initiation, development, and implementation of the college's mission and educational program. All ESF Faculty have voting rights on Academic Governance, and are eligible for elected position on the Academic Governance Executive, as well as on several committees. No ESF Faculty are elected to the ESF Board of Trustees. With the exception of two student representatives, all Board of Trustee members are named by the Governor of New York.

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?:
No

A copy of the written policies and procedures:
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The policies and procedures:
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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 College has a Board of Trustees that represents a participatory / shared governance model. It is created and enabled by New York State law. This board allows for input from a variety of external stakeholder groups, including through working groups it has formed, and it is directly involved in decision-making regarding a host of institutional issues issues. Representatives from local and state government: - The NYS Lt. Governor - The Commissioner of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), and the Director of the local office of the DEC (who serves as Chair of the Board) [The DEC is an essential partner with the College.] - The NYS Education Department - Other local government officials have been represented Representatives from educational institutions: - A student from ESF representing student governance - The Chancellor of the State University of New York - The Syracuse University Chancellor Representatives from the private sector: - Currently, three representatives from the private sector, including an insurance / environmental risk company, charter school advocate, and a retiree Representatives from NGOs: - Currently one representative from an NGO from the Adirondack region of New York State There are vacancies on the Board, and it is expected these will be filled with members from all the above sectors. https://www.esf.edu/welcome/trustees.htm

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.esf.edu/facgov/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The definition of formal role that was used is qualified as advisory to the President. All decisions on a SUNY Campus are made strictly by the President and all input into the decision making process is advisory. Therefore, the formal role is to be advisory through Academic Governance either as a direct member or represented by either other professional staff and/student representatives. There are however support staff that is not represented, by Academic Governance, but are represented by other organizations who collaborate with the President.

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