Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.59
Liaison Bambi Ingram
Submission Date July 29, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Alabama at Birmingham
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.25 / 3.00 Julie Price
Sustainability Coordinator
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?:
No

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:
UAB has a Undergraduate Student Government Association, which has elected representatives for each undergrad school and college as well as at-large positions. UAB has a Graduate Student Government, which has elected representatives for each school and college with graduate degree programs as well as at-large positions. These groups do not have direct representation on the President's Executive Cabinet. The VP for Student Affairs sits on the Cabinet as a representative of the students and engages the student groups directly as needed.

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:
The UAB Staff Council. https://www.uab.edu/staffcouncil/ The UAB Staff Council does a representative on the President's Executive Cabinet. The Staff Council's representative to the President's Cabinet is the Chief Human Resources Officer, but this is not an elected position.

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:
The Faculty Senate represents UAB’s faculty in matters of shared governance. The Senate is made up of faculty representatives from all of UAB’s academic units, as well as four officers elected at large by the faculty. Through our participation in various councils and committees, we convey the faculty’s views and concerns in matters that affect our University. In addition, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate has a standing monthly meeting with the President and the Provost, serving as representation on the Executive Cabinet for this response but there is no elected representative on this Cabinet.

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:
---

The policies and procedures:
One year ago, the University of Alabama at Birmingham began an ambitious goal to update the university’s master plan to help strategically guide the physical shape of the campus — the first such comprehensive update since the university’s last adopted master plan was prepared and approved in 2001. Representatives from the UAB Facilities Division engaged staff, faculty, community stakeholders and City of Birmingham representatives throughout the summer and fall of 2015 to get a broad cross section of the campus community to help guide the physical development of the campus in a manner that supports the five pillars of the University’s Strategic Plan. In addition to these required stakeholder meetings, the Campus Planner attended several neighborhood meetings with each of the surrounding neighborhoods to get approval from each neighborhood association. These approvals, through letters of support, were required for the Board of Trustees

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):
UAB has many ways in which external stakeholders can participate in institutional governance: UAB Tree Campus Committee. https://www.uab.edu/sustainability/images/Documents/UAB-Campus-Tree-Care-Plan.pdf UAB Collat School of Business Advisory Board: https://www.uab.edu/business/home/school-profile/council-of-directors UAB Center for Study of Community Health http://www.soph.uab.edu/csch/sites/edu.csch/files/CSCH%20Org%20Chart%20Updated%201-16-15.pdf

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

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.