| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83.12 |
| Liaison | Patrick McKee |
| Submission Date | Nov. 16, 2023 |
University of Connecticut
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Patrick
McKee Senior Sustainability Program Manager Office of Sustainability |
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the municipal/local level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the municipal/local level:
The University of Connecticut has a community-campus public policy committee, known as the Town/University Relations Committee (or Town/Gown) with a mission to facilitate collaboration between the University and larger Mansfield community. The committee is co-chaired by the Deputy Chief of Staff (Cara Workman) to the President and the Mayor (Toni Moran), respectively. Goals of the committee include facilitating open, ongoing discussions on community issues, and serving as an advisory group on town and university initiatives. Whenever UConn is in session, the population of the town of Mansfield doubles. The Town/Gown Committee is the source of many local ordinances and regulations that pertain to the environment, as well as social and economic policies, in the town.
On this Relations Committee, sustainability is discussed almost regularly. The campus's growth invites challenges from the town, ensuring accountability by senior administration. For example, at the Tuesday, December 13th 2022 meeting, topics such as UConn's dredging of Mirror Lake to increase stormwater capacity, construction at South campus and Mansfield apartments, and ADA compliance were discussed. All of these fall underneath the broad concept of sustainability, pushing UConn to be accountable and accessible to Mansfield. UConn and Mansfield also collaborate on a multitude of fronts, this same meeting finding synergies on improving bike accessibility on and near campus. UConn also inquires about town sustainability progress, especially with the development occurring around the university with private contractors and apartment complexes.
https://www.mansfieldct.gov/1582/TownUniversity-Relations-TownGown
https://www.mansfieldct.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02142023-14018
https://www.mansfieldct.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_10112022-13810
The Town of Mansfield also has a Sustainability Committee, which has been highly involved with students and other entities. UConn personnel have historically served and been represented within this group. The chair of the committee, Virginia Walton, works with the student population to increase sustainability initiatives while students provide support to town sustainability like food waste diversion.
https://www.mansfieldct.gov/1536/Sustainability-Committee
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level:
The University of Connecticut engages at the state and regional level extensively, having representation and influence on sustainability-minded public policy.
Within the state, Connecticut has offices in each county focusing on more ecologically minded sustainability initiatives. This is prioritized by the organizations such as the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) and Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA). These entities assist municipal decision-makers across counties, providing insights into new land management techniques and mitigation plans.
https://resilientconnecticut.uconn.edu/
https://clear.uconn.edu/lua/
Beyond state-level municipal politics and ordinances, the University of Connecticut has been very active in proposed legislation at the Connecticut General Assembly and working with Governor Lamont for sustainability-focused initiatives. This past year, UConn administrators gave public testimony at a few public acts focusing on the environment and energy.
UConn has been adamant in supporting the Hydrogen legislation in the state Energy and Technology Committee, providing written and verbal support for HB 6851, which focuses on the Hydrogen Task Force and its Clean Hydrogen Strategic Plan. It pushes the state to match funding from the Department of Economic and Community Development to increase deployment of clean hydrogen. UConn also supported HB 5200, An Act Establishing a Task Force to Study Hydrogen Power, which focuses on continuing the Hydrogen Task Force permanently and looking to clean industries like aviation, diesel locomotives, and as a potential battery-like storage.
UConn faculty members and staff members have been advocates for other pieces of legislation focusing on sustainability. Professor Dietz in the past few years has written and spoken testimony in front the Environmental Committee, in support of green stormwater practices like municipal stormwater fees to reduce impervious runoff.
The University of Connecticut has also been the leader of green hydrogen efforts in the Northeast. In the past two years, UConn has been a catalyst for the improvements in hydrogen fuel usage in New England for hard to decarbonize sectors. Our current president is a hydrogen fuel cell engineer, who has taken full accountability in pursuing this for the region. UConn has been using fuel cells since the early 2010s, exhibited with the Center for Clean Energy Engineering.
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the national level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the national level:
In March 2023, Sr. Sustainability Program Manager attended the Campus and Community-Scale Climate Change Solutions forum at the White House as one of approximately 50 in person representatives from higher education institutions across the country to discuss opportunities to utilize federal funding tools available through the Inflation Reduction Act, U.S. Farm Bill, and bipartisan Infrastructure Bill in directly addressing climate change through investments in clean energy research, equitable energy transitions, energy efficiency, and workforce development. The two day event featured meetings with White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) representatives and leaders of relevant federal agencies such as the DOE and USDA as well as facilitated workshops between university representatives to share best practices on mitigating climate impacts and ways to collaborate as a larger peer network.
The University of Connecticut has also collaborated with state and regional entities to secure resources for New England and Connecticut sustainability initiatives at the National level.
UConn, Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection supported adding a community project request to FY24 Energy and Water Appropriations Act to acquire funds for Connecticut and the broader New England community to expand and strengthen our coastal wind energy facilities, providing clean energy to the region.
The University of Connecticut has focused on mitigating anthropogenic impacts on Long Island Sound and marine ecosystems. The Connecticut Institute of Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) - which is part of the Avery Point campus - spearheaded testimony for FY24 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Act pushing Congress to sign in this legislation. This was pursued underneath the Department of Commerce's NOAA Operations, Research, and Facilities. This is an attempt to advance our understanding of genomics within the marine-related sectors of our economy, and to expand our efforts with the DeepOGen Project.
CIRCA, underneath UConn, also provided written support for FY24 Interior Appropriations Act. This was to provide more financial resources to improve and continue our Long Island Sound Study (LISS). The goal of this effort is to develop an urban coastal health initiative to provide research and models to the Long Island Sound coastal management team within the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Council of Governments within the state. The LISS is across all states bordering the Long Island Sound, and has been invaluable in assisting coastal management. The increase in funding being advocated for would focus on urban mitigation of coastal sea level changes, and how to provide better informational resources to stakeholders.
CIRCA also provided written support for an additional increase of 2,500,000 dollars to FY24 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. This is aimed at providing more information and aid to State Agencies and private stakeholders in developing forward-looking, locally-supported risk reduction and construction plans to better apply for FEMA and state project funding applications. CIRCA has been instrumental to addressing the gap between federal programs and local communities, engaging them to understand their needs in the face of increased climatic stress.
Connecticut's leadership has been noted, attracting senior level government officials like U.S Secretary of Energy to visit in May 2022 and tour our University. She discussed hydrogen energy, carbon capture, and more.
Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the international level?:
A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the international level:
UConn has sent a cohort of approximately 14 dedicated students and 4-6 faculty members to represent the university at the United Nations COP global climate change summits since COP21 in 2015. These students sit in on panel discussions and observed stakeholders engage in policy making, adjusting, and advocating for sustainability and ways to combat climate change. Every year, the students and faculty members return to campus and share their perspectives with University leadership through meetings with the President, Provost, and other administrators as well as the student body through a symposium style event known as the Climate Change Cafe. During the Trump administration, UConn students also represented U.S. higher education's collective commitment to upholding the commitments of the Paris Agreement as members of the We Are Still In (WASI) network (now known as the We Are All in Network) led by Second Nature.
After COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, the UConn delegation also met with staff members of Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry to learn more about ways that UConn, and U.S. higher education institutions can support federal efforts to address climate change.
UConn participates in the YEA network and RINGO.
https://sustainability.uconn.edu/uconn-at-cop/
The university also participates in the UI Green Metric World University Ranking and has been invited to speak at the University of Indonesia's annual global conference about best practices and international policies for sustainability.
A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years (if applicable):
The Office of Government Relations promotes effective communication between representatives of the University of Connecticut and representatives of local, state, and federal government. During each session of the Connecticut General Assembly, the office develops the University's legislative agenda, actively supports any legislation of interest to the University and the Health Center and monitors development and passage of the University's operating and capital budgets. In addition, the office monitors federal legislation and serves as a liaison between members of the Connecticut Congressional delegation and University faculty and administrators.
Government Relations also emails copies of proposed bills on environmental, energy and other sustainability topics to the OS for review and comment, and for further dissemination to the appropriate managers within UConn. Miller has advised Government Affairs about UConn policy positions on these topics and has testified for UConn at legislative hearings on several of these proposals.
A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):
As a public university, we are unable to make political donations.
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability advocacy efforts 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.