Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 75.77
Liaison Ezra Small
Submission Date March 2, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Massachusetts Amherst
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.50 / 3.00 Ezra Small
Sustainability Manager
Physical Plant
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

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

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:

Student Government Association (SGA) Student Trustee and President are both elected by their peers to represent the student body on the Board of Trustees.

The election results from 2018 here: https://www.umass.edu/sga/elections/
The Board of Trustees Student Trustee Election Policy here: https://www.umass.edu/studentlife/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/2016-2017%20SGA%20Bylaws.pdf
Board of Trustees "Standard Three: Organization and Governance" document page 22 states "The Senate plays an active role in campus governance by providing advice to campus administrators about issues that affect undergraduate education and welfare. The Student Trustee also has direct access to address the University’s Board of Trustees."
http://www.umass.edu/chancellor/sites/default/files/standard-three-organization-and-governance.pdf


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

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:

Staff on campus have the ability to participate in their unions which provide opportunities for establishing new policies, programs, or initiatives; budgeting, staffing and financial planning; and communications processes and transparency practices. Staff members are also permitted to serve on Faculty Senate Committees such as the "Health Committee."


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

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:

Faculty Senate
https://www.umass.edu/senate/home

UMass Board of Trustees
https://www.umassp.edu/bot


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:

UMass Amherst has written agreements with surrounding towns of Amherst and Hadley which set procedures for how the town and the campus co-manage numerous town/gown issues such as land use planning, student housing, student behavior, etc.


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

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):

There are multiple UMass based governance bodies that provide opportunities for stakeholder engagement on multiple town/gown issues from stakeholders from all three of the above categories including:
-UTAC - University/Town of Amherst Collaborative: http://www.umass.edu/utac/
The University-Town of Amherst Collaborative (UTAC) is a joint initiative of the Town of Amherst and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It is made up of Amherst residents, UMass Amherst town and university officials, and UMass Amherst students. UTAC is an advisory council to the town manager and chancellor which provides leadership and ideas, while building support for future joint endeavors. These include, but are not limited to, identifying sites for undergraduate mixed-use development, jointly pursuing public-private partnerships, and helping to create an anchor strategy for the university that embraces the town and fosters economic success. UTAC is a direct result of the Town Gown Steering Committee, created in 2013 with a joint commitment by Amherst and UMass to hire a consultant to aid in the development of a shared economic development and housing vision. The committee worked with U3 Advisors of Philadelphia on the UMass/Amherst Housing and Economic Development Plan upon which all future work is based.
UTAC Members:
Maurianne Adams
Amherst Resident/Neighborhood Representative; Professor Emerita, UMass
Alisa Brewer
Chair, Amherst Select Board
Nancy Buffone
Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations (co-chair)
Shane Conklin
Associate Vice Chancellor for Facilities and Campus Services
Enku Gelaye
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life
John Kuhn
Senior Principal, Kuhn Riddle Architects; Board of Directors, Amherst BID
Eric Nakajima
Former Director, Massachusetts Broadband Institute/Amherst resident
Katherine Newman
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Carol Ross
Media and Climate Specialist, Amherst Together
David Ziomek
Assistant Town Manager (co-chair)
Economic Development
Clare Bertrand
Amherst Town Meeting Member; Amherst Office Park
Natalie Blais
Chief of Staff, Office of the Chancellor
James D. Capistran
Executive Director, UMass Innovation Institute (co-chair)
Christine Gray-Mullen
Member, Amherst Planning Board
David Jensen
Professor, School of Computer Science
Sarah la Cour
Executive Director, Amherst Business Improvement District
Eric Nakajima
Director, Massachusetts Broadband Institute (co-chair)
Tripp Peake
General Partner, Long River Ventures
Bill Wooldridge
Director, Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship
Culture, Arts & Living
Marilyn Blaustein
Assistant Chancellor for Institutional Research
Oliver Broudy
Journalist/Director and Creator, Amherst Live
Shawn Farley
Director of Marketing, Fine Arts Center (co-chair)
Carol Johnson
Executive Director, Amherst Cinema Arts Center
Sandy Litchfield
Assistant Professor, Architecture
Shelly Perdomo
Assistant Vice Chancellor, Advocacy and Inclusion
Kamil Peters
Artist/Sculpter
Carol Ross
Coordinator, Amherst Together (co-chair)
Rene Theberge
Chair, Amherst Public Art Commission
Jane Wald
Executive Director, Emily Dickinson Museum
Housing
Dawn Bond
Director of Student Services, Residential Life (co-chair, Housing)
Andrew Churchill
Executive Director, Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative; Amherst Town Meeting Member
Laura Fitch
Kraus-Fitch Architects, Amherst, MA
John Kuhn
Senior Principal, Kuhn Riddle Architects; Board of Directors, Amherst BID (co-chair, Housing)
Sally Linowski
Associate Dean Off-Campus Student Life
Douglas Marshall
Project Planner/Manager, Facilities & Campus Services
Ken Rosenthal
Resident and Neighborhood Representative; Hampshire College board member
Greg Stutsman
co-chair Amherst Housing and Sheltering Committee; Amherst Planning Board
Nathaniel Whitmal
Associate Professor, Communication Disorders
Staff
Geoff Kravitz
Director, Economic Development, Town of Amherst
Tony Maroulis
Director of External Relations, UMass Amherst

-Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce High Risk Drinking: http://www.umass.edu/ccc/
University and community leaders, with support from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, came together to form the Campus and Community Coalition to Reduce High-Risk Drinking (CCC) in 2005. Since its inception, risky drinking at UMass Amherst is down by as much as 26% and the comprehensive strategic plan which drives the effort has garnered national recognition.
CCC Members:
UMass Amherst:
Campus Center
Center for Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Prevention
Center for Health Promotion
Center for Student Development
Commonwealth Honors College
Community Relations
Dean of Students Office
Fraternities and Sororities
Financial Aid
Ombuds Office
Peer Health Education
Police Department
Residence Life
School of Public Health and Health Sciences
Student Government Association
Transit
Undergraduate Advising
University Health Services
UVC-TV 19
Amherst beverage retailers
Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce
Amherst Business Improvement District
Amherst Fire Department
Amherst Health Department
Amherst Police Department
Amherst Select Board
Hadley Police Department
Hadley Select Board
Belchertown Board of Health
Pioneer Valley Housing Association
Strategic Planning Intiative for Families and Youth (SPIFFY)
Town of Sunderland


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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