University of Mount Union
EN-9: Community Partnerships

The University of Mount Union has a supportive relationship with numerous agencies throughout the greater Alliance area. Through the Regula Center for Public Service, many sustainability partnerships between the university and the local community are maintained. Some of the partnerships include: Trash to Treasure Sale (proceeds of sale benefit United Way), a community-wide Thanksgiving Dinner, MLK Day of Service, and the Dowling Mentoring Program.
The Scope of this relationship is to focus on providing student and staff volunteers to cooperate with local service organizations that address social, economic and environmental needs of the community.
The Duration of this support is ongoing through the established Regula Center and both repeating, continuous, and one-time programs are offered.
The Commitment of the institution is the support of the Center with a paid director and stipends for selected students called Regula Scholars who develop and implement the activities. In addition the Center raised funds from the campus community to support some projects and proceed from the Tash to Treasure sale are forwarded to the United Way.
The Governance is joint between the Regula Center with input from the student Regula Scholars, the director, the community agencies and when appropriate, the audiences being served with all parties involved in planning and implementation of projects.
The Regula Center constantly strives to provide resources for students, faculty and campus organizations looking to become more engaged in the Alliance community. Through working with more than 80 partners in our area, we are able to create mutually beneficial collaborations on a regular basis.
Many current public officials have cited community involvement as a stepping stone to where they are today while a vast number of other professions also look for service backgrounds when hiring new employees. This paired with Mount Union’s mission to provide students with an education that prepares them for “fulfilling lives, meaningful work and responsible citizenship” has led the Regula Center to give students ongoing opportunities.
CONTACT
Email: regulacenter@mountunion.edu
Phone: (330) 823-5993

Some of the Center’s programs during the past three years include:

Trick or Treat for Canned Goods
Community-wide Thanksgiving Dinner
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
Regula Breakfasts
Up Close and Personal
Dowling Mentor Program
Sophomore Service Honorary
Regula Scholars
The Center is always recruiting volunteers for a wide range of other events in the community and can provide information and resources to anyone interested.
Other community service options on campus include:
Alternative Spring Break Service Trips with Alpha Phi Omega, Dr. Kramer and the Department of Education
Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity – Contact Kate Carnell for more information

The Arts in Stark Alliance Vision 20/20 is a collaborative effort with the community which engages local artists, developers, and local recyclers, and which is involved with creating a transportation corridor which would encourage walking and biking between the University and the older downtown area.
The SCOPE of this collaboration is to address the economic decline that has occurred in downtown Alliance and reverse the trend by series of activities with a focus on the arts.
The DURATION is multiyear (10 year implementation) having begun in 2012. This collaboration would help to support local artists, support the local small businesses in the downtown area, and encourage the use of alternative transportation. It will also draw tourism to the city, involve K-12 and college students, support other sustainability initiatives, notably the farmers’ market, downtown beautification, and recycling efforts
The COMMITMENT was made clear when the University of Mount Union was the first local entity to step forward with financial and personnel support for the program.
GOVERNANCE is by a planning team that includes among its 11 members three UMU faculty members, two staff members; the remainder includes local business and government leaders
More detailed information is available in this pdf:
https://www.artsinstark.com/media/1/8/2020-Vision-Alliance.pdf

The University of Mount Union has a transformative partnership with the City of Alliance Green Commission, and its non-profit arm, Green Alliance. These groups have developed detailed, transformative Sustainability Plans for both the City and the University which outline the path that the City and University will need to take in order to be ultimately sustainable, providing economic, environmental and social health. The groups work together to involve stakeholders in the efforts, and to empower spin-off projects and groups for particular elements of the plans, as is appropriate. All Green Commission meetings are open to the public, and are advertised and reported in the local paper, The Alliance Review.

Mount Union President Richard F. Giese and Alliance, Ohio Mayor Toni Middleton signed a statement of cooperation in 2008 to formalize their work together on sustainability issues. http://raider.mountunion.edu/sust/Allaince%20MUC%20Sustainability.htm
The two entities share research on sustainable operations; they support one another in “identifying and securing funding sources for sustainability initiatives including supporting letters, in-kind services, cooperative efforts and possible joint applications;” each task force is represented on the other task force; the University provides use of facilities at no cost, for the Mayor’s Green Task Force meetings, as well as use of computers (by Mount Union staff or students) for the city carbon inventory and related research items; the groups cooperate on education, with the City offering opportunities for student internships, class research projects or other educational activities such as jointly sponsored field trips, seminars, and other educational programs; as well as public outreach through joint press releases and other public relations activities.

Members of the Mount Union faculty, staff and administration have been serving on Green Alliance: the Mayor's Green Task Force since 2007 and also continue to serve on the City of Alliance Green/Sustainability Commission, institutionalized with an initial Sustainability Plan in November of 2011. In turn, the community is represented by two community member positions on the University of Mount Union President's Sustainability Task Force (formalized in the fall of 2010 as the University's Sustainability Management Advisory Committee). The University's eight guiding goals for its Sustainability Advisory Committee include explicitly cooperating with the Alliance Mayor's Green Task Force and other community organizations on matters of mutual interest, and promoting matters of Sustainability to the larger community. The partnership has resulted in shared research and action on sustainable operations including sustainable land management, energy efficiency and green building, purchasing, fleet management and transportation issues, water and waste management, farmers markets, community gardens , education of both students and the community, and related items, as well as the securing of funding sources for these endeavors. http://www.greenallianceohio.org/index.html

University faculty and staff serve on the City of Alliance Green Commission and its subcommittees. This Commission developed the city's Sustainability Plan, and is tasked with reviewing it regularly and advising the City of Alliance in its implementation.

The University of Mount Union Director of Facilities serves together with the Mayor, and members of the commission on the green energy subcommittee, investigating ways to increase energy efficiency both on campus and in the community, and sharing success stories. This subcommittee is also actively investigating compressed natural gas filling stations and fleets, electrical charging stations, and methane recapture at the city water treatment facility. The City has initiated a compressed natural gas filling station pilot program. The University has installed a large thin-film solar array, in addition to a more traditional solar panel area. This subcommittee also developed a brochure of green building resources for distribution on the city website, and at their building department.

The transportation subcommittee is working together with the city and county parks departments and city engineering office to develop biking and hiking paths through the city. They have also been involved with developing the concept of bike racks, designed by local artists, and made of donated recycled materials from a local recycling business. The Arts in Stark Vision 20/20 group is currently continuing this effort. The City has successfully pursued grants to implement sections of the Iron Horse bike path, to connect it from north to south through the city, providing a regional bike path connection, as well as a local connector from the University and residential areas to the arts district, farmers market area, and parks beyond.

Green Alliance, together with representatives from the Mount Union Nature Center, have provided assistance to members of the community to create six community gardens in areas of town which have been identified as a “food desert.” One of the gardens is located at the High School and helps provide fresh food for the summer lunch program; another was directly associated with a family shelter. Others were developed within neighborhoods due to interest within those areas.

From initial meetings of the Mayors Green Task Force, a group of individual community members, including members of the Mount Union faculty and staff, created a non-profit farmers market, which continues to provide an outlet for the area’s smaller farmers, and fresh food for individuals within the food desert area (providing WIC access).

The City and University Sustainability/Green groups have also worked together to involve and educate the community at various levels. Mount Union participated in the inaugural Sustainable Alliance Festival held September 24, 2010 through October 3, 2010. Throughout the week, residents from the Alliance area and surrounding communities were invited to attend various events including bike and bus tours, family-friendly games, numerous learning experiences, food, music, and all things sustainable. Mount Union involvement included the showing of the movie WALL-E in the Mount Union Theatre, a tree planting on campus, a lecture entitled, "Saving the Future: The National Ash Seed Collection," as well as Family Nature Games at the Nature Center, a live viewing of "Dirt! The Movie," and a faculty panel regarding how to include sustainability across the curriculum. Additionally, Mount Union President Richard F. Giese joined Alliance Mayor Toni Middleton and a panel of experts as a speaker at the Alliance Leadership Seminar on Sustainability Planning. An art show and rainbarrel auction involved student artists at the University as well as the local high school, middle school and elementary school. Mount Union also hosted the Stark County Green Energy Ohio Solar Tour at their new LEED Silver certified Welcome Center.

In 2011, Mount Union again participated in the Sustainability Festival, September 3 through October 25, 2011. Among many other events, activities included: a viewing of "Carbon Nation," "The Story of Stuff," and "Bag It," at the University theater; a four-session "Sustainable Living" educational series was presented by the University of Mount Union Huston Brumbaugh Nature Center; a faculty panel discussion was held on "Sustainability in the University Classroom" which was open to the public and covered areas of Sports business, Economics, Religion, and Sociology; and also a freshman sociology class presented posters on Sustainability to the public. Mount Union again participated in the Solar Tour. http://www.greenallianceohio.org/pdf/2011_Sust_Alliance_Fest_Sched.pdf

In 2012, Mount Union hosted Green Alliance presentations on a variety of topics relevant to sustainability: "Sustainable Living and Sustainable Food: Aquaponics"; a panel of experts on hydraulic fracturing - "Facts and Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing"; and historic preservation and sustainability - "The Greenest Building is the One Already Built: Historic Preservation in Alliance."

In the spring of 2013, Environmental Science students at the University of Mount Union gave a presentation to the public on the many factors related to the use of compressed natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel, and how it affects our community and lives. The University of Mount Union's Huston Brumbaugh Nature center also collaborated on a program with various other agencies in the area to encourage the community to learn more about their parks and outdoor resources. http://www.greenallianceohio.org/SPRING%20IS%20COMING.pdf
http://www.greenallianceohio.org/index.html

In 2013/2014, members of the University of Mount Union Sustainability Advisory Committee, together with the Green Commission, the Superintendent of the City Schools, and other interested parties, met together to identify major projects to pursue in the coming year. The artistic bike rack project, the development of hiking and biking maps for use by citizens, and involvement of City School students in envisioning better uses for empty city lots emerged as three priorities for the coming year. These projects are on-going.

Finally, the Green Commission, with leadership by its Mount Union members, recently recommended that the Mayor sign the Resilient Communities for America Agreement, encouraging the efforts of the Green Commission towards further attention to resilience and adaptation.

In conclusion, the University of Mount Union has a transformative relationship with the City of Alliance as it seeks to develop itself and its community in a sustainable manner. The scope of University and City work is broad and transformative as they seek to become a sustainable and resilient community together. They have been formally working at this goal together since 2008, and have both institutionalized their initial grass-roots efforts so that they will endure. They have also formalized their commitment to support their efforts together. They continue to seek out ways to engage their community stakeholders through advertised public presentations and meetings, as well as through invitations to be involved with sustainability projects and celebrations.

The University of Mount Union is a member of the Stark County Education Network for Environmental Sustainability. Mission: To build a coalition of higher education institutions, organizations, businesses, community members, and city administrations to facilitate the sharing of information, combination of strengths, and to take advantage of opportunities in effort to raise community awareness and advance sustainable development and a healthy environment.

The University of Mount Union also has partnerships with communities in El Salvador through ASAPROSAR and Guatemala through the yearly course: Social Responsibility and Personal Well-being.

PSY 350 Social Responsibility and Personal Well-Being. This is an experientially-based course that looks at what it means to operate in a socially
responsible manner in today’s world. It is assumed that service and other forms of helping behavior can be a significant component of social responsibility and so
the class discusses service extensively and provides both local and international opportunities for service. One of these service components involves a week-long
Spring Break service project in a third world country. In addition to service, the course examines such concepts as sustainability (environmental, economic and
social), responsible consumer behavior, economic fairness and social justice. By examining these issues and participating in the service projects, it is hoped that
students emerge committed to living in a more socially responsible way. Prerequisite: PSY 110 or SOC 100. 4 Semester Hours. (Typically offered spring semester.)

Tiffany Gravlee, an Alliance community member wrote the above description. Entered into STARS by Leah Graham