| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.35 |
| Liaison | Andrew Porter |
| Submission Date | March 3, 2023 |
University of Cincinnati
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Andrew
Porter Director Planning + Design + Constuction |
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:
Two Examples:
The first is that a UC representative sits on the board of the Green Cincinnati Plan Steering Committee. In 2023 this representative is faculty member Carlie Trott. The UC representative serves in their professional capacities (i.e., as an official designee of the University and its interests and policy). In previous years, UC’s Sustainability Coordinator has likewise served in this role. In this manner, UC has advocated for many specific climate and sustainability policies and initiatives, including the development of EV infrastructure, renewable-friendly policies, green infrastructure and low impact development. Of special note is a focus on policies, programs and initiatives that support climate equity, which are of particular importance to UC. See https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2022/01/cincinnatis-climate-equity-indicators-report--led-by-uc-faculty.html,
The second example of local advocacy is The Ohio Innocence Project (OIP). This is part of the UC College of Law. OIP’s goal is to free people who have been convicted of a crime they didn't commit. They do this by working specific cases but also by advocating for polices and process to prevent innocent people from being convicted in the first place. Some of the people they work to exonerate are local people who have been wrongly convicted.
The OIP meets with local police and attorneys to train and advocate for policies and processes that will prevent people from being wrongly convicted.
The UC OIP has produced a series of training videos, Human Factors, used locally, regionally, nationally and around the world. Each video in series a specific source of human error that leads to wrongful convictions and how to avoid them. See https://law.uc.edu/human-factors.html
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:
Two Examples:
First, UC joined the Cincinnati 2030 district, advocating for sustainability throughout the tri-state region. Cincinnati's 2030 district is a membership organization facilitated by Green Umbrella. This partnership gives UC the opportunity to be involved in the creation of region-wide policies as the district pushes towards its goals of 50% reduction in building energy use, water consumption, transportation GHG emissions, and occupant wellness--for example in regard to state building codes and RPS standards in Ohio and Kentucky. The Cincinnati 2030 district is unique in that is covers more than the city and reaches throughout the region including into Northern Kentucky by adding Northern Kentucky University to the district.
In addition, as noted above, UC College of Law is home of the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP), which among other work engages vigorously in public policy advocacy to reduce inequality and advance justice and strong institutions that value and respect human rights. Since 2018 they’ve been working to promote a statewide law that would mandate law enforcement agents to record custodial interrogations of suspects charged with most major felonies. OIP Director Reed and Nicole “Niki” Clum, the director of legislative services at the Ohio Public Defender’s Office. led the efforts to enact the law, which helps identify false confessions and tunnel vision during investigations that could lead to wrongful convictions. After five unanimous committee votes and unanimous floor votes in both the Ohio Senate and Ohio House of Representatives, the bill was passed and then signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine in May 2021."
The OIP also works on specific cases around the state. And they train and support advocates from law schools located around the state assist with cases and to advocating for polices and process to prevent innocent people in the first place.
The UC OIP has produced a series of training videos, Human Factors, used locally, regionally, nationally and around the world. Each video in series a specific source of human error that leads to wrongful convictions and how to avoid them. See https://law.uc.edu/human-factors.html
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:
Again, the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) is part of the UC College of Law. The UC OIP has produced a series of training videos, Human Factors, used locally, regionally, nationally and around the world. Each video in series a specific source of human error that leads to wrongful convictions and how to avoid them. See https://law.uc.edu/human-factors.html
UC’s Director of the OIP, Mark Godsey, is on the Board of Directors of the national Innocence Network. In this role, representing UC, Mark often speaks to the national media as well legal conferences around the country, advocating for exonerating the wrongly convicted as well as advocating for policies and process that will prevent people from being wrongly convicted.
The Innocence Network. “engages in policy advocacy - through efforts in state legislatures, executive agencies and the courts - to help reveal wrongful convictions, compensate the wrongfully convicted, and prevent wrongful conviction by reforming the criminal legal system more broadly. Grounded in the principles of accuracy and reliability, equity and fairness, and transparency and accountability, the Innocence Network forges reforms in a range of areas and seeks to address the racism foundational to the criminal legal system." See https://innocencenetwork.org/subcategory/our-work
For the specifics of the policies for which the Network, with UC as a member, has filed Amicus Briefs, see https://prismic-io.s3.amazonaws.com/innocence-network/7910d5e2-c912-43cf-8ffe-8bdc2948ceb3_Amicus-Approved-Policies_Updated-October-20151.pdf
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:
Our work with the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) also involves important elements of international policy advocacy--though these elements may not be entirely aligned with the definition of "public policy advocacy" in this STARS credit. As noted above, the OIP is a program of the UC College of Law. UC’s Director of The OIP, Mark Godsey, is part of a small leadership group of the international Innocence Network, advocating around the world. In this role, Mark has spoken at the United Nations as well as legal conferences around the world, advocating for exonerating the wrongly convicted as well as advocating for policies and process that will prevent people from being wrongly convicted.
The UC OIP has produced a series of training videos, Human Factors, used locally, regionally, nationally and around the world. Each video in series a specific source of human error that leads to wrongful convictions and how to avoid them. See https://law.uc.edu/human-factors.html
A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years (if applicable):
A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):
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.