Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 50.31
Liaison Amy McElhinney
Submission Date Sept. 29, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Mount Union
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.75 / 3.00 Jamie Greiner
Sustainability and Campus Outreach Manager
Nature Center
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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 representatives are appointed from among those who volunteer through the Dean of Students office. They are on most major faculty committees and most search committees. Student Senate consist of representatives from all student organizations and their officers are elected. The officers have appointments to some committees and the executive board of the Student Senate makes other appointments and recommendations. Students are involved in our accreditation committees and have an active voting role. Students serve on faculty committees that establish policies and priorities including Academic Policies, Diversity, Sustainability, Campus Life, Cross Curricular. There are students on the Student Affairs committee on the Board of Trustees and they are there by virtue of having been elected to positions in student government.


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 are represented through the Administrative Advisory Council, which have elected representatives. Staff members may serve on Board of Trustee committees by virtue of their position, such as VP’s who meet with the committees that correspond to there are of responsibility. However, these are not elected positions.


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? :
Yes

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:

We operate through a Faculty Senate structure.

Full-time faculty members may stand for election to the university’s major committees, subcommittees, and elected task forces. Full-time faculty members may also volunteer to serve on other task forces and working groups. Adjunct faculty members may be consulted by department chairs who submit proposals to the appropriate committees. The Faculty elects two representatives to the Board of Trustees. They attend meetings and serve on committees but have no vote. Under our Senate System, the Chair of the Senate serves.


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:
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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):

Formal (copied from the Statement of Shared Governance - May 6, 2016)
"Other Constituents: While the official decision-making bodies of the University of Mount
Union are the Board, Administration and Faculty, in order for the collaborative decision-making processes of shared governance to be effective, the participation of the students, staff and alumni of the University, in addition to the larger community, shall be included when appropriate. The overall philosophy will be to seek input from those who will be most impacted by the decision."

Members of the Campus Community (Faculty and Staff) are members of the City's Green Commission, which brings together the local government offices and private citizens to collaborate on sustainability issues. In this open forum internal stakeholders of the University are engaged with external stakeholders and are encouraged to solicit feedback and areas of opportunity for collaboration with the University, as to increase the integration of UMU as part of a larger community.

The University is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, which allows easy access and engagement with the private sector organizations to strengthen ties.

Through the Ralph and Mary Regula Center for Public Service and Civic Engagement the University routinely and actively engages with many non-profit organizations within the community, where collaboration and input are highly encouraged in order to integrate the University within the greater community.


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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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.