Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 71.04
Liaison Natalie Hayes
Submission Date Oct. 19, 2023

STARS v2.2

Bentley University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Natalie Hayes
Associate Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

1st Partnership 

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Goodwill NNE

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? :
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe?:
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership?:
Sustainability-related

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
Not Sure

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:
Bentley partners with Goodwill Northern New England each year for move out. Bentley collects usable items at move out and donates them to Goodwill. Goodwill also takes all the food and cleaning supplies and distributes them to a local food shelf.

Each year, Bentley's Office of Sustainability meets with Goodwill representatives to plan and organize this program. Bentley pays Goodwill for time and materials to support this program, plus adds the value of the donations.

This partnership has been going on for 6 years. The end of year move-out program in which GoodWill Northern New England is a partner of was paused temporarily during the pandemic.

2nd Partnership

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Opportunities for Inclusion

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (2nd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (2nd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership’s sustainability focus? (2nd partnership):
Sustainability-related

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (2nd partnership):
Yes

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Bentley Dining partners with Opportunities for Inclusion in Waltham, whose mission is to serve children, adolescents and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families in the community, utilizing a person-centered planning approach. This program is run through the Waltham Public Schools. Bentley Dining employs adults with disabilities in their dish room in the main dining hall as paid employees.

This partnership has been going on for at least 6 years.

3rd Partnership 

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Food For Free

Does the institution provide financial or material support for the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Yes

Which of the following best describes the partnership timeframe? (3rd partnership):
Multi-year or ongoing

Which of the following best describes the partnership? (3rd partnership):
Sustainability-related

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? (3rd partnership):
No

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
In 2018, Bentley started a leftover food donation program in collaboration with Food for Free, a local non-profit food rescue organization. Through this program, leftover prepared food from the campus' 921 Dining Hall is collected and frozen by Bentley Dining staff. This frozen food is picked up by Food for Free several times per week and turned into meals for people in need in the Greater Boston Area.
This program was on hold for a few years die to COVID-19 but restarted in Fall of 2022.
https://www.bentley.edu/offices/sustainability/waste-and-recycling

Optional Fields 

A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
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Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability is available:
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.