Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 83.80
Liaison Breeana Sylvas
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of California, Merced
PA-3: Participatory Governance

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.75 / 3.00 Breeana Sylvas
Assistant Director
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1

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

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which students are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
Students at UC Merced have an opportunity to participate in campus wide student elections to represent the UC Merced student body in the form of President, Vice President, and Senate. Students are also appointed by the ASUCM Student President and confirmed by the ASUCM Student Senate to sit on campus wide committees. https://asucm.ucmerced.edu/ The University of California (UC) Board of Regents, the highest governing body for the UC System includes a student voting member on the board. The Board provides oversight of the UC campuses. The Student Regent is elected by the regional nomination commission comprised of student representatives, and the Board of Directors of the University of California Student Association. https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/student-regent.html

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?:
Yes

If yes to either of the above, provide:

A brief description of the bodies and mechanisms through which staff are engaged in governance, including information to support each affirmative response above:
Staff members can participate in elections and voting for Staff Assembly Executive positions. Additionally, the Staff Assembly at UC Merced requests staff nominations for specific campus wide committees. Staff Assembly Executive Board votes and approves of the staff representatives. https://staffassembly.ucmerced.edu/ There are staff representatives on the UC Board of Regents. The responsibility of the staff members is to foster a two-way communication between UC staff and the Board. The staff provide perspective on matters pertaining to employees. The candidate selection process involves a Selection Committee composed of staff peers (2 previous staff advisors in addition to the current staff advisor) and other university staff who consider self-nominated candidates. The recommendation of the Selection Committee is then forwarded to the UC President who makes the final appointment. http://staffadvisors.universityofcalifornia.edu/apply/selection-process.html

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

If yes to either of the above, provide:

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 have an opportunity to participate in Faculty Senate elections. The Faculty Academic Senate supports setting and administering policy at UC Merced and jointly administers Programmatic Review and Oversight Committee with administration which routinely reviews all University practices and units. Additionally, there are faculty representatives on the UC Merced Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability. The University of California Board of Regents have faculty representatives on the Board of Regents. The group advises the Board on matters pertaining to faculty. The University-wide Academic Senate comprised of faculty within the UC system have elected representation on the Board through the Chair and Vice Chair of the Academic Council who sit and participate on the Board.

Part 2

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:
UCM MID JOINT USE AND MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT.pdf

The policies and procedures:
The university engages with the Merced Irrigation District, City of Merced, and County of Merced on efforts around the university's land use and planning development. Attached is a Joint Use and Maintenance Agreement MOU between UC Merced and the Merced Irrigation District. The MOU incorporates how the University and the Merced Irrigation District will cooperatively develop and implement mitigation measures which address water flows in canals located on the university's foot print.

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 No
Civil society (e.g. NGOs, NPOs) Yes

If yes to one or more of the above, provide:

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):
Task Force on Community Engaged Scholarship This task force was appointed in the spring of 2009 by then-Chancellor Steve Kang with the charge of developing and supporting the capacity for UC Merced faculty to conduct community-engaged scholarship (CES). The committee serves in an advisory role to the Chancellor and connects UC Merced's research with the community through the Resource Center for Community Engaged Scholarship (ReCCES) which helps community members connect with UC Merced students and faculty to work together toward common research goals. ReCCES engages both civil society through nonprofit organizations and community members and is designed to increase the effectiveness of higher education to address important community concerns. https://chancellor.ucmerced.edu/committees-departments http://recces.ucmerced.edu/ The UC Board of Regents govern the University of California System. There is elected representation that sit on the board as ex-officio members to represent the state local government. These positions include, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Speaker of the Assembly, and Superintendent of Public Instruction for California.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://senate.ucmerced.edu/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/index.html http://recces.ucmerced.edu/ https://chancellor.ucmerced.edu/committees-departments

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.