Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 61.34
Liaison Jennifer Kleindienst
Submission Date Dec. 20, 2019

STARS v2.2

Wesleyan University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Jennifer Kleindienst
Sustainability Coordinator
Finance and Administration
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

1st Partnership 

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability :
Wesleyan Chapter of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association

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-focused

Are underrepresented groups and/or vulnerable populations engaged as equal partners? :
No

A brief description of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability:
Wesleyan has established an official partner chapter of the Connecticut Forest and Park Association. A student in a paid position, as well as student volunteers, have maintained a campus chapter for over eight years. WesCFPA plans hikes for Wesleyan and the local community, does trail maintenance work, leads hikes for local students, sets up events such as film screenings and lectures to raise awareness on key environmental issues, and creates video podcasts that the CFPA will use to educate their members.

2nd Partnership

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (2nd partnership):
Middletown Urban Gardens

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-focused

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):
The student group Middletown Urban Gardens is a group of Wesleyan students and Middletown residents who are interested in working at and creating school and community gardens in the larger Middletown community. Through working with the North End Action Team, Macdonough School, and other groups devoted to working in Middletown, we work to create a green “revolution” and produce food for the community. MUG utilizes garden work days and celebrations as community-building tools, linking Wesleyan students, Middletown residents, and others in the surrounding area. The group manages a garden education program at Macdonough School and co-manages several community gardens.

3rd Partnership 

Name of the institution’s formal community partnership to advance sustainability (3rd partnership):
Sustainable CT

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-focused

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 May 2018, Wesleyan launched an internship position to support the City of Middletown's participation in the statewide Sustainable CT initiative. Sustainable CT focuses on holistic sustainability, covering the areas of thriving local economies; well-stewarded land and natural resources; vibrant and creative cultural ecosystems; dynamic and resilient planning; clean and diverse transportation systems and choices; efficient physical infrastructure and operations; strategic and inclusive public services; healthy, efficient, and diverse housing; and inclusive and equitable community impacts.

This position completed its second summer internship in 2019 and will continue in Spring/Summer 2020 as an internship position. Through this partnership, the City of Middletown received Sustainable CT bronze certification in October 2018 and silver certification in October 2019.

Optional Fields 

A brief description of the institution’s other community partnerships to advance sustainability:
---

Website URL where information about the institution’s community partnerships to advance sustainability 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.