» Brandeis Sustainability Fund FAQ
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What is the Sustainability Fund?
The Brandeis Sustainability Fund will provide grants, advice and support to anyundergraduate student for their projects promoting sustainability. Projects that receivefunding could relate to energy efficiency, green buildings, waste management, renewable energy purchases, greening student events, and so much more! The money in this fund is for you to implement your ideas on how to make our community less ecologically destructive and more sustainable.
What is the fee?
The money in this fund will be collected from a $7.50 fee per semester from every undergraduate student. This is through a $7.50 increase per semester in the Student Activities Fee that every undergraduate pays.
Who can use it?
You!! Any undergraduate student that pays the small fee can submit proposals to get a grant! This is your money for you to use!
Why should there be a Sustainability Fund?
This fund is the next step forward for the sustainability of Brandeis. As a society we are increasingly aware of the adverse affects of carbon emissions on the global climate and as we move towards market pricing of these emissions, the University has, through the Brandeis Climate Action Plan, taken an early step and committed itself to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.To achieve this goal the University is making and will continue to make large capital investment, but at the end of the day they are reducing the emissions that we, Brandeis students, emit by living and attending school here. As with other publicly supplied services, such as internet access, Brandeis has established a Technology Fee to cover the costs of public access and the Brandeis Sustainability Fee would be no different. This fee is the next step in this University's commitment to sustainability and a step that brings sustainability to the doorsteps of students; allowing us to actively engage this money to shape the sustainable future of this University.
How will the money be allocated?
The money in this fund will be allocated by the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board, which will judge project proposals by their relevancy, impact and financial viability. The Board will comprise of two elected undergraduate students, the Student Union Treasurer or his/her student representative, the Chair of the Student Union Social Justice Committee or his/her representative, one representative from the Department of Facilities, the Dean of Arts and Sciences or his/her representative, one environmental studies professor, and will be chaired by the non-voting Sustainability Coordinator.
How will the board decide on project proposals?
All proposals must go through a vetting process conducted by the board to provide feedback to students in order to craft the best project proposals possible. Initially all proposals will be reviewed by the Sustainability Coordinator who will provide comments and concerns to students to revise their proposals. The staff representatives of the Board will then conduct an initial operational review to evaluate operational and financial feasibility of each proposal and compile an official review for students to further revise before the final decision process. The Board will meet by the tenth week of each funding period to evaluate all finalists based on relevancy, impact, and financial viability to decide which will receive funding for the current funding period.
Students will be elected to the Sustainability Fund Board, what?
Yes, there will be 2 undergraduate students elected to serve on the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board. That means you can run! These students will be reviewing and voting on other student proposals.
How did we come up with the $7.50 per semester amount?
With every undergraduate student paying $7.50 per semester, the fund will have a little less than $50,000 to give out. This brings in enough money for students to make a substantive difference, but is not so much that it won't all be used. The fee amount was based on the ballpark range of $5 - $20 per semester that other universities have set their 'green fees.' Schools with much larger enrollment tend to have lower fees (as they can bring money from many more students), while schools with smaller enrollments typically have larger fees. For example, a large school like University of California in Los Angeles has a green fee of $4 per semester, while a smaller school such as Colorado College has a green fee of $20 per semester.
Why isn’t this fee optional?
Initially, we wanted to make the fee optional through an 'opt-in' or 'opt-out' choice. However, after meeting with administrators we learned that it would take two years to develop the SAGE software to accept optional payments making it no longer a feasible alternative, and perhaps rightly so. Brandeis has made a serious commitment to environmental sustainability as an institution by committing itself to carbon neutrality by 2050, as outlined in its Climate Action Plan (CAP). Thus, sustainability is obviously a tenant of what this university stands for. As Brandeis students cause the University to emit large amount of carbon just by the nature of living on campus, we indeed consume this “public good” without having to pay the external costs of the carbon we emit here as students. It makes logical sense then that this Sustainability Fee would be implemented as a mandatory fee to generate creative student-driven ideas on how to reduce our own carbon footprint.
How is this fund affiliated with Students for Environmental Action (SEA)?
Members of SEA have been developing this fund proposal as one of our campaigns for
the past year. We have been meeting with administrators and student union officials, surveying students and doing all the hard work to bring this proposal forward. However, the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board and the Brandeis Sustainability Fund are completely separate entities from SEA. This money will NOT be used by SEA (and cannot be given to any club, only to individuals).
What kinds of project proposals could I apply for with the money?
Projects could be used towards energy efficiency, green buildings, waste management, renewable energy purchases, greening student events, sustainable landscaping, efficiency upgrades, improving composting and waste management, and so much more! Here are some of our ideas:
• Sustainable landscaping upgrades: drought resistant plants, more efficient irrigation systems
• Green Chemistry program
• Improving bike sharing program
• Shower Minders- tracking shower water usage in bathrooms
• Energy efficiency upgrades: light sensors, LED street lamps
• Energy efficient exercise equipment
• Electric carts for facilities workers
• Improved recycling and composting systems: better located bins andmore publicity
• Improved bike sharing
For more examples check out some projects from the University of California in Santa Barbara's Green Fund at bit.ly/gfund.
What are the proposed amendments to enact this fund? The proposed amendments to enact this fund will (1) create a secured club 'The Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board,' (2) increase the Student Activities Fee by $7.50 per undergraduate student per semester, (3) siphon the increased funds to the control of the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board, and (4) add the election of two student representatives to the Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board to Student Union elections. The Brandeis Sustainability Fund Board will be governed by its charter, as will be stated in an amendment to the Student Union Constitutional Bylaws.
Get a more detailed summary of the fund here
