The Green Initiative Fund Jill Richardson TGIF Grants Manager

TGIF History In 2006, a group of students petitioned to add a quarterly lock-in fee creating a fund for projects that “reduce the University’s impact on the environment” Students unanimously voted to approve the TGIF fee: –75% of undergraduate students –82% of graduate students $2.60 per quarter, including summers Generating approximately $182K per year Chancellor Henry Yang with former students and TGIF supporters, Betty Seto and Todd Haurin

Uses of TGIF Funds Account managed in Administrative Services A percentage is transferred to the University’s student financial aid pool Grants Manager Salary (.5 FTE) Grant funding for campus projects –Approximately $160K per year –80% for infrastructure –20% for education/publicity

TGIF Committee Student-majority governing board (voting) –Student reps from EAB, GSA, AS, Bren School, and undergraduates at-large –One Academic Senate rep –One Administrative Services rep Staff advisory board (non-voting) –Reps from BAP, Student Affairs, and Facilities –Grants Manager Mark Sentenac, TGIF Committee Chair

Application Process Call for proposals in fall with a late January deadline Any UCSB student, staff, or faculty may submit a proposal Must be affiliated with a UCSB department –Include letters of support Student involvement encouraged

Desired Proposals Projects that are innovative Projects that have measurable results (i.e. xx% decrease in electrical use) Projects on-campus so students can see where their money is going Projects that involve students Projects that are self-sustaining beyond the initial grant –Committee tends not to fund projects for more than one year

Award Process Awards are determined and announced in early spring Awardees receive official letters and project guidelines –Must read, sign, and return the form –Agreeing to the terms of the award

Funding Cycle 18 proposals submitted –Requesting a total of $490K 10 proposals chosen for funding –Total of $150K awarded –8 fully funded –2 partially funded

Adopt-A-Chemical Chemical exchange program Received $17,800 –Webmaster –Interns Chemicals no longer needed in one lab can be “adopted” by another lab for free Reduces the amount of chemicals EH&S must retrieve and dispose of

Zero Waste: Ellison Hall Promoted reduction and reuse of materials Received $24,300 –Bins –Interns –Educational materials Created 9 recycling clusters throughout Ellison Hall (including e-waste and toner/ink cartridges) Four vermicomposting bins for food waste At a waste audit in April, they were diverting ~89% of their waste Ultimate goal: to become a net- zero waste building by 2012

Funding Cycle 21 proposals submitted –Requesting a total of $530K 13 finalists who gave presentations to the committee 11 Projects were awarded grants –Approximately $145K handed out –Projects will commence in fall

2008 Project Examples Green ChemistryGreen Chemistry –Project that reduces the amount of hazardous chemicals in chemistry lab experiments –Received $7,500 Intern Educational material –Will reduce waste disposed of by EH&S –Create a healthier working environment for students, researchers, and faculty Solar Panels for the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological RestorationSolar Panels for the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration (CCBER) –Received $56,000 PV panels Installation Educational materials –7.6 kWh array –Will provide 30% of electricity for offices

Project Monitoring Quarterly reports –Just a quick summary –May occur more often if the Committee feels it’s necessary Site visits by Committee Final report –Outline provided –Including detailed budget Final presentation and poster session –Invite the public –Starting next May 2009

Lessons Learned Having a staff or faculty member on each project is essential Have letters of support at time of application. Appeals process needs to be written in bylaws, or an “all decisions are final” statement on the notification letters Not a huge amount of money to work with –A lot of good projects were not able to be funded Need more publicity –Increase diversity of project proposals Just because you have the money, does not mean you HAVE to spend it all –If not entirely excited about a project, do not feel obligated to fund it –Money carries over to the following year

Plans for Next Few Years Fundraising –Working with Development on a matching account for small donations –Researching potential grants –Want to be able to fund larger, more impactful projects Publicity –Student members give presentations at other student organization meetings –GM presenting to staff and faculty groups –Working with Orientation Programs to get the word out to incoming freshman –Press releases to student and staff/faculty newspapers Asking students to increase the TGIF lock-in fee when they vote to continue TGIF in 2010

More Information Last year’s application Complete list of projects Committee members Ballot language Bylaws

Questions? Contact me –(805) – Committee Chair, Mark Sentenac – This concludes the American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems Program.