The Green Initiative Fund

UPDATE: TGIF passes with 69% of students voting in favor of the referendum. President Dynes approved the fee in early July, and collection will begin this fall, 2007. Thank you all for your support! For another green fund to support on campus, please check out the Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Sustainability's Green Fund (link below): http://sustainability.berkeley.edu/greenfund/2005/04/about-greenfund-grants.html
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This year, a coalition of graduate and undergraduate students has formed who are working to pass a student fee referendum for environmental sustainability. For a fee of $5 per student per semester, about $200,000 would be raised each year and put into a pool of money called The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF), from which grants would be made for projects to improve environmental sustainability on UC Berkeley's campus. TGIF will enable projects the University would not otherwise be able to fund, including initiatives on renewable energy, energy efficiency, resource conservation, and "green" student internships. More importantly, the money would be both provided and controlled by students, giving the student community a more direct role in making Berkeley a national leader in sustainability and making the powerful statement that students are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

The name "TGIF" is copied from UC Santa Barbara, which passed such a referendum in the spring of 2006. UC Santa Cruz and several other universities have also passed similar initiatives.

Project mission:

Pass a student fee referendum ($5/student/semester) to raise funds for campus environmental sustainability projects.

Potential impact:

If successful, would raise ~$200,000/year to be spent on campus environmental sustainability initiatives.

Required resources:

1. Total project needs: $3,500
2. In-kind contribution needs: Assistance with advertising and marketing

Links to external blogs or wikis:

• http://tgif.berkeley.edu

Additional info:

TGIF is supported by the recent campus commitment to hire a Project Manager/Director for Sustainability. This position would help to manage and implement projects funded by the initiative.