The Green Fund Facts & FAQs

What is the Green Fund?

The Green Fund is a student-sponsored initiative with two goals. The first goal, which is a short term goal, is to implement a foundation account that will be open to community members and Slippery Rock University faculty, students, and alumni to donate to. The long term goal is to have a five-dollar contribution added to the semesterly bill, which will generate around $80,000 a year. The money generated will go towards sustainably-progressive programs, such as upgrades, educational programs and events, research grants, and scholarships.

How much does it cost?

5 dollars per semester

What will it pay for?

The scope of what the Green Fund will pay for depends on the creativity of its applicants. All projects will have a positive impact on the natural environment. Some possibilities include: investment in clean energy, energy efficiency, water conservation, green buildings, sustainable transportation, expanded recycling and composting, student internships, research grants, and more! The Green Fund does NOT pay for anything the university is already required to do by law or policy

Who decides how the money is spent?

The money in both the foundation and the future fund will be regulated by the Green Fund Advisory Board, which Leave It Green suggests to be composed of faculty members, student representatives, and a community member.

Why should everyone pay $5?

The answer is simple: the environment affects everyone. We can’t escape it — it is the air we breathe, the water we drink, the ground we walk on, it is all around us. It is our duty to protect these things, if not globally, at least locally here at Slippery Rock.

Isn’t $5 a little expensive?

We realize that as college students, it can be hard to come up with five dollars, but let’s put it into perspective. For five dollars, you can’t even buy a meal at Rockies. Over four years, your five dollars a semester will add up to forty dollars, which is less than most tanks of gas. For a worthy cause such as the environment and SRU, five dollars is a cheap price to pay for the benefits it will be returning. Environmental efforts can be expensive, so we believe five dollars is the perfect amount.

How will I know how my $5 is spent?

The Green Fund Advisory Board will issue annual reports to students via email as well as post online.

Who initiated The Green Fund at Slippery Rock University?

A small group of Slippery Rock University Students who were ready to make change happen.

Who else has passed a Green Fund?

There are approximately 30 other schools in the country that have instituted Green Funds on their campuses. The list includes Duke, Harvard, UC Berkeley, Chico State College, and MIT.

This is a selfish cause/what personal benefits are you guys getting from The Green Fund?

The only benefits we are getting by advocating the Green Fund is the knowledge that future generations of Slippery Rock students will be living in a healthier local environment.

Who can get the money from The Green Fund?

The Green Fund will be available to those who can show that their initiatives will have a direct benefit to the Slippery Rock University community. Applications will be reviewed by the GFAB.

Why should students pay for The Green Fund? Why not the administration?

The truth is, the administration should be paying for campus sustainability initiatives. However, the funds do not currently exist on either the state or campus level to pay for the numerous sustainability projects that need to happen on our campus. Climate change needs to be addressed now, and our campus needs to begin investing in the sustainable infrastructure that will pay off in the future. This is our chance as students to place major pressure on the administration to step up their own sustainability initiatives. We students are spearheading sustainability and holding our campus accountable to do the same.

Where does the money go if it isn’t spent?

It is almost certain that all available money will be spent each year because there are far too many sustainability projects that need to be completed on campus. If for some reason, the money isn’t spent by a project it will return to the fund for the next year and will be reallocated then.

Who appoints The Green Fund Advisory Board?

The initial Green Fund Advisory Board members will be appointed by the founders of The Green Fund. These people will be chosen based on education, current involvement with the campus and current initiatives, as well as their dedication to improving the natural environment. From there, as dictated by the by-laws of The Green Fund, faculty replacements will be voted on by existing Green Fund Advisory Board Members. Students will be nominated by professors of the existing GFAB, unless own initiative has been taken to involve themselves with The Green Fund. All new members will be elected by the GFAB.

Why not make this a voluntary fee?

The Green Fund also has a foundation account, which collects only voluntary donations. However, we would also like to implement a student fee in order to have a reliable amount of money each year, as well as for the following reasons:

• The overhead costs of manually collecting a voluntary fee are huge and the process is time-consuming, resulting in less impact for your dollar;
• As a student body we want to demonstrate a strong commitment to sustainability;
• Mandatory fees are eligible for financial aid, voluntary ones are not;
• Everyone benefits from a greener campus so we should all pay equally;

Won’t voting for The Green Fund cause more people to pass student fees in the future?

No. Passing a fee referendum is incredibly hard work. It takes a committed body of students working hard for a long amount of time to do it. Also, The Green Fund is not funding a particular student group or department; it is creating a new fund to address a need that is not currently being met on campus. The environment affects everyone.

I’ve seen all the things around campus becoming demolished. The trees behind Bard are gone, and dorms are being destroyed just to add new ones. Seriously, another thing is the power plant on campus uses so much coal too. I’m just not seeing a real change occurring anytime soon.

Actual quote from concerned student

Change must start somewhere, we can’t get discouraged. We must use these negatives as motivation. It’s our generations’ time to step up and speak out for the environment. If we don’t do anything, we can’t expect anyone else to either. The Green Fund will also be able to offer solutions to these problems you see. The Green Fund is our chance to make a difference.

How hard will it be for organizations and groups on campus to receive funding from The Green Fund? Is it really restrictive?

Students, groups, organizations, faculty, staff, administration and community members are all eligible to apply for funding. All applicants will have to go through the same processes in order to receive The Green Fund’s support. The groups will have to show how their project will have a positive impact on the natural environment as well as have a budget for the GFAB to review. The GFAB will review all applications case-by-case, and projects that benefit Slippery Rock Students will be considered first. As far as the scope of the projects, the GFAB can only be as creative as the applicants.

How will the students know about these projects and the achievements of The Green Fund? Will any documents be available to the public?

The students will receive an annual email which will include the achievements and expenditures of The Green Fund. Unless specified by the applying groups, all approved gift applications will be made public on The Green Fund website. All final reports made by recipients will be made public via website. With the exception of gift-allocation meetings, all GFAB meetings will be open.