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The University of Idaho Sustainability Center is paying out green backs for green ideas.
Student fees totalling $15,000 have been set aside for student-led projects that work toward environmental sustainability on campus. Grant proposals can request up to $3,000 per project.
“I wish we could fund any idea that came in,” said Melissa Firor, UISC student programs coordinator. “We’re getting $15,000 for the whole year.”
Although partnerships with individuals and organizations from outside the university are allowed, projects must be primarily student-run, said UISC Project Coordinator Jannis Jocius .
“It’s so important that students run it,” she said. “To see how hard it is. There’s a lot of politics involved. There’s a lot of networking.”
Jocius said she thinks students who participate in sustainability projects on campus learn valuable skills for future work in non-profit organizations.
“The grant writing process is very important,” she said. “Just the process of learning how to change the world around them … Starting with the campus, it’s a good testing ground.”
Rough draft proposals for the 2008-09 school year are due by 8 a.m. Sept. 26. There will be a review forum from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Idaho Commons Aurora Room the same day to go over proposals. Final drafts will be due Oct. 8.
“Don’t try to do it all on your own,” Firor said. “Come talk to our staff. We’re not scary.”
Firor said UISC staff could help students find contacts and advertise their projects.
Projects awarded grants can allocate salaries for personnel working on the project for up to $10 per hour for undergraduates and $12 per hour for graduate students.
Last year’s student projects included an energy consumption assessment of campus buildings, a composting program for the McCall Outdoor Science School and a program to reduce the waste of students moving out of campus residences.
Career Preparation Specialist Cynthia Mika worked with the RE-ZY (re-use made easy) move-out program last year and hopes to do it again this year. She said the project was awarded $10,000, which was used to purchase equipment, bins and advertising.
“The community came out in force,” she said. “It was really a community effort.”
The RE-ZY program collected five tons of food, appliances and other materials that were donated for re-use, she said.
Mika said she thought students were donating possessions not just to get rid of them, but to make a difference.
“Donations were phenomenal,” she said. “They donated things because (the program) was there.”
This year’s projects must have a team leader and a qualified adviser who can be UI faculty, staff or a community member. Projects must be completed by June 30.
Special consideration will be given to projects that focus on carbon neutrality and climate change, campus waste reduction and gearing campus culture towards sustainability, Firor said.
This is the third year that UISC is sponsoring student initiatives. Funding is allocated by ASUI, which is still evaluating the importance of student sustainability projects, Jocius said.
“It’s really important that we make meaningful things come out of this program,” she said.
Rough drafts of proposals can be sent to
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and more information on the program can be found at www.uisc.uidaho.edu.
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