April 27, 2007—The Green Initiative Fund, which would raise student fees by $5 each semester and direct the funds toward sustainability programs on campus, passed in a campuswide referendum at UC Berkeley recently.
The University of Maryland’s student body passed a similar measure, a $12 fee increase that will be used to convert the campus energy supply to entirely clean energy sources.
The projects at Berkeley that would be eligible for funding under TGIF would have to meet the following guidelines:
- Measurably reduce UC Berkeley’s impact on the environment
- Have publicity, education and outreach components
- Received all necessary written approval by appropriate campus officials
- Are not already mandated by law or UC policy (TGIF projects go above and beyond current legal or policy requirements)
- Demonstrate the greatest environmental impact reduction for the least cost
- May repay the Fund
- Encourage student participation
