University of California-Berkeley Green Initiative Fund

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Type: Bylaws

Status: Last revised on 4/3/07

Source File: http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~tgif/docs/TGIF_bylaws_v19_04.03.2007.pdf

Text:

BYLAWS OF THE GREEN INITIATIVE FUND

MISSION STATEMENT
The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) provides funding for projects that reduce the UC Berkeley’s negative impact on the environment and make UC Berkeley more sustainable. TGIF will allocate funds to projects that increase the amount of renewable energy used on campus, increase energy efficiency, and reduce the amount of waste created by UC Berkeley. Portions of the fund will support education initiatives, student aid (via return to aid), and internships. TGIF is supported by student fees and administered through a student-majority governance board.

ARTICLE 1 – GRANT MAKING COMMITTEE

SECTION 1.1 – POWERS AND VOTING
The Grant Making Committee has authority over TGIF. A simple majority of the Committee’s full membership is required to make funding and any other official decisions, except as provided for elsewhere in these bylaws. Apart from his/her normal function as a part of this committee, a member has no individual authority.

SECTION 1.2 – DUTIES OF GRANT MAKING COMMITTEE
It shall be the duty of the Committee members to:

  • Review project applications and determine allocation of funds.
  • Employ, discharge, supervise, and prescribe the duties of all staff and interns of The Green Initiative Fund.

SECTION 1.3 – MEMBER NUMBER & REPRESENTATION
The Grant-Making Committee shall consist of four students and three non-students, as follows: Voting Members

  • One graduate Student appointed by the Chair of the Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Graduate Assembly (GA)
  • One undergraduate Student appointed by the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) Environmental Sustainability Director
  • One Student appointed by the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Sustainability (CACS)
  • One undergraduate Student, selected by the Grant-Making Committee after the other three Student members have been selected
  • One Faculty member selected by the Academic Senate
  • One Staff member from Administration, selected by the Vice Chancellor for Administration
  • One Staff member from Facilities Services, selected by the Vice Chancellor of Facilities Services

The campus Environmental Sustainability professional, a member of the Committee on Student Fees, and a representative of the ASUC Senate shall attend Committee meetings as non-voting Members, and the Committee shall invite experts/guests to provide information and expertise as needed.

SECTION 1.4 – OFFICERS
The Grant-Making Committee shall have two officers, a Chair and a Vice Chair. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Grant Making Committee, acting as facilitator and holding meetings to the agenda in a timely fashion. The Chair shall also coordinate and approve meeting agendas with the Grant Coordinator (described in Article 2). The Chair must be a Student member of the Grant Making Committee.

The Vice Chair will assist the Chair with his or her duties. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall assume all duties of the Chair. The Vice Chair may be a Student, Faculty, or Staff member of the Grant Making Committee.

At the beginning of each term of office, the Grant Making Committee will take nominations and volunteers for Chair and Vice Chair. Candidates for Chair will be selected first, by majority vote of the Committee. After the Chair has been selected, the Committee shall select the Vice Chair by majority vote. Defeated candidates for Chair are eligible to run for Vice Chair, and candidates for both positions are eligible to vote in these elections.

SECTION 1.5 – TERMS OF OFFICE
Each member of the Grant Making Committee shall be appointed for one year. Student terms will begin on May 1 and end on April 31 of the following year. Faculty terms will run from January 1 to December 31 of the term year.. The staggering of committee terms is intended to preserve institutional memory. The Grant Making Committee must meet before the end of the spring semester to select the fourth Student member of the Committee. The Chair and Vice Chair shall hold office for one year. Committee members may serve no more than two consecutive terms but the total number of terms they may serve is not limited.

SECTION 1.6 – MEMBER QUALIFICATIONS
All Student members of the Grant Making Committee must be registered (full or part-time) UC Berkeley students during their term of office. Students graduating at the end of the spring semester or a subsequent summer session are still eligible for committee membership, even though their student status may technically expire before the end of summer.

Staff and Faculty members of the Grant Making Committee must be currently employed by UC Berkeley.

SECTION 1.7 – MEMBER REPLACEMENT
A Committee member may be removed by unanimous vote of the other Committee members for unjustifiable absence, conflict of interest or other appropriate reasons.

In the event that a Committee member is removed or resigns, the original appointing body will select a replacement. The new Committee member will serve the remainder of the original member’s term.

SECTION 1.8 – CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The Grant Making Committee shall conduct itself in such a way that conflicts of interest are minimized and all potential conflicts of interest are made public.

For example, each Committee member must make public all campus groups and organizations of which he or she is a member. Where appropriate, the Committee member should recuse himself or herself from voting on grant allocations for projects proposed by such groups. For such votes, the “full Committee membership” as defined for voting majority purposes shall be decreased to account for the Committee member's recusal.

ARTICLE 2 – TGIF GRANT COORDINATOR

SECTION 2.1 – DUTIES OF THE GRANT COORDINATOR
There will be one halftime staff position (1/2 FTE [Full-Time Employee]) referred to as the TGIF Grant Coordinator. The Grant Coordinator works at the direction of the Grant Making Committee and exists to meet the needs of the Committee. The Grant Coordinator reports to the Director of the ASUC Auxiliary.

The function of the Grant Coordinator is to:

  • Assist the Grant Making Committee in publicizing and administering the grant program.
  • Prepare an annual report of the previous year’s budget and funded projects.
  • Maintain the archives of the Grant Making Committee as outlined in Article 5.
  • Monitor the progress of projects that have received funding, via annual reports submitted by grant recipients. (See Section 5.2.)
  • Orient new Grant Making Committee members as necessary.
  • Act as a liaison between TGIF and UC Berkeley.

SECTION 2.2 – HIRING THE GRANT COORDINATOR
The Grant Coordinator will be hired via open recruitment. Candidates must understanding and agree to comply with all of TGIF’s Bylaws and supporting documents. The Grant Making Committee must approve the selected Grant Coordinator candidate and participate in regular performance evaluations. The Grant Making Committee may recommend that the Director of the ASUC Auxiliary dismiss the Grant Coordinator in response to poor performance. Only the Director of the ASUC Auxiliary has the authority to dismiss the Grant Coordinator.

SECTION 2.3 – SALARY OF THE GRANT COORDINATOR
Funds for the Grant Coordinator’s compensation (salary and benefits) are allocated annually from the TGIF before the amount available to be allocated for projects is calculated. The amount of the Grant Coordinator’s compensation commensurate with the level appropriate to the responsibilities of the position.

SECTION 2.4 – OPERATIONAL BUDGET FOR THE GRANT COORDINATOR
The Grant Coordinator may submit an annual budget request to the Grant Making Committee for funds to be used for operational expenses incurred by the Grant Coordinator in the performance if his or her duties.

ARTICLE 3 – ALLOCATION OF FUNDS & PROJECT SELECTION

SECTION 3.1 – ALLOCATION OF FUNDS BY THE GRANT MAKING COMMITTEE
As noted in Section 1.1, the Grant Making Committee shall decide the allocate funds to submitted projects by a simple majority vote of the full Committee membership. The Committee may elect to fund only a portion of a proposal.

SECTION 3.2 – SET-ASIDE FOR PROJECTS WITH STRONG STUDENT COMPONENT
At least 20% of the funds dispersed by the Grant Making Committee for projects each year shall be allocated to projects with direct student involvement. Such projects include, but are not limited to: internships, initiatives which include students in their oversight bodies, student research, and projects proposed by students.

SECTION 3.3 – GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR PROPOSED PROJECTS
All projects to be considered for TGIF funding must meet the following criteria:

  • Projects must directly address environmental sustainability on UC Berkeley’s campus, or in the capacity that on-campus activities influence sustainability off campus. All proposed projects must have a clearly defined, measurable outcome.
  • Project proposals may be submitted by UC Berkeley students, staff, and faculty. Individuals and organizations outside of UC Berkeley may not submit proposals.
  • Projects shall have received all necessary written approval by appropriate campus officials prior to consideration.
  • TGIF funding will not support projects already mandated by law or UC Berkeley policy directive (e.g., standards for new building construction), since UC Berkeley is already obliged to allocate funds for such projects. TGIF will fund projects which go above and beyond minimum requirements and which that are unable to gain funding from other sources.
  • All projects shall have a mechanism for evaluation and follow-up after funding has been dispersed. At minimum, a project plan must include a report made to the Grant Making Committee after successful (or unsuccessful) implementation. If a project is expected to have on-going benefits such as annual cost savings, the project plan must include a mechanism for tracking, recording, and reporting these benefits back to the Grant Making Committee on an (at least) annual basis.
  • Projects must have publicity, education, and outreach considerations.
  • Projects are encouraged to have student involvement.
  • Projects will not be considered that request less than $1000 from TGIF.

SECTION 3.4 – PROJECT PROPOSALS WHICH MUST BE REQUESTED AS LOANS
Many projects may result in cost savings or revenues to the person or group submitting the project proposal to the TGIF Grant Making Committee. Where reasonable and at its discretion, the Committee may require that all or part of the project funding be dispersed as a loan (instead of a grant) to be repaid to TGIF over a reasonable time period. This time period will be negotiated by the Grant Making Committee and the person or group proposing the project, before funds are awarded. In exceptional cases, the Committee also has the authority to negotiate that a portion of all subsequent revenues (after the loan has been repaid) shall go into the TGIF.

Portions of such funding awards used to pay student interns do not need to be repaid to TGIF.

SECTION 3.5 – PREFERENCES FOR PROPOSED PROJECTS
The Grant-Making Committee shall give preference and priority to project proposals that also meet the following criteria in this section. However, meeting these criteria is not required for projects to be considered for TGIF funding.

  • Preference will be given to projects that demonstrate the greatest reduction in UC Berkeley’s negative environmental impacts for the least cost.
  • Preference will be given to projects that are able to repay the Fund, even if such repayment would not be required by Section 3.4 above.
  • Preference will be given to projects with a strong student-participation component
  • Preference will be given to projects that can obtain matching funds from sources other than TGIF.
  • Preference will be given to projects impacting UC Berkeley’s sustainability “closer to home.” For example, priority will be given to projects that directly address sustainability on campus over projects which address the Bay Area-wide environmental impacts of UC Berkeley’s campus operations.

SECTION 3.5 – ADDITIONAL PROJECT CRITERIA AT DISCRETION OF COMMITTEE
The Grant-Making Committee may determine additional requirements or preferences for each year’s funding cycle, provided that these additional criteria are:

  • Consistent with the overall mission of TGIF.
  • Consistent with the requirements and preferences outlined in these Bylaws.

ARTICLE 4 – OTHER RULES GOVERNING TGIF FUNDS

  • Any funds not allocated in a given year shall be remain in the TGIF account for future use.
  • Funds allocated to a project that are not spent within the project timeframe shall be returned to TGIF for reallocation.
  • Standing funds must be invested in a socially responsible manner.
  • TGIF funds are not to be used or reallocated for purposes other than those described in this document.
  • TGIF shall continue to operate even after student fees are no longer collected into the Fund, as long as sufficient money remains in the TGIF account.

ARTICLE 5 – ACCOUNTABILITY, RECORDS AND REPORTS

SECTION 5.1 – TGIF’S ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE STUDENT BODY
TGIF shall be accountable to the student body and therefore shall:

  • Make all its records available to the public
  • Issue an annual report of its activities to the ASUC Senate, the Graduate Assembly, the Director of the ASUC Auxiliary and the Committee member appointing bodies.

SECTION 5.2 – ACCOUNTABILITY OF PROJECTS

  • All projects funded by TGIF shall submit a report to the Grant Coordinator at the conclusion of the project or annually from the date of the project approval, if the project is funded for multiple years. The report must include a budget detailing the spending of all funds.
  • Upon review of a report, the Grant Coordinator shall judge whether the funds were spent within the scope of the project. If the Grant Coordinator feels the funds were spent outside of the project scope, the Coordinator may recommend that the Grant Making Committee require return of the funds to TGIF.

SECTION 5.3 – RECORDS AND REPORTS
TGIF must keep on record:

  • Minutes of all meetings of the Grant Making Committee indicating the time and place of holding such meetings, the names of those present, and the proceedings thereof
  • Adequate and correct books and records of account, including accounts of its properties and business transactions and accounts of its assets, receipts, disbursements, gains and losses
  • Record of projects selected each year and the funds allocated to each
  • Reports made back to TGIF on completed projects and all annual reports received from projects with ongoing benefits.
  • Copies of all annual reports which TGIF has issued to the ASUC Senate, the Graduate Assembly, the

Director of the ASUC Auxiliary, and the Committee member appointing bodies.

ARTICLE 6 – AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS
A two-thirds (2/3) vote by the voting members of the existing Grant Making Committee may amend, create, or repeal portions of these Bylaws, unless doing so would materially and adversely affect the mission of TGIF.

See background info tab for an overview of the Green Initiative Fund

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