Sustainability Council Funds 12 Projects Via Student Fee

Twelve sustainability project proposals have been funded by the President’s Advisory Council for Sustainability at Frostburg State University.

A $30 sustainability fee paid by students has raised over $120,000 this year. Only about $22,000 of that total has been budgeted for projects this year, with the remaining $100,000 being saved until more projects are proposed.

A full list of the projects, which will be updated, can be found here.

The sustainability council is not responsible for creating projects, but is instead charged with deciding how to allocate the funds. The council is hopeful that more proposals will be submitted as awareness of this funding source grows.

According to Dr. Dan Fiscus, FSU’s Sustainability Liaison who serves on the council, the decisions were made by a sub-committee on the council that is composed of two students, one faculty member, one staff person and two representatives from Facilities.

Fiscus said that “it didn’t come down to a vote” and that the sub-committee reached a general consensus about how to spend the money.

According to the initial document provided by the council, the 12 projects include water bottle filling stations in the Lane Center, funding to support research for the Appalachian woodrat population, funding to attend conferences related to sustainability, money to purchase 16 trees, funding for Lyme disease research, and various projects related to raising awareness for sustainability.

The council has agreed to fund sustainability awareness advertising and events organized by one of Dr. Lilly Ye’s marketing classes, which will collaborate with Evergreen Heritage Center. This amount of funding has not yet been determined.

“This grant will help continue the project with Evergreen and support new competitions for other sustainability programs such as the potential FSU sustainability major and Frostburg Grows,” the document says. “The project also works with the FSU Marketing Club.”

Students will be able to attend two conferences as a result of these fees: the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) conference in Baltimore, which will take place October 9-12, 2016; and the Appalachian Studies Association Conference in Shepherdstown, WV, which will take place March 18-20 2016.

The council discussed the possibility of installing meters on campus buildings through the use of this fee, to better gauge and control energy consumption, but a time frame and cost has not been decided on at this time. This project, Fiscus said, could take more than a year to complete.

Fiscus said that the council has discussed spending money on a trash/recycling compactor, which could be decided on this year.

When it was announced that the council would be taking project proposals, it was said that student-centered projects would be given preference. “Each one of these projects has a student involved,” Fiscus said.

Contact Dan Fiscus at dafiscus@frostburg.edu for questions about these grants or if you are interested in getting involved.