About

About

The Green Action Fund seeks to create a sustainable UCCS campus by stewarding the natural environment, fostering an environmentally conscious culture, and building a campus infrastructure that promotes discovery and establishes a sense of place. 

The Green Action Fund provides grant funding to student, staff, and faculty projects that reduce the ecological footprint of UCCS through sustainable environmental, social, and economic values.

 

In April 2008, the UCCS student body approved the semesterly assessment of a $5.00 Solar Fee in efforts to reduce campus dependence on fossil fuels. In 2011, the Solar Fee Referendum expanded the purpose of the fee beyond solar projects to include broader applications in sustainability. Later that year, the Green Action Fund was formed to steward the Solar Fee program and approved its first projects in Spring 2012. The Solar Fee was renamed the Green Action Fee, and in 2024, the Green Action Fee was elected into permanence at $6.39 per student per Fall/Spring Semester, and $3.20 per Summer Semester. 

Green Action Fund Three Pillars of Sustainability

  1. Environmental

    Submissions propose methods to reduce the ecological footprint of our campus. Projects will demonstrate a decrease in our ecological footprint by targeting one or more of the following arenas of sustainability: energy sources, carbon emissions, recycling and waste, water and energy usage, living systems (biodiversity), pollution or other areas proven to be of importance in sustainability and reducing our campus ecological footprint.

  2. Social

    Projects demonstrate a clear initiative to engage students. Student involvement opportunities include, but are not limited to: volunteerism, planning and project management, skills training, research, leadership roles, advocacy, or student jobs. Projects should aim to create social cohesion, ideally across an interdisciplinary environment, by demonstrating an active involvement of students.

  3. Financial

    Projects demonstrate a clear financial impact on the campus or for groups on campus. This can include returns on investment, saving money on resources, increasing efficiency of existing resource usage, minimizing need for purchasing new resources, supporting the local economy, and avoiding future costs by investing in future/long-term solutions.