Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 76.93
Liaison Ezra Small
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Massachusetts Amherst
IN-40: Sustainability Projects Fund

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 0.50 Nathanael Schildbach
Marketing Manager
University Relations
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Name of the institution’s sustainability projects fund:
Sustainability, Innovation & Engagement Fund (SIEF)

Which of the following best describes the primary source of funding for the sustainability projects fund?:
Department driven

Year the institution’s sustainability projects fund was established:
2,013

A brief description of the institution’s sustainability projects fund:

Established in August 2013, the fund fosters a strong culture of sustainability on our campus by providing financial support to students, faculty, and staff with green ideas. Any student faculty, staff, student group, academic class, or faculty/staff and student team can propose a sustainability project. Campus members will be limited to receiving one grant per year.


A brief description of the multi-stakeholder decision-making process used to determine which projects receive funding through the sustainability projects fund:

The fund accepts proposals for two types of projects:

Type 1: Projects that have a quantifiable economic payback and will refresh the fund over time.
Type 2: Projects that don't have quantifiable payback but engage the campus community in reducing environmental impact or enriching student experience.

Grants will be awarded based on the following criteria:
ALL proposals must demonstrate how the project will support activities that significantly engage the campus community and improve the sustainability of the institution.
Type 1 project proposals (those with tangible cost savings) must have a payback of five years or less.
Type 2 project proposals (those without tangible cost savings but have a social value) must demonstrate how the project engages the campus community in reducing environmental impact, enriches student experience, adds aesthetic value to campus, creates social equity, or increases environmental awareness and comprehension.
All proposals must demonstrate a long-term value to the University.
No proposal may exceed a quarter of the current value of the total fund. Proposals cannot pay for faculty, staff, or student salaries or wages, or for the purchasing of carbon offsets or off-site renewable energy.
A student designed grading rubric is used to rank the project proposals. Only the top ideas will be proposed for funding. (Resource: Grading Rubric)


Website URL where information about the sustainability projects fund is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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