University of Wisconsin-Madison
IN-40: Sustainability Projects Fund

The UW–Madison Green Fund supports student-initiated projects that address the environmental footprint, social impact, and operating costs of campus facilities. All students are welcome to apply. Funding is supplied from the Office of the Chancellor and has been designated annually since established in 2017.

The power of the Green Fund lies in its cascading impacts. While these projects reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save operating costs, they simultaneously inspire learning, research, and career paths for students as well as new campus standards.

Students drive the project development process. They identify potential upgrades, meet with building managers and tradespeople to refine the project scope, run impact calculations, write funding proposals, and work with communicators to tell the story about the project outcomes.

Students gain invaluable experience navigating administrative processes, grounding their studies in practice, and sparking questions for future study. Meanwhile, Green Fund staff walk with students through the process, facilitating connections, offering feedback, and helping the students navigate university systems.

Students observe campus with different eyes than faculty and staff do. The campus community benefits from the perspectives of students when it can tap into and encourage this creativity.

The Green Fund Review Committee consists of nine people: two students, two faculty members, three facilities staff members, and two Office of Sustainability staff. Review Committee members first evaluate applications individually and then meet to decide which projects to fund.