Section 1.1 – Powers and voting

The CSF Committee (hereafter, “the Committee”) has authority over the Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF). A simple majority of the Committee’s full membership (defined as 5-3) is required to allocate funds and make any other official decisions, except as provided for elsewhere in these bylaws.

Section 1.2 – Member number & representation

The Committee shall consist of eight student voting members and at least three (3) ex-officio, non-voting advisors, as follows:

Voting members

  • 2 students to be appointed by the ASUW Board of Directors;
  • 2 students to be appointed by the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS);
  • 1 student to be appointed by the Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC);
  • 1 student to be appointed by the Intellectual House;
  • 1 student to be appointed by the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity’s (OMA&D) Student Advisory Board (SAB); and
  • 1 student to be appointed by the UW Sustainability (UWS) Department.

Non-voting, student member

  • 1 student to be appointed by the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) Senate.

Non-Voting, ex-officio members

  • 1 to be appointed by the Faculty Senate;
  • 1 to be appointed by the Associate Vice President of Facilities Services;
  • 1 to be appointed by the Provost; and
  • 1 UW Sustainability Representative
  • Additional members as described below

Students from other academic departments and campus units partnering with the CSF can be appointed as Non-Voting Ex-Officio Members (Students) with Committee approval. The ex-officio members of the Committee shall attend Committee meetings as non-voting members, and the Committee can invite experts/guests to provide information and expertise as needed.

Section 1.3 – Duties of the Campus Sustainability Fund Committee

It shall be the duty of the Committee members to:

  • Build the culture of the committee to foster dynamic engagement and cross-cultural conversations that advance intersectional learning and respect for diversity;
  • Serving as an advisory role to the CSF and other sustainability initiatives on campus;
  • Help to update and set strategic plan for the upcoming year to achieve organizational goal benchmarks;
  • Assist in developing strategic visioning of the CSF (multi-year outlook);
  • Lead/contribute to conversations to further knowledge in various areas of sustainability;
  • Attending weekly Committee meetings;
  • Attending quarterly Committee retreats/social events;
  • Review/Vote on Letters of Intent and Full Proposals from Prospective Projects;
  • Assist in CSF annual budget creation;
  • Assist with outreach operations and event planning to improve campus environmental and social sustainability, while engaging the student body;
  • Assist in representing the CSF at events across campus (e.g., panels, speaker series, partnership events) and help elevate status in campus initiatives;
  • Gauge student desires related to sustainability and raise to the committee/CSF team;
  • Come into the space with respect and excitement to co-create change on campus;
  • Evaluate CSF operations and processes biennially;
  • Devoting an average of 1-2 hours per week outside of meeting and retreat times to promote the CSF’s goals, mission, and its projects to the campus community is strongly encouraged; and
  • Members should report back to their appointing bodies, as requested, regarding the actions of the CSF.

Apart from their normal function as a part of the Committee, a member has no individual authority.

Section 1.4 – Officers

The Committee shall have two officers, a Chair and a Vice Chair:

  • The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Committee, acting as facilitator and holding meetings to the agenda in a timely fashion. The Chair will write and send meeting agendas to all Committee members at least 24 hours prior to each meeting. The Chair must be a student member of the Committee. The Chair is expected to work 50 hours per quarter and will receive a quarterly stipend of $1,500 for a gross total of $6,000 over the course of the academic year (4 quarters). It will be the duty of the Chair to serve as the “face” of the CSF on campus and to work with the CSF Associate Program Director to develop and present reports to the Services & Activities Fee (SAF) Committee as required. These reports should include a brief description of all projects funded and the reasons for which they were approved.
  • The Vice Chair will assist the Chair with their duties. In the absence of the Chair, the Vice Chair shall assume all duties of the Chair. The Vice Chair must be a student member of the Committee. The Vice Chair is expected to work 30 hours per quarter and will receive a quarterly stipend of $980 for a gross total of $3,920 (4 quarters). The Vice Chair shall also serve as Committee Clerk and take and distribute minutes after each meeting, or appoint other Committee members or staff to take and distribute minutes as appropriate. The Vice Chair will assist with reports to the SAF Committee, as needed.
  • Members will offer key insight and serve on sub-committees as organized. Each member is expected to work 20 hours per quarter and will each receive a quarterly stipend of $440 per quarter for a gross total of $1320 per year (3 quarters with possibility to extend in summer for the Summer interim committee).

At the end of spring quarter the Committee will accept committee chair nominations for the following year. All members who will be returning the next year are eligible to run. If no returning member wishes to run for chair the election of chair will be postponed until the fall. The chair will be selected by majority vote of the current committee. The vice chair will be selected at the beginning of fall quarter by majority vote of the current committee. In both elections the candidate is eligible to vote.

Section 1.5 – Terms of office

Each member of the Committee, with the exception of the chair, shall be appointed at the end of spring quarter for one academic year to begin the following fall quarter, the chair shall enter office at the end of spring quarter to assist the coordinator over the summer.

  • Student terms will begin starting in autumn quarter and continue through the academic year. Terms are up to two years, dependent on student eligibility and their interest to continue. The choice is up to the student -- if the appointing body does not want them to complete the two-year term they are appointed for, it must be initiated during the jointly-led annual performance review (in Spring term) and the CSF staff + appointing body will undergo a process for remediation or potential removal.
  • Student Officers (Chair and Vice Chair) will hold office terms for one academic year. Students can hold either of these leadership positions for up to 2 academic years total during their tenure at UW (undergrad or graduate).
  • Faculty & Staff terms will run from the first day of fall quarter for 1 year. If an ex-officio advisory changes offices during their term, their appointing office is responsible for finding a replacement.

Student Committee members may serve no more than two consecutive years, but the total number of terms they may serve is not limited. Students may serve a third consecutive year on the Committee if the third year is in the role of the Chair position.

Section 1.5.1 – Interim Advisory Committee

In Spring of an academic year, the CSF Committee will self-nominate and appoint Committee members to constitute an interim advisory committee to serve during the summer months between academic years and until the complete establishment of the subsequent year’s CSF Committee. The interim advisory committee will convene and be available by email or phone as needed to review current project and fund activities and advise CSF staff on pressing matters. The committee must have a minimum of four members.

It is required that interim advisory committee members have either served on the CSF committee the previous academic year or been appointed to serve on the committee for the subsequent academic year. In the event that there are not a minimum of 4 Committee Members available to serve in the interim capacity, the Committee chair will appoint up to 3 Members from the CSF staff to serve in the Summer interim Committee role. Any votes made by the interim advisory committee must adhere to the rules of quorum set by the full committee.

Section 1.6 – Member qualifications

All student members of the Committee must be registered (full- or part-time) students at the UW Seattle campus during their term of office and remain enrolled through Spring quarter. Staff and faculty members of the Committee must be currently employed by the UW Seattle campus.

Section 1.7 – Member replacement

A Committee member (including officer positions) may be removed by unanimous vote of the other Committee members for unjustifiable absence from three or more Committee meetings or two or more Committee retreats, 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 Committee shall conduct itself in such a way that conflicts of interest are minimized and all potential conflicts of interest are made public. Each Committee member must declare current and past connection(s) to group(s) if said group(s) is/are presenting a Letter of Intent (LOI) or Full Proposal to the Committee. Where appropriate, Committee members are required to recuse themselves from voting on grant allocations for projects proposed by groups with which they are affiliated. For such votes, the “full Committee membership” as defined for voting majority purposes shall be decreased to account for the Committee member's recusal.

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