The Center for Sustainability has released its grant program which will award up to $5,000 to a student group dedicated to promoting campus sustainability.
The UTM Center for Sustainability Oversight Committee will award the grant to the student group with the best proposal in April.
Eligibility requirements for the grant includes organizations applying to have at least one enrolled UTM student, as well as a proposal consisting of a relevant need on campus with cost effective uses of the funds, which will benefit the campus in a socially, economically and environmentally measurable way, and involves the campus and community in some fashion.
The grant proposals are due March 1, and the oversight committee will choose a grantee by April 1. The funds will be applied to their project the following fall semester. The project must be completed within the 2020 academic year and the proposal must include an achievable timeline for the organization to follow.
“Proposals can be anything that demonstrably benefits the sustainability of our campus and its operations,” Dr. Eric Pelren, coordinator for the Center for Sustainability and professor of Wildlife Biology, said. “This can include ecological, economic, or social benefits, or any combination thereof!”
“One of the exciting things about this grant is that sustainability can and should occur across all of our campus programs, so we might get great ideas from any department or program. Infrastructure, landscaping, energy, transportation, student support – these and many other topics are valid.”
Pelren also explained that since the grant will fund up to $5,000 of the proposal, if the chosen project requires less than that, they will award the remaining funds to other groups.
“Last year, we were able to fund three proposals because they collectively added up to just under $5,000,” Pelren said.
Groups applying should only request the amount of money it will take to complete their project. The funds can be used to supply materials for the project, but cannot be used to pay students or workers stipends.
The groups awarded will be responsible for creating a formal report after the first semester and at the conclusion of the project to update the oversight committee on the success of the project.
Applications for the sustainability grant can be found online at www.utm.edu/sustainability and must be submitted using the Grant Proposal Form. Pelren advises any student interested in applying for the grant to contact him to discuss ideas and feasibility.
For more information on the UTM Center for Sustainability,
visit www.utm.edu/sustainability.
Dr. Eric Pelren, director of the Center for Sustainability, spoke during an Engage the Times session on the importance of sustainability on the UTM campus. | Photo Credit/ Devon Coble
