Carbon Fund Committee

PREAMBLE

The Carbon Fund will work towards re-creating UCSC as an operationally carbon neutral campus while providing faculty with an opportunity for research and students with the tools they need to move towards a more sustainable future. This Committee is established in accordance with Measure 44 to publicize and manage the Carbon Fund.  We adopt this constitution as the guiding document of the UCSC Carbon Fund.

I. MISSION

The Committee strives for a sustainable future by working to mitigate climate change through funding and participating in projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conduct relevant research, or carry out education and behavioral change programs. The Committee’s commitment is foremost to the campus and its students, but also to the wider community as climate change is a threat without boundaries. As a student-fee funded measure, the first consideration in achieving these goals is addressing student needs, education, and engagement.

II. COMMITTEE ROLES

2.1 The Committee shall create and maintain public project proposal criteria based on the language of Measure 44. 

2.1.1 The criteria shall reflect the Committee’s commitment to students, its own mission, the campus mission, and the Committee’s understanding of a successful project. 

2.1.2 The criteria shall reflect the priorities of the Committee as well as relevant existing campus commitments and strategic plans.

2.2 The Committee shall solicit and review project proposals from students, staff, and faculty in accordance with criteria.

2.3 The Committee shall provide assistance to proposal authors in both project development and post-funding implementation.

2.4 The Committee shall ensure collection and evaluation of project performance data.

2.5 The committee shall publicly report specific Fund activities and spending on the official Carbon Fund webpage.

2.6 The Committee shall develop and maintain an informational website.

III.   COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

3.1 Quorum

3.1.1 A quorum (50%+1) of the Carbon Fund Committee must be established to vote.

3.1.2 Quorum is 5 voting members: 3 students and 2 staff/faculty.

3.2 Non-Voting

3.2.1 Carbon Fund Committee meetings are open to the public. Interested students, staff, faculty or community members may attend but do not have speaking rights unless requested in advance.

3.2.2 Permanent non-voting advisory member with speaking rights:

• A staff from the Sustainability Office as a consultant to the committee

3.3 Voting

3.3.1 Permanent voting members:

• Member of Enviroslug (student)
• Member of People of Color Sustainability Collective (student)
• A Member from any given campus organization of the committees choosing (student)
• Representative of SUA (student)
• Representative of GSA (student)
• Carbon Fund coordinators (student)
• Campus Energy Manager (staff)
• Faculty Advisor (faculty) 
• Member of Procurement Services (staff)

3.3.2 For group or organization representatives, that group will appoint an appropriate member.

3.3.3 Additional voting members may be added at the discretion of the committee.

3.4 Staff

3.4.1 Student Coordinators

• Will be the primary facilitators for the Carbon Fund committee meetings
• The student coordinators serve as liaisons between the Committee and the greater UCSC community, develop agendas for and co-facilitate all Committee meetings, and serve as the primary contact(s) for most Committee related issues.
• The coordinators along with the Sustainability Office staff will review the agenda no later than Ten (10) days before the committee meeting
• Will facilitate the hiring of new student staff to support the committee.
• If for any reason the student cannot, will not, or does not fulfill the duties of student coordinator, the Committee may discuss and vote on removal of student coordinator. This will be done by a 2/3 vote.
• The coordinators will promote the Carbon Fund to students, staff and faculty with the goal of soliciting applications and educating stakeholders. They will work closely with the Carbon Fund committee to create outreach material and host events that increase campus participation in the Carbon Fund.

3.5 Officers Who Work Closely With Staff

3.5.1 The Sustainability Office staff

• Will report to the Committee continuously the short term and long term goals of the Carbon Fund Committee
• Will stay up-to-date on the Committee budget
• Work in coordination with the Committee staff members
• Does not have voting rights
• Will be the secondary facilitator to the student facilitator

IV. MEMBERS TERMS OF OFFICE

4.1 Each member shall be appointed for a term of one academic year.

4.2 Committee members may serve as many terms so long they remain in their role as staff or student

4.3 Student and staff terms shall begin in the first week of the fall quarter and end in the last week of the spring quarter.

V. MEETING PROTOCOL

5.1 Frequency and Time

5.1.1 Meetings shall be no less than once a quarter.

5.1.2 Meeting frequency, dates, and length shall be negotiated with current and prospective Committee members to maximize attendance and the submission of proposals as well as to coordinate with funding timelines.

5.1.3 Enough meetings will be held so as to fairly consider all submitted proposals.

5.2 Standard Agenda

5.2.1 Once funding cycles have commenced, the agenda, as well as meeting location and time shall be publicly posted and sent out to Committee members no later than ten (10) days in advance of the meeting.

VI. ATTENDANCE

6.1 Once meeting times and frequency has been established for the year, members will meet at that frequency given at the beginning of their term.

6.2 Absences and tardiness are cumulative throughout the term and will be addressed by the Carbon Fund Committee 

6.3 To maintain quorum (50%+1) a committee member may send a delegate from their organization to take their place at any given meeting. The Chair or Facilitator must approve this delegate at least seventy-two (72) hours in advance of the meeting. The delegate does not account for an excused absence and the absent member will receive (1) absence. 

VII.  MEMBER REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT

7.1 The Committee may remove a member for multiple absences. A Committee member can only be removed by a 2/3 vote.

7.2 In the event that a Council member is removed or resigns, the original appointing body will determine a replacement. The new Committee member will serve the remainder of the term.

VIII.  CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The Carbon Fund Committee shall keep conflicts of interest minimal and maintain transparency. Each Committee member must inform the Committee of their level of involvement in any campus related entities.

8.1 Subcommittees

8.1.1 The Committee may create subcommittees to meet separately, if necessary.

8.1.2. Committee members may be asked to leave the room and abstain from voting, if they are directly affiliated with a project that is under consideration for a Carbon Fund grant.

IX. FUNDING

9.1 Project Proposal Eligibility

9.1.1 Only UCSC affiliates will be considered for funding for project proposals.

9.2 Special Protocols

9.2.1 The Committee shall observe the following rules for use of funds:

9.2.2 10% of annual funds are to be used for the student staff positions

9.2.3 The Committee shall annually set aside 5% of funds to maintaining existing LEED certifications on campus

9.2.4 Physical Planning and Construction shall be allotted 2.5% of annual funds to cover administrative costs of funds

9.2.5 Annually, 1% of funds shall be designated for committee expenses

9.2.6 The full committee must approve any one-time expense that exceeds $100.00.

X. DECISION MAKING PROCESS

10.1 General

10.1.1  Majority vote:

• Committee guiding documents, members, structures, logistics, or procedures may be added, removed, or amended through a majority vote.

10.1.2 Any voting member of the Committee may propose such additions, removals, or amendments and present these to the Committee. The following procedure applies for majority votes:

• A voting member may consent to the proposed change.
• A voting member may abstain from the vote, in which case the member neither voices approval nor disapproval yet is allowing the proposed change to pass by remaining in quorum.
• A member may openly oppose a decision but a single dissention does not block quorum.

10.2  Proposals for Use of Funds

10.2.1 Point System Vote:

• Proposals for use of funds submitted to the committee shall be voted on using a point system based on publicly available criteria, both of which are created and approved by the committee.

10.2.2 Consensus Vote:

• For areas where the criteria do not apply (long-term projects that pre-date the criteria, prior to criteria creation, while the criteria are in flux, etc.) or do not fit the merits of the project, the Committee can fund projects via a consensus decision.

10.3 Project Presentations

10.3.1 Projects with a “high dollar amount” within the pool of applications for the given year will be invited to give an additional presentation to the committee about their project and answer key follow-up questions from committee members

• The stated “high dollar amount” is to be determined by the Carbon Fund co-coordinators once all applications have been received through the application cycle.
• Presentation instructions and parameters will be provided by the Carbon Fund co-coordinators to applicants, based on outcomes of committee discussion.

XI. AMENDMENTS

11.1 The Carbon Fund Committee may remove, add, or otherwise modify this Constitution by a 2/3 vote of the council’s voting membership. All members of the Committee must be notified at least seven (7) days prior to voting for any proposed change.

11.1.1 Amendments may be approved and included within the constitution by a 2/3 vote of the voting body.