University of St. Thomas Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF)
approved: 2/11/11
In June of 2010, UST President Dease and the President’s Staff approved the UST
Climate Action Plan (CAP) as submitted by the UST Sustainability Committee.
The goal of our CAP is for the University of St. Thomas to be climate neutral by 2035.
To accomplish this goal requires the University to reduce or offset carbon emissions by
4% per annum using the fiscal 06-07 carbon audit as our benchmark (see table below for
actual annual carbon emission goals). Any year between 2010 and 2035 when the
University is unable to reach the stated CAP goal, we are committed to make up the
shortfall by transferring funds equivalent to the current value of purchased carbon offsets
to the UST Campus Sustainability Fund.
The UST CAP defines the purpose for the fund as:
“If the university fails to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals, funds from the
Internal Carbon Contract would be invested in the UST Campus Sustainability
Fund. This Fund would pay for carbon abatement projects proposed by members
of the university community – students, faculty, departments, Physical Plant and
staff). Project proposals will be evaluated on the basis of their effectiveness in
offsetting greenhouse gasses, on student involvement and on their educational
value. Grants from the UST Campus Sustainability Fund would be offered each
semester.”
The purpose of this document is to identify the shareholders and participants, and to
establish guidelines for operations and use of the fund.
UST Campus Sustainability Fund Operations
Administration of funds will be accomplished by two levels of administration: steering
and evaluation.
The steering level will be the existing Steering Committee for UST Sustainability: the
Vice President of Business Affairs, the Vice President of Student Affairs, the Associate
Vice President of Facilities, the Vice President for Information, Resources and
Technologies, the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Director of the
Office of Mission. The task of the steering level is to give final approval for all proposed
carbon abatement and sustainability educational projects, to determine the current annual
value of carbon offset credits, and to manage any needed investment of sustainability
funds not already committed to a UST CSF approved project.
The determination of the current annual value of carbon offset credits will be
accomplished by the use of an index of national and/or international carbon credit
markets. This index list may be expanded or reduced by the steering level but must
include at least three recognized markets. This index will be published for the UST
community and updated annually until climate neutrality is reached in 2035.
An annual UST carbon audit for each fiscal year is to be completed by the
Sustainability Committee, by outside consultants or as part of the curriculum by UST
students with Sustainability Committee approval. The audit will be submitted to the
steering level no later than December 15th of each year. The steering level final annual
report on carbon emissions with notice of any needed transfer of University funds to
comply with the Internal Carbon Contract will be made public to the UST community
during the month of March with a posting on the UST Sustainability web site. The UST
Chief Financial Officer will be responsible for moving operational funds into the UST
Campus Sustainability Fund by the first class day of September.
Decisions about investment of any funds not committed to approved CSF campus
projects are to be made by the steering level. All investments of Sustainability Funds
will be transparent to the UST community and will avoid any participation or
investment with corporations that do not adhere to SA8000 global social accountability
standards. CSF funds may not be transferred for any University use that is not consistent
with the reduction of carbon emissions and the guidelines for CSF approved projects.
Any project funding limits due to current CSF fund availability for the annual project
applications must be communicated by the steering level to the evaluation level 60 days
before the application deadline for use in communication to potential applicants.
The second level of the CSF is the project evaluation level. This committee will consist
of a minimum of five members: chair of the Environmental Studies Program (or
department designee), chair of the Sustainability Committee (or committee designee), a
student actively involved in a UST club focused on environmental and sustainability
issues, a student member of USG, and a Student Affairs staff member. Annually in the
month of October, project applications will be received from the UST community for use
of the funds. UST community notices for the application deadline is the responsibility
of the evaluation level and will be made public to the UST community 45 days before the
annual October application due date.
The evaluation level will use the following criteria for approval of projects requesting
CSF funds:
1. All funded projects must directly benefit and address sustainability at the
University of St. Thomas campuses.
2. All proposals for funds from the UST CSF must be submitted by a student,
staff member, and/or faculty member at UST. Proposals may be submitted
through one of these members of the UST community on behalf of a UST
program, organization, office, or department. Individuals and organizations not
directly affiliated with UST may not submit funding proposals.
3. The project must be feasible and have support from any affected campus
individuals and departments.
4. Accountability for any funded project must include defined metrics for a
clearly measurable outcome. These metrics will be used to evaluate the success
of the project. Any funded project plan must include a schedule of appropriate
progress reports to the CSF based on the duration of the project. The project must
also commit to a final report within 60 days of the completion of the project. If a
project has continuing benefits such as an annual cost savings or carbon reduction
or educational benefit, the project plan must include plans for tracking, recording,
and reporting these benefits back to the CSF on an annual basis for a minimum of
3 years. The submitters of any funded project plan that fails to complete progress
or final reports will not be able to submit any future CSF proposals until the
promised project report is submitted. Project reports are to be kept publicly
available to the UST community by the steering level.
5. Credit will first be given for projects that are effective in offsetting greenhouse
gasses and reducing the campus carbon footprint.
6. Credit will be given for projects that include student involvement and
educational components for our community.
7. Credit is to be given for innovation and potential for the project to be scalable
across our campuses.
8. Where applicable, preference shall be given for proposals that include lifecycle
costs, possible investment payback schedules and potential long-term savings.
The project evaluation level will review and respond to funding proposals within 45
days of the project submission date. Reasons for unapproved projects will be given to the
submitter by the evaluation level.
All approved projects will be given to the steering level who will give final approval
and determination of the actual project funding based on fund availability and project
guidelines. If enough funding does not exist for an approved project by the evaluation
level, the steering level will so notify the project submitter of inability to fund or limits
for funding along with any recommendations for continuance with a limited budget
where appropriate.
It is recommended that membership in the project evaluation level be rotated and that no
member of the project evaluation level serve more than two years without withdrawing
for one year from active administration of the UST CSF.
Potential additional sources to be considered for additional funding of the UST CSF:
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Carbon Offset for all UST community air travel
Development appeal for donated funding
Student supported Sustainability fee
Table of Annual Emissions Targets
Year
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
UST Emissions Target
Tons CO2 emitted
60,241
57,831
55,421
53,011
50,601
48,191
45,781
43,371
40,961
38,551
36,141
33,731
31,231
28,911
26,501
24,091
21,681
19,271
16,861
14,451
12,041
9,631
7,221
4,811
2,410
0