Sustainable Campus
Initiative Committee


MSUM Sustainable Campus Initiative

The following is a copy of the original MSUM Sustainable Campus Initiative. This document is used to outline and guide procedures for reaching the goal of a more sustainable MSUM campus.
  1. Requests a $3 dollar per semester Green Fee to be paid by each enrolled Student. The fee would be assessed on the first credit, and only on that credit. The revenue would be deposited in the University Green Campus Committee account. (This began fall semester 2004)
  2. Requests the creation of a student affairs University Green Campus Committee. The committee should consist of five students, and four faculty or administration persons. The responsibility of the University Green Campus Committee would be to oversee the Green Fee fund and to distribute said funds in accordance with plans generated to create a sustainable campus and promote environmental programs on campus. In the first year, funds collected would be used to initiate the construction of a wind turbine with the city of Moorhead, create a MSUM Housing Recycling program, hire an environmental consultant to evaluate campus needs, a create an internship program for MSUM students to research potential project ideas developed by the evaluation and the University Green Campus Committee, and promote the Environmental Program to the campus and community. Any additional funds would be used to implement a project, or would carry over to the next year’s budget. The University Green Campus Committee would coordinate a grant-writing program to seek outside funding for various projects related to campus sustainability. (These things are completed or in the works)
  3. Request the creation of the Dragon Water program. We request that all retail outlets on campus that currently sells bottled water to carry Dragon Water. In addition, part of the profit of Dragon Water would be distributed to the Environmental Fund maintained by the University Green Campus Committee, with the specific purpose of funding scholarships for new and incoming students that have shown significant environmental ethic and interest. The scholarship criteria would be based upon the current Scholarship Committee guidelines for academic scholarships, in addition to the environmental interest/ethic aspect. (This will be addressed at a later date)
  4. Part of the revenue generated by the Green Fee would be for student sponsorship of a new wind turbine at the preexisting city of Moorhead site. Sponsorship of the turbine would be financially related to the amount of energy used by the CMU, and potentially the Health and Wellness Center. In the first year of the fee, revenue from the fee would be used to cover the amount over and above the amount of the requested CMU expenditure allowance for each year’s budget in association with the subscription cost to city of Moorhead’s Capture the Wind program. (This project is in the planning stage)
  5. Revenue from the Green Fee would be used one-time for the creation of a housing recycling program. The fee would purchase interior recycling reciprocals and be used to employ a student to maintain the collection of the material. (This program was implemented fall semester 2004)
  6. After the first year of the fund, an evaluation would be conducted by the University Environmental Committee and Student Senate to make a recommendation on further funding.