After the student body passed the three Student Activities Fee Endowment reform proposals last week, three steering committees prepare to guide the proposals toward their implementation in the coming months. The working groups plan to manage the future steps alongside GUSA. The $3.5 million fund includes Georgetown Energy, a new Social Innovation and Public Service fund, and the creation of a New South Student Center.
In a press release, GUSA President Mike Meaney (SFS ’12) and Vice President Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) celebrated the success and looked to the future with high expectations. “The projects we’re funding all contribute unique benefits to the University, and we can’t wait to start in on them,” Meaney wrote in the release. Laverriere emphasized the collective effort involved in the passing. “From the Endowment Commission to all the students who put together all the great proposals to the volunteers who knocked on doors all week to build up support, this was a team effort.”
The steering committees for each proposal are already meeting to determine the next steps. “Although SAFE reform has passed student referendum, there is still much work to be done,” FinApp committee chair Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) wrote in an email to the Voice. “We want to implement as soon as possible, but must still be careful when doing so.”
One of the three proposals allocated $250,000 to Georgetown Energy to install solar panels on 43 University townhouses. Any unused funds will go to the Green Revolving Loan Fund, created for any future sustainability projects. According to Malkerson, the first step for Georgetown Energy is to determine with GUSA and the University the number of solar panels to be installed over the summer. Following that decision, the group will select a solar provider after a Request for Proposal process. “We are aiming for installation this summer with panels operational by fall 2012,” Malkerson said.
Peter Nulsen (COL ’12), co-founder and president of Georgetown Energy, said that the group’s goal is to reduce the University’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. “Speaking for myself, I’m very proud of my University when it makes a stronger commitment to sustainability on campus,” Nulsen said.
The New South Student Center proposal steering committee will start this week by meeting with University officials and collaborating with university architects to establish the design for the proposed center and terrace. “GUSA holds final approval on the designs for the southern terrace and level one, so if students aren’t happy they won’t be approved,” Malkerson said. “I’m very excited to be part of the planning and implementation of these proposals. It has been a long time coming and we’re all very excited.”
The SIPS fund steering committee consists of 10 members, with three open spots for which members of the student body can still apply. Over the current semester, the group will prepare for its takeoff in the fall, with hopes for a launch event at the end of the semester. “It’ll get people excited to think of some ideas over the summer, the money will start to be given out in the fall,” SIPS co-founder Clara Gustafson (SFS ’13) said.
Gustafson, along with many other leaders of SAFE proposals, says she is ready to see the fruits of her months of labor on SIPS. “I have been working on the SIPS fund for over a year and a half… [I] initially got involved because I liked the idea of students investing our money into making changes in the world. I’m really excited that it’s finally becoming a reality.”
