Sustainability Programs at UAF
In April 2009 the ASUAF student body approved a $20 fee per semester fee for all UAF
students during the academic year for the next 10 years. Originally it was called
the SIREN (Students Initiative for Renewable Energy Now) fee; the name was changed
to the Student Sustainability Fee in 2009 for clarity. Impressed by the student initiative,
in June 2009 Chancellor Brian Rogers agreed to match the fee.
To ensure student control of the money collected, a student sustainability board called
the Review of Infrastructure, Sustainability and Energy (RISE) Board, was established. A Director and full-time administrative assistant were hired and
a program was established under University & Student Advancement. Over the next five
years over 50 sustainability programs and projects (primarily student projects) were
funded in the areas of energy, waste reduction/recycling, transportation, food and
education were created and grew.
As the budget landscape at UAF began to change the Chancellor’s match was reduced
in 2015 and eventually repealed entirely in 2016. To ensure sustainability projects
would continue at UAF, the RISE Board established the Green Revolving Fund. Over the next two years the program was restructured and found a new home in the
Center of Student Engagement. In 2018 the ASUAF student body voted to make the fee and sustainability programming permanent.
Today the program employs one non-student staff member and approximately 9 students
to run a diverse array of programs including Recycling, Green Bikes, the UAF FreeStore, the Upcycle Annex, the Wood Center Food Pantry and Nanook Grown.