To clarify language about the Green Fund’s goals and processes and to fit the standards of the UW Legal System, the Associated Students of Madison approved the fund’s updated bylaws Wednesday.
Created in September 2013, the Green Fund provides grants to student projects promoting sustainability initiatives on campus.
Over the last several months, Sustainability Committee Chair Kyla Kaplan and Finance Committee Chair Madison Laning collaborated to edit the bylaws, adding language that Kaplan said would account for specificity and verification of the grant process.
The bylaws were also compared to university legal standards to confirm they fit together.
Kaplan presented the first few language changes, including an edit removing the word “environmental” from the definition of sustainability, which she said was done in hopes of creating a broader spectrum of projects eligible for the fund.
Laning and Kaplan also discussed specificities of the Green Fund Advisory Board.
The board will be the first body to look over Green Fund grant applications, although applications will need to go through both the Finance Committee and Student Council before they are formally approved.
Kaplan said miscommunication occurred last year when groups thought GFAB was their final stamp of approval and started spending money without authorization from the Finance Committee and the council. She added this was why language detailing the multiple approvals was clarified in the updated bylaws.
Both Laning and Kaplan reiterated the need for thorough edits to the bylaws.
“We didn’t want to make the same mistake that we made last year trying to get these bylaws out quickly,” Kaplan said.
Additionally, the council passed a budget alteration introduced by Laning, in which a portion of last year’s Green Fund money would gradually be moved to the travel grant fund to cover all other registered student organizations that applied for those grants.
The council also passed Laning’s proposed legislation increasing the travel grant cap to $3,000, which she said would allow additional grants to be given out during the next year.
