SA: Resolution 37 Addition of Environmental Impact Statements to By-Line Funding Process

Whereas, the Student Assembly charter states under Appendix B Section I. “Each organization that receives funding from the Student Assembly (SA) is subject to Guidelines set by the Assembly in consultation with the Graduate & Professional Student Assembly (GPSA), these organizations, and the Cornell student body”;

Whereas, the SA and GPSA are each tasked with allocating and distributing the student activity fee to over 600 student organizations;

Whereas, in the fall of 2009 both the SA and GPSA voted unanimously to endorse the Cornell Climate Action Plan;

Whereas, the Climate Action Plan is currently aiming to reduce the institutions overall greenhouse emission level to zero;

Whereas, Cornell has already become recognized on the national level for its efforts in this area, having recently won the Nature Climate Leadership Award for Institutional Excellence;

Whereas, student organizations and other by-line funded organizations can have an environmental impact as part of their operations;

Whereas, the student activity fee should be use in a responsible and sustainable manner that is consistent with the goals and actions outlined above;

Be it therefore resolved, that Appendix A, Item IV (Procedure), Section A (Application), subsection 4 of the Student Assembly Charter be amended to read (with additions in bold):

4. By noon on Friday of the third week in which classes are held in a fee setting year, each applicant must submit in print and digitally in a single file, using forms provided by the Office of the Assemblies, a final application including:

• mission statement, of the organization or program, not to exceed one page,
• written organization profile, not to exceed three pages, including:
  • officers,
  • number of members, and
  • description of activities, programming, and events conducted in the present cycle,
• summary of request for funding, not to exceed two pages, including a final funding request, and describing how the applicant intends to use funding and summarizing any changes if the applicant is a returning applicant,
• financial statements for the past two academic years, the current academic year, and financial projections for the two years during the funding cycle1, and
• an analysis of the current academic year’s financial statements showing hypothetical spending on each budget item in an organization’s financial statements if the organization received 10%, 25%, and 35% less funding than its current allocation
• an environmental impact statement, not to exceed one page, that details the environmental footprint of the organization, and the measures the organization takes to abate its impact.

Be it further resolved, that upon passage this resolution be forwarded to the Executive Board of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GPSA) so that they may be aware of the Student Assembly’s support of the similar resolution adding this provision to the GPSA’s appropriations procedure,

Be it further resolved, that the Appropriations Committee will include a notification of this new requirement in the announcement of the byline-funding application process to current and future byline funded organizations.

Respectfully submitted,

Roneal Desai ‘13
Student Assembly Minority Representative At-Large

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