When Lesley Ash walked into the University of Arizona student union on April 13, she thought she would walk out having secured $150,000 for her campus-based club.

Four hours of intense discussion later, her club, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Sustainability Committee had been allocated $50,000.

Plans had been made and expectations were high for the group. The students wanted to use student fee money to help fund other campus clubs with similar green aspirations, ranging from water harvesting to maintaining new plant life on campus, said Ash, a veterinary sciences senior.

Those plans came to a halt when the UA Student Services Advisory Board chose to approve 21 other campus clubs and organizations to be funded by next semester's $40 fee to be paid by each UA student.

See ASUA Sustainability's plans for the future...


In the end, ASUA Sustainability left the advisory board meeting with a bittersweet feeling.

"Obviously we were a little disappointed we didn't get the full amount," said Ash, director of ASUA Sustainability. "But we were happy with the $50,000 we received. We can do good with that money."

Although they know some of the $50,000 may go to accompanying clubs, it is unclear exactly how it will be spent. That would have been the job of the club's appropriations board, whose creation has not yet been approved.

Forced to solely fund itself because of the decreased allocation, other sustainability clubs like Eco Reps and ECOalition will be left to fend for themselves and request money from ASUA’s club funding, a tricky prospect for any club. With over 150 UA organizations seeking funds from a limited ASUA money pool, chances for significant funding are slim, Ash said.

"They can go through regular appropriations to get funding from ASUA, but you'll never get enough," she said. "Projects like these are expensive."

There may be hope for clubs and organizations seeking to keep their respective entities afloat via student government funding.

Next semester marks the beginning of a new outlook for ASUA’s club funding, as its budget has doubled from $100,000 to $200,000," said Jessica Anderson, ASUA executive vice president.

Ash has been doing her part, as well. Still determined to allocate money from its own appropriations board to needy clubs, ASUA Sustainability may soon begin applying for small requests of $5,000 to $10,000.

"It's a smaller amount, but that would give us a chance to appropriate $5,000, which is definitely, I think, more appropriate for a first-year appropriations board," Ash said. "And then it would also demonstrate that we did have a good process in place, so that maybe they would feel more comfortable giving us a larger sum to help give to clubs next year."

And next year is exactly where Ash and her colleagues find themselves looking, as $50,000 is enough for the organization to carry on with their own current projects that will stretch into the future.

Turning money into projects

ASUA Sustainability is currently working with UA Residence Life to implement a test-study for hot water in Kaibab-Huachuca Residence Hall over the next few semesters, Ash said.

Since Kaibab-Huachuca is two buildings, one will be a test model while the other will continue to use standard hot water measures. This will allow the team to analyze the contrast between the two projects, she added.

"We're hoping that will be positive so we extend for hot water to several of the other dorms on campus," Ash said.

The organization is also working with the university and has created a course to be offered to students in Spring 2010. The course is designed to maintain a community garden and continue the composting program already in progress.

The course itself is contingent on ASUA Sustainability coming through on a current project to design a community and organic garden, an effort that has enlisted the help of UA Campus Planning.

"Some of the produce used would actually be used to supply produce for the student union," Ash said. "And it would also...turn into a community garden for students as well."

The youth of the sustainability committee combined with its plans to transfer money from one appropriations board to another contributed to the board’s decision not to fund the full request of $150,000, said Matthew Totlis, chairman of the Student Services Fee Advisory Board.

"(The board) was not certain what the outcomes were going to be of the proposed program," he said. "The 50 grand that was allocated was simply: we believe in your program, we believe that you can accomplish these things, but we do want to see what you're doing -- we do want to see that you're putting that money to work."

The board stressed that the amount of funding should not discourage the club, as board members agreed on the importance of the purpose of ASUA Sustainability.

"I think student involvement in sustainability is super, super important," said board member Tiffany Tedesco. "This is a really great step forward for everybody, but we really want (ASUA Sustainability) to grow a little bit more."

While the amount was not exactly what she had hoped for, Ash told the board she was grateful for the money they had decided to give to ASUA Sustainability.

"Does $50,000 give us a good starting base? Yes. Will it allow us to establish projects within our goal of a revolving loan fund? No, because these projects are expensive," Ash said. "We are a committee of innovators, and I'm sure we can stretch every single dollar that we receive to get a lot done on campus. So I thank you."