About the Green Fund

The fund is managed by a committee made up of students, faculty, and staff from all of Tufts' four campuses. The committee's charter can be found here, which further lists the expectations of the members and the workings of the committee.

Committee Members

• Sean Cash, Associate Professor, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, joined Spring 2018, term ending Spring 2021
• Sina Foroutanjazi, M21, School of Medicine, joined Fall 2020
• Emily Gephart, Lecturer, SMFA at Tufts, joined Spring 2021
• Srivalleesha (Valli) Mallidi, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, joined Spring 2021
• Laura Mogannam, E23, School of Engineering, joined Spring 2021
• Steve Nasson, Director of Facilities, Health Sciences Campus and SMFA at Tufts, Boston Campus, Spring 2021
• Tom Paugh, A23, School of Arts and Sciences, joined Fall 2020
• Kate Risse, Lecturer, School of Arts and Sciences, joined Spring 2021
• Whitney Stiehler, Wildlife Clinic Coordinator, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, joined Spring 2018
• Tina Woolston, Office of Sustainability Program Director, joined Spring 2018

Potential projects that could be approved by the Green Fund Committee include any type of educational project or event (e.g. art exhibit, speaker, workshop, performance art) related to sustainability, sustainability enhancements (e.g. student-designed green roof or rain garden, solar charging stations, drinking water solution for events), pilot programs, student projects to study potential resource saving strategies, etc. Projects are not required to have a financial payback. Projects should take place on one of the campus locations and be focused on serving the Tufts community.

• Tufts Food Security Assessment - $4,100 (research project)
  • A research assessment of food insecurity and security at Tufts, spearheaded by two undergraduates on the Medford campus.
• Edible Insect Festival - $5,500 (event: April 18, 2019)
  • In partnership with innovative Chef and founder of Brooklyn Bugs, Joseph Yoon, this event will sponsor an educational workshop, presentation and tasting dinner. The mission will be to raise appreciation and awareness that insects are a sustainable protein source that can be delicious and healthy.
• Glove Recycling - $2,600 (initiative)
  • This pilot program will establish of a recycling stream for the non-hazardous nitrile gloves we are currently sending to landfills on both the Medford and Grafton campuses.
• SMFA Health, Safety, and Sustainability Day - $6,750 (event: April 18, 2019)
  • The Sustainability Task Force at the SMFA has planned this event to honor Julie Graham, a professor at the SMFA who recently passed of lung cancer. This day will be used to celebrate and investigate the ways in which artists can make an environmental difference locally, give the community access to new and safe tools, remind ourselves of ways to operate responsibly in the studio and remember an artist who dedicated her life to creative material solutions.
• Tufts Pollinator Initiative - $11,050 (project)
  • This project is an educational, ecological, and collaborative plan to bolster pollinator health and promote community awareness on the Medford/Somerville campus.

Spring 2018 Funded Projects (total of $10,000):

• Hodgdon Solar Panels - $6500 (project)
  • Donated solar panels were installed on Hodgdon Hall to electrify power outlets for charging electronic devices
• Tufts Dental School Rapid Water Bottle Filling Stations - $3000 (installation)
  • In order to promote the use of reusable water bottles, the Dental School will be installing additional water bottle filling stations on high-traffic floors of their building
• Composting on the Health Sciences Campus - $500 (ongoing initiative)
  • Composting will now be available at the Boston Health Sciences Campus, where it was previously unavailable

Please visit our Completed Green Fund Projects page and our Current and On-going Green Fund Projects page for more information.

To see the current application process check out the 2021-2022 Application Page.

The application process is four rounds. Applicants will:

1. Submit an initial idea to the Green Fund committee

2. Answer any additional questions that the committee may have

3. Complete a more robust application that includes letter of support, a budget, and a Gantt chart

4. Create a poster and give an in person final presentation

Funded proposals approved for implementation may be provided with assistance in the form of staff time in order to begin the implementation process of the project(s) within the next calendar year.

Project teams must submit a report at the conclusion of the project that outlines the impact it has had on the Tufts community, including metrics such as energy or emissions saved, people, reached, etc.

These are a list of criteria that will be considered, but applicants do not need to satisfy all requirements:

• Environmental impact (energy savings, emissions reductions, water reductions, etc.)
• Social impact
• Education
• Feasibility (including whether or not the applicant is willing and able to contribute time to any project requiring heavy student involvement and adherence to all federal, state, local and Tufts rules and regulations)
• Ability to measure success
• Immediate cost savings (if relevant)
• Life Cycle Cost savings (including impacts on operating budget)
• Regulatory compliance
• Public relations value
• The Tufts Community’s interest and support
• Number of collaborators from different disciplines/constituents (e.g. faculty, staff and students)
• Sustainability of the project in regards to the timeline of the overall initiative (e.g. one time and ongoing projects will both be considered)

Linked here is a list of past rejected Green Fund projects and their reasons for rejection. This document is an example of projects that have been rejected for specific reasons related to the above criteria.

The process starts by filling out a simple PDF form with a short description of your project idea, who would be involved, estimated costs, and how your project would benefit the Tufts community.

The questions for the initial proposal are:

1. What project would you like to fund with the Green Fund?
2. Who would you worth with on this project? Who would need to be involved? (For example: are there departments you would need to reach out to? If you are hosting an event, you might need someone to help you set up and to help clean up afterwards. Do you need permission from anyone to complete your project?
3. What costs would be involved in your proposal? Please provide a rough budget and likely total request amount.
4. What steps would you take to accomplish this?
5. How would your project help the Tufts community?

This is a list of questions that will be asked in the second round of applications:

1. Please provide a 300-350 word description of project.
2. What is the problem that your project is looking to solve?
3. Has this been done before?
   • If so, how is this project different from what has been done in the past?
4. How will you measure success?
5. How many people would the project impact? Please categorize these as students, faculty, staff, and other.
6. What is the environmental impact?
7. What is the social impact?
8. What are the educational impacts of this project?
9. Will it help Tufts’ long-term sustainability goals?
   • If so, how?(See Tufts sustainability goals here: https://sustainability.tufts.edu/sustainability-at-tufts/our-commitments/commitments/)
10. What are the life cycle cost or the immediate cost savings, if applicable?
11. Provide us with a timeline of the planning and implementation of the project. Please upload a completed Gantt chart of your process.
12. Is this a pilot project?
    • If so, describe plans to sustain the project after the pilot has ended.
13. Is this an event?
    • When are you hoping to hold the event?
    • Where will you hold it?
    • Have you reached out to them yet?
14. How much funding are you requesting from the Green Fund and are you seeking funding from other places? Please attach an itemized budget.
15. Will this be a project you will work on alone, or will you collaborate with others? If you are collaborating with others, list their names, their Tufts affiliation, and their contact emails.Please identify which member of your team will be the principle contact.
16. If you have any letters of support please attach them here. All letters should be in one document, or emailed to greenfund@tufts.edu

Each year, the program can fund any number of projects with budgets adding up to $40,000.

If the success of the project is contingent upon the presence of student workers, projects can include the funds needed for student workers as part of their proposal. The temporality of student labor contracts will be tied to the temporality of the proposed project.

Please use this form to describe a sustainability project that you are interested in having implemented at Tufts.

• Funded applicants will need to provide a financial contact (a staff person at the university) to manage the funds.
• All Green Fund funded projects will need to have some sort of signage referencing the Green Fund.
  • The Office of Sustainability has logos for the funded projects
  • This signage will need to be approved by Tina Woolston or the Green Fund intern.
•  There will be periodic check-ins with the Green Fund intern on the progress of the project.
• At the end of the project applicants will be asked to provide a report on their project.

Have questions? Email our Green Fund Intern at GreenFund@tufts.edu.