By Anne Halliwell

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Students and faculty can team up to compete for $100,000 in grants for their original sustainability projects from three UK organizations until Oct. 15, said Shane Tedder, sustainability coordinator for the Office of Sustainability.

The executive vice president for finance and administration’s office contributed half of the funds, Tedder said, and the vice president for research’s office and the Student Sustainability Council each contributed one-quarter.

“We wanted to come up with something for this year that had a little more teeth to it and the potential for more impact,” Tedder said of the program, currently in its first year.

The Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment accepted student ideas for a small grant last year, said Rebecca McCulley, an associate soil sciences professor and the interim director of TFISE.

This project expects to parcel the money into $5-25,000 increments to fund six to eight projects, Tedder said.

The proposals will be evaluated by an executive review committee with members from campus sustainability offices and faculty members who can determine the plans’ feasibility, Tedder said.

Each team has to have a faculty leader, but one goal is to build collaborations between faculty, staff and students, said Lee Meyer, professor of agricultural economics and co-chair of the president’s sustainability advisory committee.

“When you think about sustainability, one of the core elements is systems,” Meyer said. “We’re creating systems, not just a standalone piece.”

McCulley said any student can become involved. The best grants, she said, will involve multiple campus organizations.

“Sustainability isn’t just environmental programs and social programs,” said Caroline Engle, an agricultural economics and environmental sciences junior and the Student Sustainability Council director. “It’s all-encompassing.”