Despite budget cuts and fee increases, two organizations hope to develop an environmental office that will make the University more eco-friendly.

To further the University’s efforts with “going green,” the Student Government Association and Go Green Alliance will allow students to vote in this year’s SGA elections for an Office of Sustainability, which will be funded through a mandatory $3 student fee each semester.

“A lot of other universities use them to enact recycling principles on campus,” said Christina Faust, a chair for the Go Green Alliance. “Other universities are ranked higher than us in the area of sustainability and others use it to coordinate green ideas on campus.”

The $3 fee will be used to pay the salary of the coordinator of the Office of Sustainability, provide possible internships for students and provide the costs of running the Office of Sustainability, Faust said.

“The coordinator will serve as someone who creates a resource pool for environmental ideas,” said Chris Morphis, SGA’s School of Ecology senator. “There are many student groups working towards environmental ideas on campus that are interrelated. More people could be collaborating on projects on campus with an Office of Sustainability.”

The closest thing that the University has is a recycle coordinator, said Morphis, provided by the Physical Plant at the beginning of the fall semester. The coordinator would perform the same tasks of the recycling coordinator but on a larger scale.

In addition to creating a resource for organizations interested in environmental efforts, the Office of Sustainability will help educate the campus on being environmentally sound.

“We want to start the project by educating the campus on saving energy and water conservation,” Faust said. “Ideally we want a committee to decide what the University wants, but this will be decided after the fee is passed.”

The fee will be re-evaluated at the end of five years by a mandatory fees committee composed of students and faculty.

“They would basically look at how efficient the fee is and see if it should be reinstituted,” Morphis said.

“Hopefully grants will be given to the Office of Sustainability to continue it,” Faust said. “It essentially can save a lot of money in the long run by conserving resources and creating more energy efficient buildings and lighting. Hopefully it will use the money it has saved to fund itself.”

In an effort to launch support of the Office of Sustainability, Go Green Alliance set up a Facebook page which outlines the specifics of the office and its goals. The organization worked with professor Lynne Sallot’s public relations class to create “green” stickers that are seen on Jittery Joe coffee holders. A booth will be set up at Tate Plaza to answer students’ questions concerning the sustainability efforts Monday through Thursday.