A sustainability council is now in place and students will soon be able to suggest environmentally friendly uses for the Green Fee.

According to a university press release, Chancellor Sam Goldman appointed the council members earlier this month and asked them to create their operating papers by Dec. 15.

‘We already have many sustainability initiatives underway on our campus, and this council will enable us to take even more pro-active steps not only to preserve, but also enhance the environment,’ Goldman said in the release.

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Paul Restivo, council chairman, said Goldman wants the group to give him directions on how to make the campus more environmentally sustainable. The council is made up of three students, three faculty and four staff members who will serve two years and report to Kevin Bame, vice chancellor for administration and finance.

Restivo, director of the Center for Environmental Health and Safety, said one of the council’s first charges is to appoint a committee of mostly students by Oct. 15 to review proposals on use of the $10-per-semester Green Fee, which was supported by students in a campus-wide referendum in the spring semester.

‘ The Green Fee committee would be made up of the three student members of the council, one faculty and one staff member.

‘We here at SIU are blessed with obviously very creative and energetic and positive thinking students who voted the green fee in,’ Restivo said. ‘I think the students have sort of taken the lead and our council will hopefully build upon that momentum that the students have started.’

Justin Harrell, council member and electrical engineer in Plant and Service Operation, said the council has been discussed for about two years and was part of the original proposal for the Green Fee.

‘This is something that’s been in the works for a long time,’ Harrell said. ‘I think that we’re finally seeing that come to fruition, it’s a great thing.’

Harrell said the operating papers, when finished, would contain rules and procedures for proposals and applications on what to do with the Green Fee money.

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‘Things are coming together rather quickly, so I think that we should have, within a fairly short time, a process in place that people can go ahead and make applications,’ Harrell said. ‘Start thinking about what type of projects you’d like to see to enhance sustainability on campus and look for that request for applications.’

Madeleine Leroux can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254.