December 1, 2009
NJ Revilla-Garcia

Grant opportunities for HSIs on 'Green Building' at Minority-Serving Institutions

Hispanic-Serving Institutions will be among the institutions encouraged to apply for grants as part of the Building Green at Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) Initiative, the inaugural project of the Facilities and Infrastructure Enhancement Program (FIEP) of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Institute for Capacity Building (ICB). 

The program focuses on facilitating the green transformation of UNCF member institutions and that of other minority-serving institutions. The program will be funded by a $1.8 million grant UNCF received from The Kresge Foundation.

The Building Green at MSIs Initiative will build knowledge and capacity through a series of Building Green Learning Institutes, Technical Assistance Workshops and $20,000 mini-grants to help MSIs incorporate principles of sustainable design and energy efficiency into their building projects and overcome barriers that often include small endowments and low in-house expertise in green building practices. Working with MSIs to overcome these barriers will be critical to achieving the Initiative's two goals: 1) To increase the number of buildings and structures on MSI campuses that register for and achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification; and 2) To increase the number of MSIs that are signatories of the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

Learning Institutes will be held in Atlanta, GA; Minneapolis, MN; and San Antonio, TX in 2010.

UNCF will partner on the Initiative withSecond Nature, an organization with expertise in advancing sustainability and green building with leaders in higher education. Additionally, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund have agreed to participate in and promote the initiative.

For more information about the grants, visit http://www.uncf.org/.



  

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, founded in 1986, represents more than 500 colleges and universities in the United States, Latin America, Spain, and school districts throughout the U.S. HACU is the only national association representing existing and emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs). The Association’s headquarters are in San Antonio, Texas, with regional offices in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento, California.

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