An important part of what makes the Society for Green Business a successful and effective organization is its use of committees for delegating responsibilities. Each committee is used for the planning and implementation of a particular club function. Membership in a committee should be based on an individual's interests and skills to ensure continued participation as well as an enjoyable experience.
At the beginning of the academic semester, each committee will elect two leaders responsible for organizing, running, and reporting on committee progress to the executive board. These are the "chair" and "co-chair" respectively. Both positions are extremely important but the effort and cooperation of the committee as a whole will signify the effectiveness of SGB in that area.
Here are the committees and a brief description of the goals of each:
Advocacy Committee:
The Advocacy Committee is a group of dedicated students working to provide complementary sustainability consulting to businesses and organizations. In order to help companies be more environmentally friendly, the Advocacy Committee formulates specific strategies and implements a thorough plan of action to reduce environmental impact, while cutting costs. Each plan is tailored to the need of the individual client, and quantifiable data is taken to measure the progress. Specific targets include energy efficiency, paper reduction, and recycling initiatives. The committee will also support on- going projects in marketing and research. Past Advocacy projects include waste stream analysis for Cornerstone Grill and Bar, recycling initiative for Van Munching Hall, and marketing research for Maryland Dining Services. The client for the Fall 2009 was the Bozzuto Group.
Events Committee:
The Events Committee plans, organizes, and runs professional, social and community service events for the club. Membership entails an assigned role for professional events, which may include check-in, seating and presentation setup, supplies/information organization, catering and food acquisition, etc. The Events Committee is essential to building the SGB experience by providing meaningful and relevant events that provide members a chance to connect with each other, establish contacts within the green industry, and learn about green issues. Past Events include speakers from General Electric, International Business Machines, and the U.S. Green Building Council.
Fundraising Committee:
The Fundraising Committee oversees the financial transactions and condition of the club. Its members develops methods for generating new capital for the organization as well as ways of investing profits for club and university improvement. Past Fundraising projects include working with local College Park restaurants, co-sponsoring music performances at Sante Fe Cafe, and running concessions during UMD campus-wide events.
Marketing Committee:
The Marketing Committee promotes club awareness and events through poster creation, flyer disbursement, etc. This committee is essential to building the brand of SGB throughout the Smith School of Business, across the entire university, and to a variety of businesses. One of the major goals of the Marketing Committee is to increase membership by connecting with students, faculty, and business professionals. Members continually develop new and innovate ways to help publicize SGB and its actions to the community.
The Design Team is a subcommittee within the Marketing Committee that specializes in visual advertising and is responsible for campus-wide chalking. The Head Designer supervises the members of the Design Team in order to increase the effectiveness of SGB advertising and ensure that all marketing materials creatively display the values of the organization. One of the major past projects of the Design Team was the creation of the official club logo and slogan.
