Organizational Structure

Organizational Structure

Overview

The UC Davis Environmental Sustainability Student Coalition is a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate student organizations, campus bodies, and dedicated students and staff working toward common goals, with a mutually agreed upon, codified set of governing rules and obligations to help structure and organize UC Davis' campus and community sustainability goals and efforts. 

Member Organizations

Member organizations are UC Davis student organizations that are dedicated to an environmental and/or sustainability-related cause, and are voting members of the ESSC. Members of member organizations can join ESSC Committees. To learn about current member organizations, go to our Members page!

Eligibility Summary:
  • Must be officially registered through the University of California Davis via Aggie Life or Campus Center for Involvement and/or officially affiliated with UC Davis via the UC Davis Office of Sustainability, ASUCD, graduate/undergraduate UC Davis research groups, or UC Davis Graduate or Professional schools. 
  • Must have a focus and goals related to environmental sustainability consistent with the ESSC's mission statement and values.
  • Must have regular meetings and at least five members.

To see the full eligibility requirements, visit our How To Get Involved page!

Duties:
  • Send a representative to all ESSC meetings.
  • Participate in, promote, and engage with Coalition projects, events, training, and workshops.
  • Encourage members to start and participate in ESSC Committees and Projects, as well as to join the Executive Panel.
  • Identify campus-wide issues that require attention and action from the ESSC community.

Board of Representatives

The Board of Representatives is the primary legislative body of the ESSC, and consists of one selected individual from each member organization. Each member organization's representative acts as the voting member for the organization, and can be any member of the organization.

Board of Representative Duties
  • Serves as the official voting body of the ESSC and makes all decisions pertinent to internal affairs.
  • Serves as a venue for members of the ESSC to communicate actionable plans with one another and to the public. 
Individual Representative Duties:
  • Act as the voice of their organization, expressing their interests in, concerns with, and support of the ESSC affairs. 
  • Must attend each ESSC meeting and give a brief report on behalf of their organization at each meeting.
  • Serve as ambassadors for the work of the ESSC and promote its mission when and wherever possible, including representing the ESSC at key official meetings and events.
  • Assist in the implementation of activities and serve as a resource, especially for activities that directly involve or relate to the representative’s organization.
  • Work on the development of a strategic plan regarding their organization’s needs and in prioritizing goals that further both their organization and the Coalition’s efforts.

Ex-Officio Members and Organizations

Ex-officio members and organizations serve as non-voting liaisons to the ESSC on behalf of UC Davis organizations, departments, or facilities that are not classifiable as student organizations. Each ex-officio organization sends one or more representatives to ESSC meetings.

Graduate and Professional School students may join as Ex-officio members to the ESSC and will, by default, be members of the Graduate and Professional School Student Committee.

To learn about current ESSC ex-officio members and organizations, visit our Members page!

Duties and Responsibilities:
  • Serve as the liaison to the member's organization, department, facility, etc.
  • Advise the ESSC on effective advocacy/structure and best practices.
  • Act as the voice of their organization, expressing their interests in, concerns with, and support of ESSC affairs.
  • When necessary, gather all appropriate information for the ESSC to utilize in decision making and must participate in determining its actions.
  • Assist in implementing activities and serve as a resource, especially for activities that directly involve or relate to the member's organization. 

Executive Panel

The Executive Panel is the primary executive body of the ESSC. The Executive Panel is made up of a Coalition Chair, Secretary (Internal Vice Chair), Coalition Coordinator (External Vice Chair), Fiscal Agent (Treasurer), Communications Director, Programming Director, Projects Manager, Research Director, and Training Director. 

Duties and Responsibilities:
  • Hold and facilitate ESSC meetings.
  • Represent the ESSC professionally.
  • Recruit and maintain a diverse coalition membership.
  • Communicate and work with the Office of Sustainability.
  • Direct and assist the coalition to develop legislative action. 

Administrative Committee

The Administrative Committee serves as an oversight committee to oversee the inception of the coalition, the functionality of the ESSC leadership, and the well-being of the ESSC as a whole. The committee membership consists of the ESSC Chair, the ASUCD Environmental Policy and Planning Commission Chair and 1-2 commissioners, the ASUCD Campus Center for the Environment Unit Director and 1-2 Sub-Directors, and 1-2 Office of Sustainability Staff (as advisors). 

Duties and Responsibilities:
  • Provide an additional level of accountability for the Board of Representatives and Executive Panel.
  • Work with the Executive Panel to design and update Commitment Forms.
  • Work with the Executive Panel to conduct, complete, and subsequently implement the results of the Bi-Annual Process Improvement Evaluation. 

Committees

ESSC Committees are supplemental bodies that serve the purpose of going into more depth on issues that the capacity of the coalition cannot address and are focused on sub-topics or more specific areas of environmental concern. To learn more about ESSC Committees, visit our Committees page!