An online survey posted Monday asks UF students to respond to a potential "green" fee that would charge 50 cents per credit hour each semester to further UF's environmental efforts.
Student Government and the Division of Student Affairs sponsored the survey, said Student Body Treasurer E.J. Walicki.
Though the Renewable Energy Fee was approved by 78 percent of voters in last spring's SG elections, it must be approved by the UF Board of Trustees, UF's governing body; the Board of Governors, the governing body for Florida's public universities; and the state Legislature, Walicki said.
The more feedback students can give the institutions before they vote, the better, he said.
Jeanna Mastrodicasa, assistant vice president for UF student affairs, is the survey's supervisor.
Mastrodicasa said its purpose is to narrow down the initiatives students want and to strengthen the fee's case for the bodies that control its fate.
State budget woes leave Moosbrugger with doubts that the Legislature would vote for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program to fund the fee, which is why a survey question asks if students would pay for the fee if it isn't covered by the scholarship.
The survey asks students which projects they would like the fee to fund, such as solar energy, biodiesel research and updating old buildings with new technology.
The survey will be available until Feb. 22, she said, but it could last longer depending on the number of responses received.
Katherine Faist, a mechanical engineering junior, said the survey is a good effort, and she thinks solar energy would be the best use of the money given Florida's typically sunny weather.
However, if UF is going to collect money from students, she said, it should focus on aiding the homeless and improving the city in other ways.
"I think our priorities are off," Faist said.
Julie Noyes, a psychology junior, said the fee would be a good way for students to make UF a more sustainable campus at a low cost.
"It's not that much that it's going to cause a financial hardship," Noyes said.
