Opportunity for Hunter College Students: CUNY Climate Assembly Project (CCAP) Delegate Lottery Application
Deadline
February 13, 2026
at 11:59 PM
Hunter College is offering a $750 paid opportunity for 30-45 students to serve as delegates to the CUNY Climate Assembly Project on Waste at Hunter College. We need students from all backgrounds to help shape the future of sustainable waste strategies on campus.
- Deadline for Easy Application: Friday, February 13th, 2025
- Eligibility: Hunter College students enrolled in the Spring 2026 semester and in good academic standing.
- Number of Delegates: 30-45
- Compensation: $750
- Dates: April to June 2026 (All in-person)
- Phase 1: April 1st & 2nd (10 am – 5 pm)
- Phase 2: April 24th, May 1st 8th, & 15th (12 – 2 pm)
- Phase 3: June 2nd, 3rd, & 4th (10 am – 5 pm)
Note: GC Masters and Doctoral students looking for the Small Group Facilitators position can find it here.
Opportunity Overview
From April to June 2026, a Climate Assembly of student delegates will meet in-person for five full days and four 2-hour workshops. Delegates will learn from a diverse range of subject-matter experts, weigh the challenges and opportunities of various waste-management strategies, and collaborate on solutions for vertical urban commuter campuses, such as Hunter.
The result will be a list of democratically developed recommendations for the Hunter community, which will be presented to campus leadership. In Fall 2026 and Spring 2027, 9-12 post-assembly fellows will work with campus leaders to review any subsequent learning, planning, adaptation, and/or implementation of the recommendations.
Climate Assemblies are an innovative method for democratic problem-solving, with over 700 examples worldwide. You will be making history as a part of the first university-convened climate assembly in the US.
Why Waste Management?
New York State Executive Order 22 requires all public entities, including CUNY, to reduce waste disposal by 10% every five years from the Fiscal Year 2018–19 baseline until achieving a 75% reduction. Hunter has and will continue implementing strategies for waste diversion (i.e. composting and recycling), source reduction (i.e. procurement), and data uptake and education (i.e. student/staff training and waste audits) towards these goals.
Waste management is challenging because it requires everyone’s involvement to be successful. While administrators can devise policies to meet these goals, they will only be effective if students, faculty, and staff can execute them. Meeting our waste reduction goals requires an all-hands-on-deck effort– individual behavior change, updating organizational practices, and shifting campus culture will require adaptation to how campuses operate. The student assembly delegates will address the following question:
“From a student’s perspective, what incentives, structures, and systems would facilitate more effective waste management at vertical urban campuses, like Hunter College?”
Who can participate & how will students be selected?
All current Hunter students can apply! No need to be an expert on waste or climate issues– we want to hear from students from all majors and walks of life. Language interpretation, disability accommodations, and child or elderly care stipends can be provided to support participation on a case-by-case basis.
Student delegates will be selected by a Civic Lottery and will be demographically representative of the Hunter Campus Community– like having ‘the campus in one room.’ For more on Civic Lotteries, see the FAQs below.
Climate Assembly Dates and Attendance
Phase 1: Spring Break Opener
(10 am – 5 pm)
- Wednesday, April 1st
- Thursday, April 2nd
Phase 2: Community Hour Fridays
(12 – 2 pm)
- Friday, April 24th
- Friday, May 1st
- Friday, May 8th
- Friday, May 15th
Phase 3: Post Semester
(10 am – 5 pm)
- Tuesday, June 2nd
- Wednesday, June 3rd
- Thursday, June 4th
Assembly meetings will be in-person, either on campus or somewhere nearby. Please make sure you can make it to all assembly dates before applying. We understand that there may be important situations and/or unforeseen life circumstances that come up, so student delegates can miss up to 7 hours and participate and receive their full stipend.
What you’ll gain as an Assembly Delegate
- Earn a $750 stipend (contingent on attendance at assembly meetings).
- Receive a systems-level and hyperlocal understanding of the challenge of decreasing waste.
- A one-of-a-kind experience in democracy. This will be a unique opportunity to work with fellow students and experts to present your recommendations to campus leadership.
- Receive a certificate that can be added to your resume.
- Build new relationships with students, faculty, and staff across the Hunter Community.
- Help shape the future of sustainable waste strategies at Hunter College.
How to Apply for the Lottery
Deadline to Apply: Friday, February 13th, 2026
If you are interested in participating, please fill out the quick survey below to become eligible for this opportunity. If selected, you will hear from us in late February.
If you have any questions, see the FAQ below. For any further questions, please email [email protected] or [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The Assembly
What is a climate assembly?
Climate Assemblies gather everyday people to learn, deliberate, and democratically develop solutions to a challenging climate issue.
Assembly delegates are selected through a civic lottery to ensure the assembly represents their communities’ unique demographic and political diversity. The assembly spends significant time learning with a diverse range of experts, collaborating through facilitated deliberations, and developing recommendations on a complex climate issue. These recommendations inform policy and implementation strategies taken up by local governing bodies and community stakeholders.
Participants are paid and provided with services like interpretation and child care to remove barriers to participation. Small group facilitators aid in bridging partisan divides and ensuring all voices are heard, and public forums and engagements outside the assembly allow the broader public to learn and weigh in on the topic at hand.
See our website for information about Climate/Civic Assemblies
Videos: Climate/Civic Assemblies around the world.
But I’m not an expert– Why should I be involved?
The purpose of this assembly is to get student input from a variety of different perspectives. Information about waste management will be provided during the assembly through presentations from experts and group activities. The Assembly will generate a collective intelligence between students’ lived experience and expert knowledge. All you need to do is show up!
I have child or elderly care support that I am responsible for, which makes the time commitment a challenge. Can y’all help?
Students may be eligible for a needs-based stipend for child or elder care support. If selected, we will reach out to confirm your spot and discuss the stipend in more detail.
What are my responsibilities as a selected delegate?
As a selected delegate, you will be expected to attend in-person meetings. You will listen to lectures provided by experts and work with student facilitators and your fellow Hunter College students to create recommendations to the college about waste management.
Will there be homework?
The vast majority of the work will be completed at the assembly meetings. There will be a small number of pre-readings assigned before the assembly begins. Supplementary materials will be provided throughout.
What will happen with the Assembly’s recommendations?
Assembly delegates will present their recommendations to the CCAP governance committees, which are made up of Hunter administrators and campus community leaders. They will review the assembly’s recommendations and contribute to a public-facing response–a community forum, public event, and/or white paper, to name a few possibilities– that unpacks which recommendations may be viable, which may need adaptation, and which ones cannot be accepted.
In Fall 2026 and Spring 2027, 9-12 post-assembly fellows from the assembly will work with campus leadership to review any subsequent learning, planning, adaptation, and/or implementation of the recommendations.
Selecting Student Delegates (Civic Lottery)
Who is eligible to be a part of the assembly?
All undergraduate and graduate students can apply! You must be enrolled during the 2026 Spring semester and be in good academic standing.
What is a Civic Lottery and how does it work?
A civic lottery is a fair and transparent method for selecting members of the public to participate in decision-making processes. Similar to jury duty, members are randomly invited to ensure that every member of the population has an equal chance of participating. Additionally, the group is stratified to reflect the community’s demographic diversity. This method brings everyday people—rather than just the loudest, privileged, or most connected voices—into the heart of public deliberation.
The CCAP civic lottery has two stages. In stage one, the entire campus community will receive an invitation to be part of the lottery for the assembly. Any student can decide to apply to put their name in the lottery. In stage two, the students who opted in will be randomly selected and demographically stratified (gender, race, classification (freshman – graduate), etc.) based on the hunter community. This selection will be the final set of assembly members.
How and when will members of the Assembly be selected?
You will receive an email in late February to confirm your spot in the assembly. You may also receive a phone call from a member of the CCAP organizing team.
If selected as an assembly delegate for the Spring 2026 Assembly, do I have to engage as a post-assembly fellow?
No. Only 9-12 students from the assembly will become post-assembly fellows. Post-assembly fellows will receive an additional stipend to continue the work during Fall 2026 – Spring 2027. We will provide more details about the selection and the opportunity during the assembly.
If I do not get selected for the assembly, can I still be involved?
Yes! There will be events throughout the semester where you can learn and provide your input. There will also be a classroom curriculum that your faculty may utilize that aligns with the assembly. You can stay informed by signing up for this mailing list.
Participation and Attendance
I am unsure whether I can attend every meeting. Can I still apply?
It is important when applying that you plan to attend all Assembly meetings. Each student delegate’s perspective is crucial to represent the Hunter student community. However, we understand that there may be important situations and/or unforeseen life circumstances that can occur, so student delegates can miss up to 7 hours and participate and receive their full stipend.
If you need to miss, you will need to watch the recorded presentations and meet with an assembly member who was present on that day to get caught up.
Will I receive academic credit for participating?
No, but you will receive a certificate for your engagement as an Assembly member that can be put on your resume.
What if I am selected and then not able to participate?
We will reach out to selected student delegates in late February to accept or turn down this opportunity.
