On December 13th, the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Workgroup, working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Sector Strategies Program Office launched the availability of three tools to help colleges and universities across the country come into compliance with environmental laws and further improve their environmental performance.

(1) A letter to college and university presidents/chancellors that promotes the implementation of management systems to achieve environmental goals and encourages university presidents/chancellors to take actions to promote environmental stewardship within their organizations.

(2) A one-page business case titled, "Environmental Management Systems (EMS): Continually Improving Performance." This document was developed to raise awareness about the benefits of an EMS, and to share testimonials from universities that have realized many of these benefits.

(3) In addition, the EMS work group has recently established a national website designed to assist a wide range of colleges and universities with the planning and implementation phases of EMS development. Please visit http://Campusems.org to learn more about EMSs for Colleges and Universities. The letter and EMS Sheet mentioned above are on the web page.

UMR Chairs National Environmental Management System Work Group

UMR is participating in the EMS Work Group of the EPA Colleges and Universities Sector Strategies Program. This voluntary work group is made up of a cross-section of academic stakeholders and will play an important role in crafting strategies and tools to assist colleges and universities improve their environmental performance. More...