EMS Policy
Why are we doing this?
The intent of an EMS is to establish and maintain a systematic management plan which continually identifies and reduces environmental impacts from an organization's activities, products and services. It also seeks to integrate myriad regulations. In summary, the purpose of an EMS is to systematically facilitate positive environmental change and promote sustainability.
What can I expect?
The EMS will help campus teams verify applicable regulations, inventory activities that affect the environment, perform on-site assessments of operations in relation to regulations, prepare gap analyses comparing current status to goals and engage college communities through public outreach events and publications. An EMS seeks to improve and achieve compliance with environmental health and safety regulations, to avoid expensive fines and corrective actions, to lower daily impact on the environment and to engage not only Kenyon's academic curriculum mission (which can be found on Kenyon's web page: http://www.kenyon.edu/x11758.xml ) but also Kenyon's Statement of Sustainability which is:
As a liberal arts college, Kenyon College recognizes that it has a responsibility to its students, the surrounding community, and future generations to make conscious decisions that reflect the changing nature of the environment. Kenyon understands that creating a sustainable campus as well as showing respect and care for the environment should be among the core values that guide our teaching, research, service, and administrative decisions.
When will Kenyon's EMS be up and running?
It will take time to fully integrate Kenyon life and its new EMS together but other schools are proof that it can be done successfully. (Note: Kenyon is currently laying the EMS foundation.) Starting in 2001, several innovative New England colleges, UVM, BU, Tufts, and U-Mass required about 12-18 months to establish a fully functional EMS on their campuses. When asked about how an EMS can be successfully implemented at Kenyon, Emily Bain said, "EMS systems are about getting people involved; the more you become involved, the better we all are."
Examples of other Educational Institutions with an EMS:
Duke University, Environmental Management Systems http://www.safety.duke.edu/ems/
Harvard University, Green Campus Initiative http://www.greencampus.harvard.edu/
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Environmental Management System http://web.mit.edu/environment/ehs/ehs_management.shtml
Michigan State University, Environmental Management Systems http://www.orcbs.msu.edu/environ/programs_guidelines/ems/ems.htm
University of Colorado - Boulder, Environmental Management System Environmental Policy Statement http://www.colorado.edu/policies/environmental.html
University of Massachusetts - Lowell, Environmental Management Systems http://www.uml.edu/epaems/ems/
University of Missouri - Rolla, Environmental Management Systems http://campus.umr.edu/ems/
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Environmental Management System http://ehs.unc.edu/management.shtml
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Environmental Management Systems http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/ems/
Washington State University, Environmental Management Systems http://www.ehs.wsu.edu/esrp490/managementreview.htm
Modified by Jenny Bock, Environmental Health and Safety student assistant