2006 Advanced EMS Workshop for Higher Education:
Learning from the Trends

Thank you to our sponsors!

October 11 & 12, 2006
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

Co-sponsored by Cornell University
and the Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence

The 2006 EMS conference served as a forum to present the results and case studies from a nation-wide college and university EMS Benchmarking Survey, “The State of the Campus EMSs: An On-Line Survey,” conducted by the Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence (C2E2).

Over 250 colleges and universities responded to the survey which has provided an understanding of the nature and extent of EMSs as they are being defined and implemented on college campuses. The survey information: (1) provides statistically significant results that effectively describe the state of EMS development at various colleges and universities; (2) allows for a comparison of EMS practices among schools; and (3) assists institutions with identifying and prioritizing areas for improvement, based on what other campuses are doing.

Corporate and college and university representatives presented case studies, each with a different focus on implementation experiences, tools, measurement and integration. Institutional speakers included representatives from the University of Connecticut, Rutgers University, the University of Vermont, Boston University, SUNY Albany, City University of New York (CUNY) and MIT. A representative from Johnson & Johnson showcased their performance measurement strategy and tools. Cameron-Cole, LLC, the firm that conducted the survey, presented the EMS Benchmarking Survey results.

The highlights of the workshop included:

• Learning about where other colleges and universities are in their EMS development,
• Gaining insight into how to integrate an EMS with other systems and programs on campus,
• Participating in roundtable discussions that provided additional insight to the survey results,
• Discovering how a top Fortune 500 company and a university measure EMS and safety, health and environmental performance,
• Participating in a discussion about varying models of leadership support for EMS,
• Understanding how institutions are addressing common challenges, and
• Learning about opportunities and resources that exist for colleges and universities developing EMSs.