Roles
Roles during CMS Development Phase
The CMS Steering Team, CMS Information Technology (CMS IT) Team and the working groups associated with each pilot will play critical roles during the development of the CMS.
The CMS Steering Team is led by the CMS Manager and is responsible to develop the CMS in accordance with the CMS Development Plan (pdf) and the Cornell University Policy for Environmental Compliance and Voluntary Environmental Initiatives. See the Team’s mission and vision for the Planning Phase for more information. The Team will develop a mission and vision as the Development Phase gets kicked-off.
The CMS IT Team is responsible to develop the information technology resources associated with the CMS. See the team’s mission and vision for more information.
Overview of roles within the CMS
The figure to the right is a visual representation of the relationships and interactions among the programs, the university administration, and the operating units, within the structure of the CMS.
The activities of the CMS are broadly divided into three areas: policy setting, program administration and program implementation. The entities responsible for execution of these activities are the following:
- Policy setting — Senior university administration
- Program administration — Designated groups within ECO, EH&S in Ithaca and at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, CALS and CVM that manage programs governed by environmental and chemical management regulations.
- Program implementation — The entire Cornell community, with responsibility devolving upon management of units at various levels.
How the CMS will relate to central program administration
Each program will retain its autonomy—its authority and responsibility—for achieving the program’s goals for compliance and voluntary undertakings. The CMS is not meant to assume the “content” responsibilities of a program; its purpose is to coordinate the functions of programs and to provide a consistent framework to which the execution of those responsibilities should conform.
How the CMS will relate to operating units
Similarly, each unit will retain its autonomy—its authority and responsibility—for implementing the programs. The CMS will serve all university operations, facilities and academic endeavors. The CMS will enable all university units to
- clearly understand,
- systematically achieve and
- successfully account for
The policy on Environmental Compliance and Voluntary Environmental Initiatives establishes the roles of the Environmental Official and Environmental Representative for each college and division. The Environmental Official will have overall responsibility for environmental compliance, policy administration and CMS implementation in his or her unit. The Environmental Representative will be responsible for day-to-day environmental compliance activities and communication in his or her unit. See a more detailed description of the roles and responsibilities of the Environmental Officials and Environmental Representatives.
Each unit, working with the administrators of the appropriate programs, will determine the relevant aspects of its operations, that:
- have potential impacts on human health, safety or the environment,
- have applicable compliance requirements, and
- already have or should develop applicable voluntary undertakings.
