Poor management of environmental programs may also result in compliance violations resulting in fines or penalties. Colleges and universities are unique places. There are long-term planning horizons and myriad constituencies and stakeholders. Management challenges include competition for research and students, varying levels of institutional or administrative support and speculative resources and budgets because of widely variable revenue projections. Only a carefully designed and properly implemented management approach can provide the necessary measure of confidence that environmental compliance goals are met and environmental performance objectives achieved.
Some programs exist.
There are some informal processes that may not rise to the level of a procedure. Some procedures are followed. Some are not. An environmental management system promotes continual improvement in environmental performance. The core elements of an EMS are illustrated and defined more fully on the next page.