Washington, DC, March 31, 2008 – An online environmental resource center, “CampusERC,” was launched today by the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) in collaboration with several higher education associations.
Accessible at
www.campuserc.org, the site is designed as a multifaceted library of resources for college and university environmental officers to keep up with the latest news and information on environmental issues, study best practices in environmental management, view case studies, and better understand what institutions must do to comply with environmental regulations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
CampusERC was developed by NACUBO in partnership with the Campus Safety, Health, and Environmental Management Association (CSHEMA), APPA, and the Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence (C2E2). EPA provided funding for CampusERC and many of the resources on the comprehensive site.
Campus Environmental Stewardship
“Colleges and universities nationwide have enormous potential to achieve significant reductions in energy use, water consumption, and solid waste disposal,” notes NACUBO President and CEO John Walda. “Institutions of higher education are engaged in many businesses, including transportation services, foodservice, landscaping, laboratories, hospitals, and power plants that have implications for the environment and must be managed responsibly. CampusERC gives higher education institutions the resources to do just that.”
“Institutions of higher education always strive to be good stewards of the environment, and CampusERC is an extremely helpful tool to accomplish that mission,” says NACUBO Director of Environmental Leadership Michele Madia. “Most campuses are also closely integrated into the surrounding community, so their efforts also help protect these areas.”
Site Highlights Regulations and Best Practices
Current news about environmental events and programs related to higher education is featured on the home page of CampusERC to keep it timely and relevant to campus environmental professionals and administrators. In addition, the site hosts a campus tour organized around nine typical areas on a campus that are subject to environmental regulations, and an updated compliance guide that assists colleges and universities in meeting the basic requirements of environmental regulations. The site also showcases model practices from colleges and universities that are often the best resource for achieving a strong environmental program.
“Environmental health and safety staff and facilities personnel will find that the site provides ready access to resources, guidance and tools necessary to comply with environmental regulations as well as build and manage ‘beyond compliance’ programs,” says CampusERC Project Director Tom Balf of C2E2.
EPA Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Granta Nakayama adds, “Colleges and universities face a wide variety of environmental responsibilities. EPA wants them to have the information and tools they need to make our nation’s campuses models of environmental performance. We are pleased to support the work of NACUBO and its partners in providing this comprehensive and easy-to-use web site.”
CampusERC is the 16th Web-based compliance assistance center supported by EPA. Other centers provide environmental compliance resources for industries including agriculture, chemical manufacturing, construction, health care, transportation, and others.
CampusERC Rollout
The CampusERC Web site is being rolled out in conjunction with the Smart and Sustainable Campuses Conference, March 31-April 2, at the University of Maryland at College Park in College Park, Maryland. The organizations that produced CampusERC are also partners in this conference, which will explore many ways in which colleges and universities can develop and implement environmentally sustainable programs and activities.
About NACUBO
NACUBO, founded in 1962, is a nonprofit professional organization representing chief administrative and financial officers at more than 2,100 colleges and universities across the country. NACUBO’s mission is to promote sound management and financial practices at colleges and universities.
Editors: NACUBO would be happy to arrange interviews or provide a guided online tour of CampusERC on request. To schedule an interview or online tour, please contact:
Lisa Jordan
Associate Director of Communications
NACUBO
202.861.2565
lisa.jordan@nacubo.org or
Geraldine Romano
Managing Director of Communications
NACUBO
202.861.2531
geraldine.romano@nacubo.org