A survey of the implementation status of environmental management systems in U.S. colleges and universities

A census of 925 U.S. colleges and universities offering masters and doctorate degrees was conducted in order to study the number of elements of an environmental management system possessed by small, medium and large institutions. A 30% response rate was received with 273 responses included in the final data analysis. Overall, the number of environmental management system elements implemented among the 273 institutions ranged from 0 to 16, with a median of 12. The proportion of U.S. colleges and universities that reported having implemented a structured, comprehensive environmental management system is discussed. Stratified analyses were performed by institution size, Carnegie Classification and job title.