November 29, 1999
Contact: Andrew Careaga
573-341-4328
[email protected]
CAMPUS ENVIRONMENTAL TRACKING PLAN FEATURED IN NEW BUSINESS BOOK
ROLLA, Mo. -- A new book touting the business benefits of environmental management systems features the story of how the University of Missouri-Rolla implemented a management process known as ISO 14001 to keep better track of its chemical inventories.
"The Bottom Line: How to Build a Business Case for ISO 14001," by Rolla native Pam Parry, highlights companies and other organizations that have found a tremendous return on investment in implementing environmental programs. UMR is one of the case studies, and the only university featured in the book.
"The Bottom Line," scheduled for release Nov. 24 by CRC Press, a division of St. Lucie Press of Boca Raton, Fla.
With more than 90 percent of its 4,500 students pursuing engineering or science degrees, UMR handles more chemicals than most state universities. In the mid-1990s, the campus decided to pursue ISO 14001 -- an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems -- as a means of managing its chemical use. The university also embraced the standard because it would expose students to something they will encounter in industry, providing a real-life laboratory, Parry writes.
A graduate of Rolla High School, Parry was well acquainted with UMR before writing "The Bottom Line." She attended the university for one year before transferring to the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her father, Myron Parry, was a professor and later registrar at UMR for nearly 40 years.
"Yes, writing about UMR could be considered a conflict of interest for me, because of my close personal ties to the university," says Parry, who is now an assistant professor of communication arts at Taylor University in Upland, Ind., where she teaches journalism. "But I thought it was important to include UMR, because it is the only school in the United States that I know that is implementing ISO 14001. There might be some others, but I haven't heard about them. UMR is definitely a leader in this arena."
In "The Bottom Line," Parry illustrates how the ISO 14001 standard can be useful to a diverse array of organizations. Along with UMR, Parry also presents case studies of the U.S. Postal Service, a large tools and equipment developer, an automobile manufacturer and a leading technology company.
"In each case," she writes, "ISO 14001 was stretched to meet the unique needs of its diverse users. And it met the test."
One of the biggest issues facing UMR in the mid-1990s was developing a system for tracking the myriad chemicals that entered and left the campus, Parry writes. UMR wanted to be able to track its chemical usage in much the same way FedEx tracks its packages, says Dr. Mo Qayoumi, vice chancellor for Administrative Services.
"The school decided to pursue ISO 14001 as a means of managing the chemical use and to provide students a real-life laboratory because, once they enter various industry fields, knowledge of the international environmental management system standard will give them a competitive edge," Parry writes.
UMR began implementing ISO 14001 as an environmental management system in 1997, but has not yet been certified by a third-party assessor, as is customary for businesses. As Parry explains, "a certification process for any bureaucracy as steeped in tradition as a university presents a few more challenges than the average company."
And as Qayoumi notes in "The Bottom Line": "When a CEO tells a company to implement ISO 14001, the company has to do it. ... In a university, that requires a lot more finesse; it requires a lot more negotiation. ... For us the challenge is more of a change-management issue."
More information about "The Bottom Line: How to Build a Business Case for ISO 14001" is available from St. Lucie Press at 1-800-272-7737 or from Parry at (765) 998-4927.
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