USF's MBA Programs Ranked #22 on Sustainability

Image

The USF School of Management has been ranked 22^nd in Corporate Knights' inaugural "Global Green MBA" rankings. The Corporate Knights survey focused solely on Canadian schools over the past decade, but was expanded to a global scale this year. Leading institutions from around the world are constantly asked to participate in rankings, but Corporate Knights is currently the only ranking that allows schools to showcase their increasing commitment to sustainability in learning, green business and the triple bottom line.

The top ranked schools are based in 11 different countries and were assessed in the areas of institutional support, student-led initiatives and coursework. The USF School of Management finished 11^th in the student participation category, 15^th in the institutional support category and 28^th in the coursework category, finishing 22^nd overall. "As Dean, I am particularly proud of our faculty scholarship and student engagement in the 'three pillars of sustainability,' which includes social, economic and environmental issues," said Michael J. Webber, Dean of the School of Management.

"USF's tagline is 'Change the World from Here,' and we attract students who are committed to achieving societal change. One example of student-led initiatives that contributed to us being ranked 11^th in that category is USF's Net Impact chapter, which recently achieved Gold status. This is the most elite status a Net Impact chapter can attain and it's all due to our students," said Dr. Jennifer Walske, faculty advisor for USF's Net Impact chapter and member of Net Impact's national board.

Institutional support accounted for 30% of the schools' ranking, student-led initiatives accounted for 25% of the schools' ranking, and coursework accounted for 45% of the schools' ranking. Institutional support was assessed by measuring the number of external speakers, seminars, conferences, competitions, orientation activities, internship opportunities, consulting programs, financial support programs, faculty-led community involvement projects, endowed faculty chairs, institutes and centers, and faculty research that pertains to social and environmental impact and/or nonprofit management. Student-led initiatives were assessed by measuring how many student groups, volunteering efforts, consulting clubs, faculty groups, committees and task forces were run by and available to MBA students, and were related to social and environmental impact management and/or nonprofit management. The coursework category was measured by assessing each MBA program's integrated course management, required and elective courses, joint degrees and MBA concentrations that focus on social and environmental impact management, nonprofit or social enterprise management, or corporate social responsibility.

Corporate Knights approached 190 top institutions from around the world for its rankings. This list of schools was compiled from the top 100 MBA programs in the Economist's list of full-time MBA rankings of 2012, the top 100 MBA programs in Financial Times' list of full-time MBA rankings of 2012, the top 100 MBA programs in Beyond Grey Pinstripes' ranking of 2012, the top 15 Canadian MBA programs in Corporate Knights' Knight School Ranking of 2012 and select signatories of the Principles for Responsible Management Education.

Corporate Knights, Inc. is a media, research and financial products company focused on quantifying and animating clean capitalism drivers for decision makers, with a vision of providing information that empowers markets to foster a better world. Its magazine, Corporate Knights Magazine, is published as a quarterly insert in the Globe and Mail and the Washington Post (its rankings are printed in Forbes), and is one of the world's largest circulation magazines focused on the intersection of business and society. Corporate Knights Magazine writes about clean capitalism, an economic system in which prices incorporate social, economic and ecological benefits and costs, and actors know the full impacts of their actions.

Corporate Knights' "Global MBA Rankings" will come out annually starting this year.