Newswise — The University of Virginia Darden School of Business is among Entrepreneur magazine/Princeton Review’s list of the 16 best MBA programs for "green business" education.
The 16 schools were chosen based on a 2009-2010 survey of students and administrators at 325 business schools. Administrators were surveyed on their school's academics, curricula, campus policies and student services related to sustainability, social responsibility and the environment. Students were surveyed on how well they felt their MBA programs were preparing them for careers in "green business" fields.
Jack Oakes, assistant dean for career development at Darden, says, “Students are showing an increasing interest in working for organizations committed to tackling key environmental and social issues, whether for-profit, non-profit, or government. Their drive to connect with socially focused companies and organizations has resulted in participation in relevant case competitions and industry conferences, as well as annual job trek visits to meet with leading companies in the renewable energy industry and green business sectors.” He adds that Darden’s Career Development Center provides one-on-one counseling and workshops to support students’ interest in such roles.
In the Entrepreneur/Princeton Review list of B-schools, Darden was specifically cited for:
“Green Curriculum: Darden offers a second-year concentration on sustainability, including 19 courses that at least partially focus on environmental topics. Many of the school's signature overseas Global Business Experiences focus on sustainable companies.
Bragging Rights:Darden hosts the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, a group that holds an annual sustainability conference and works to advance rigorous academic research on corporate sustainability issues by providing data, tools and networking opportunities to researchers.
Star Tree Hugger: Professor Andrea Larson, who teaches about sustainability, gave congressional testimony on U.S. trade in green technology.
Local Impact: In 2008, Darden set a goal to become a zero waste, zero carbon enterprise by 2020. The school sources up to 60 percent of its cafeteria food locally during the growing season.”
Darden Professor Mike Lenox, associate dean and executive director of the school’s Batten Institute, who also serves as the faculty director of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS), mentioned above, says the challenges posed by sustainability to both society and business are complex and multifaceted.
“To make progress on these challenges,” he says, “requires a multidisciplinary approach leveraging expertise from the best scholars and institutions in the world. ARCS creates a multiplier effect where leading researchers can interact and collaborate to advance our knowledge of how to address the sustainability challenge.”
In addition to appearing in the Entrepreneur April feature, “A Sustainable Degree," the list is also posted on Princeton Review’s website.
Darden was recently ranked #3 in Corporate Social Responsibility in the Financial Times 2011 ranking of Full-Time MBA programs. Darden Professor Gal Raz was recently quoted in an Entrepreneur magazine article about recycling, “One Man’s Trash.”
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