Not that it’s news to anyone, but Net Impact’s business school students aren’t your typical MBA candidates. They’re pushing the boundaries of traditional curriculums to incorporate greater awareness of social impact through business. Here's what you can do to facilitate the integration of sustainability-related courses, degrees, and advising through curriculum change.

Business School as Unusual

The Fuqua School of Business Net Impact Chapter added a twist to their MBA program’s traditional 12-class courses with their “13th Class Session Series.” They partnered with a faculty member to provide an additional class at the end of the semester, including one in Nonprofit Accounting and another in Social Marketing. The classes drew over 100 students!

Net Impact Wilfrid Laurier University's School of Business & Economics worked with their administration to evaluate other MBA programs’ sustainability curriculums in order to assess their own. They also informally surveyed students in their program to see what kind of sustainability-related content they’d like to see more of.

Boston University Graduate School of Management already has a strong Public and Nonprofit Management concentration for MBAs, but the Net Impact chapter has been advocating for a concentration in energy, sustainability, and CSR. Working with the administration to bring these classes to life, the chapter has also led interviews and surveys to organize the voices of their students.

Course Advising

Many of our chapters, including the ones at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, NYU Stern School of Business, Kellogg School of Management, and Darden School of Business offer advising in courses related to sustainability, social impact, and CSR. The chapters invite professors to chime in and suggest courses for those interested in impact-driven careers.

In the Community

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s Net Impact chapter partnered with the local Junior Achievement branch to bring a seven-week program based on sustainable business to a local middle school. The program is called “Junior Achievement, It’s My Future,” and the chapter is working with UMass Dartmouth to gain academic credit for teaching the curriculum.

Given the array of ways for your chapter to make institutional changes, we hope these ideas will be a springboard for your chapter’s own curriculum change efforts at your school or in your community this semester!