About UC Denver. The UC Denver Experience: Introducing Sustainability in MBA Classes through Student Projects

Transcription

1 1 The UC Denver Experience: Introducing Sustainability in MBA Classes through Student Projects Ken Bettenhausen, Management Management Program Director Past Associate Dean for Programs Business School University of Colorado Denver 2 About UC Denver We re one of the Urban Giants Urban focused 28,000 students Heart of Downtown,,plus Health Sciences Campus Business School MBA & MS students in evening courses 11-month accelerated MBA 9 Specialized Masters Degrees 1500 undergrads 3 1

2 Campus-wide sustainability efforts Students passed fee to Green the Campus $4,000,000 IGERT Grant (NSF) Interdisciplinary courses and PhD student support Undergraduate, d cross-college minor Independent (uncoordinated) Programs & Centers Engineering (Civil) Architecture and Urban Planning Public Administration Behavioral Sciences (anthropology, geology, environmental science) Business School 4 Our Program 4 course specialization in MBA, MS Mgmt, MS Mktg Phased introduction to MBA core courses. Leverage other campus graduate programs Allow their students to enroll Allow one outside course to count (from preapproved list) Leverage business community Advisory board, internships, class projects and speakers Few or no prerequisites (for most, not all courses) At least 4 courses offered online (a greener alternative) Complement DU, CSU and CU Boulder s programs 5 How Our Program Began Fall 2006: One prof; one class (25 students) Spring 2007: Second course proposed by a different professor in a different discipline i started t ball rolling. Fall 2007: Leveraging passionate faculty, launched Managing for Sustainability specialization. First Year ( ): Five courses (100 students) Second Year ( ): Seven courses (162 students) Past Year ( ): Eight courses (231 students) 6 2

3 Courses in the Specialization Managing for Sustainability Business and the Natural Environment Accounting and Finance for Sustainability Marketing of Sustainability Supply Chain Management Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Innovation in the Social Sector Business Planning for Social Entrepreneurs Global Climate Change Internship/Field Study 7 Why we started with a Specialization (rather than MBA core) Integration is more costly & roll out would be slower Avoid faculty resistance 100% aren t true believers No power to impose a curriculum Core courses are already content heavy (What topics do you cut?) Faculty already work hours/week (Unfair to add workload.) Limited accountability (uneven coverage) No way to gauge student interest. Students can t signal to employers their interest and training in sustainability. Able to capitalize on passion of the true believers Able to prove value to ease introduction to core courses 8 Problem: How to introduce Sustainability to MBA Courses? Limited (no) budget for curriculum development Limited faculty interest Must be easy for faculty to justify incorporation The fewer adjustments to current course the better. Must fit current course content Must fit faculty approaches to teaching content. 9 3

4 Solution: Tap Our students! Students identify core MBA classes they enjoyed and did well in ( A or A- ) Students identify course topics that could be taught within the context of sustainable mgmt Students obtain a MOU from target professor Students develop materials (cases, problem sets, etc) that fit the course and the professor 10 Summer 2009: 7 students; 6 usable projects be present: Clothing for the yoga lifestyle A small, family-owned, Colorado-based clothing company explores three options for entering the Growth Mode (Marketing; Leadership) Westin Tabor Center: Greening for the DNC Denver hotel wins green challenge; awarded Obama/Biden delegation. (Org Change; Leadership) Greening Invesco Field Compares zero waste initiatives at a professional sports venue and a university stadium. (Org Change; Org Behavior; Leadership) projects (continued) Dean Foods: The Milk Pail is Overflowing Reveals how founders shape org culture and the impact of culture clash following their acquisition by a corporate giant (Org Design; Org Behavior; Leadership) Life Cycle Assessment Uses New Belgium Brewery data to examine the pros/cons of different LCA methods and reports. (Supply Chain Mgmt) Energy Savings Performance Contracting School district provides the context for financial analysis of funding capital investment based on value of future energy savings (Finance) 12 4

5 Take-aways True Believers are a great starting point. Other faculty will cooperate if it isn t too much work. Students know what is taught, how it s taught Good students have established rapport and good will with other faculty teaching core courses. That s not enough to guarantee adoption; need trusted colleague to grease the wheels. Businesses are ahead of us Understand the importance of teaching sustainable management. Proud of their actions and want to talk about them. Many have sustainability-focused projects suitable for students. 13 Take-aways (continued) Finding effective teaching materials takes time. Help faculty by identifying course-appropriate materials for them. The resources developed at UC Denver are open source and available at our website. Also see Aspen Institute (cases) and Second Nature (mostly syllabi) nd_nature/second_nature.nsf/resource_center_courses. html 14 More websites for teaching World Resources Institute has cases in its BELL (Business- Environment Learning and Leadership) program for free download The Center for Sustainable Systems at the University of Michigan offer many publications about life-cycle analysis. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has a variety of case studies about how specific companies are addressing sustainability issues. pe=p&menuid=ody&doopen=1&clickmenu=rightmenu 15 5

6 Contact us Ken Bettenhausen John Byrd Blair Gifford Business School University of Colorado Denver Campus Box 165; P.O. Box Denver, CO