Colorado State University students recognized the College of Business as a “transforming” institution in the 2022 Positive Impact Rating for Business Schools, which rates the success of schools around the world in energizing, educating and engaging their communities.
The Positive Impact Rating is an assessment for students organized by the students themselves. Impact MBA students Marie Samson and Hillary Prince were responsible for distributing the surveys, and received responses from 116 undergraduate and graduate students.
CSU’s Level 4 “transforming” score was the second highest possible out of five levels, a recognition of the College of Business’ continued efforts to teach businesses’ role in a more just and sustainable future. No U.S. schools received a perfect Level 5 score.
“It means that our impact efforts are felt and experienced by students, that our vision of ‘Business for a Better World’ is embedded in how we educate and collaborate, and that the college is making progress in meaningful ways,” said Grace Wright, the assistant to the dean for sustainability initiatives at CSU’s College of Business. “There is still a lot of work to be done, and we appreciate students helping to guide the priorities for the college.”
‘Walking the walk’ when it comes to sustainability
The CSU College of Business received an above average score for each category in the survey, earning its highest marks for governance, student support and public engagement.
In addition to asking what the college is doing well, the survey also asked students to weigh in on the opportunities for improvement. A number of respondents expressed the desire for the College of Business to continue to bolster its operational sustainability efforts, as well as to offer more classes that teach real-world skills in this subject area.
The work is already underway. Wright explained that a master’s student is working full-time over the summer with her to assess the College of Business’ operational sustainability and to conduct a Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
“This is a student recommendation we take seriously and will take action on,” Wright said. “We can truly ‘walk the walk’ when it comes to sustainability.”
The College of Business is also working toward a Sustainable Business Certificate for the Online MBA, as well as assessing the undergraduate curriculum to find additional opportunities to grow the number of sustainability-focused learning opportunities.
The college will continue to offer required ethics and sustainability courses for all undergraduate students.
Samson and Prince said they were encouraged to see how other students in the college also understand the importance of the role business plays in making the world a better place.
“I think it’s a really good indication that sustainability is part of the legacy of the College of Business,” Prince said. “In my program, I expect to have sustainability integrated into the courses, but it’s an amazing thing that the undergraduate students feel that way as well.”
Samson added: “I’m really excited to see that we’re on the leading edge of sustainability as a business school. I can hope that the College of Business will become a leader in sustainability, and this is a step toward that.”
About CSU’s College of Business
The College of Business at Colorado State University is focused on using business to create a better world.
As an AACSB-accredited business school, the College is among the top five percent of business colleges worldwide, providing programs and career support services to more than 2,500 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students. Faculty help students across our top-ranked on-campus and online programs develop the knowledge, skills and values to navigate a rapidly evolving business world and address global challenges with sustainable business solutions. Our students are known for their creativity, work ethic and resilience—resulting in an undergraduate job offer and placement rate of over 90% within 90 days of graduation.
The College’s highly ranked programs include its Online MBA, which has been ranked the No. 1 program in Colorado by U.S. News and World Report for five years running and achieved No. 16 for employability worldwide from QS Quacquarelli Symonds. The College’s Impact MBA is also ranked by Corporate Knights as a Top 20 “Better World MBA” worldwide.