Net Impact named the Robert H. Smith School of Business as 20th in Social Impact and 30th in Sustainability among MBA programs in the 2014 “Business as UNusual” rankings.
Net Impact is a nonprofit membership organization for students and professionals interested in using business skills in support of various social and environmental causes. It serves both a professional organization and one of the largest student organizations among MBAs in the world. Each year the organization releases rankings based on input from chapter leaders and an online student survey. Each school is ranked in terms of Social Impact and Environmental Sustainability.
In addition to the ranking, Smith’s Marketing for Social Value, The Green Supply Chain, and Economics of Sustainability, Social Entrepreneurship, Nonprofit Management, and International Development programs were all highlighted in the report.
78 percent of Smith students agreed that the program offers ample career preparation resources for impact job seekers. 72 percent of students in the same bracket responded that they are satisfied with the program’s extracurricular activities in the fields of social and environmental impact.
The Smith’s Center for Social Value Creation (CSVC) is also mentioned in the report. The Center has been one contributing factor in helping Smith become a prominent program for students seeking to create social and environmental change. CSVC offers Smith students a unique, hands-on learning experience. It allows for students to apply business principles in creative and entrepreneurial ways that co-create economic prosperity and social and environmental well-being.
As the report states, “Through social-value-centered programming that reaches into all of the core classes, programing, lectures, and consulting practicums, the center acts as a hub for extending social impact into traditional business education.”