Hi Mark,
We just launched an undergraduate Corporate Environmental Management program
(about 1.5 years ago) here at the University of Minnesota. The program is
administered within an interdisciplinary Environmental Sciences, Policy &
Management program, with the CEM track offered in collaboration with the
Carlson School of Management. Information about the curriculum can be found
at
http://www.espm.umn.edu/ESPM-CEM-requirements.pdf. I'd be happy to share
the syllabus from my class, "Environmental Management Systems and Strategy,"
or talk more offline. I am interested to hear what you come up with.
Best, Tim
___________________________
Timothy M. Smith
Associate Professor
Environmental Science, Policy & Management
Department of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering
University of Minnesota
2004 Folwell Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55108
612-624-6755 (voice)
612-625-6286 (fax)
timsmith@umn.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion
[mailto:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu] On Behalf Of Sharma, Aarti
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 12:58 PM
To:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
Subject: Re: ONE teaching resources
Hello Mark:
I am very pleased to hear about the focus of your undergraduate program.
I place myself in the second category that you have listed. I teach the
exit and capstone course on Strategic Management in the University of
South Florida. It is for the senior students of the college. I designed
the course by integrating principles of sustainable development with
concepts of strategic management. In my teaching, I take a three-pronged
approach: (1) I begin the semester by teaching students fundamentals of
strategic management; (2) I simultaneously introduce and orient them to
sustainable development philosophy; and (3) I then start showing them
how thinking on corporate sustainability and sustainable development are
not mutually exclusive, that they are interconnected and they reinforce
one another.
Let me highlight some of the complexities that I have encountered in
taking such an approach:
(1) I have not come across a textbook on strategy that follows such an
approach. (If someone knows such a book, please let me know) My solution
is to use a basic textbook on strategic management - I use it to make
them learn the fundamentals of strategy. I then use readings and case
studies from other books and resources, videos, and a role-play exercise
to help them understand various dimensions of sustainable development
and corporate sustainability. I am therefore constantly looking for
additional teaching resources that students would find interesting and
easy to understand.
(2) My students and I have to work extremely hard. I have a lot to cover
in one semester. My students also have to grasp a lot in my class. It is
their final semester - they are searching for jobs, they are tired and
they can't wait to graduate! I let them know on the first day of the
semester the amount of work that is involved and my expectations.
(3) The challenge is also to make the course so interesting for students
that they do not feel overburdened. They should enjoy what they learn
and they should be motivated to work hard and be inspired to learn more
and more. Overall, I had a very positive experience of engaging with
students in the University of South Florida. Most of them are motivated
to study and work hard. It is great to see that they enjoy discovering
the connection between businesses, natural environment and society. It
is like a completely new world for them. It is inspiring for me to see
that most of them carry a strong faith and belief in sustainable
development as they graduate.
(3) In orienting undergraduates to sustainability thinking, we also have
to remember that most of them are very young. They have yet to see a lot
in life. Some of them may have never worked before. They may have never
traveled overseas. It may be difficult for them to understand global
business dimensions, poverty and equity issues etc. We therefore have to
find and use resources that cater to their level. As I try to explain to
them what is sustainable development, and the local to global dynamics
of business operations, I use examples of corporations they can relate
to, and products and services they can understand and have used before.
I have been teaching this course in the University of South Florida
since Fall 2006. I have had the opportunity to engage around 500
students (over 5 semesters and 14 course sessions) in sustainability
thinking, and it has been an immensely satisfying experience for me. I
will be happy to share my experience as an instructor, and my students'
learning with your faculty members.
I am also eager to find out other colleagues in ONE who have taken such
an integrated approach to teaching a core course - either strategy or
some other course in business studies - at an undergraduate level.
Sincerely,
Aarti
:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Aarti Sharma
Department of Management & Organization
College of Business Administration
University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave., BSN-3524
Tampa, FL-33620-5500
Tel: 813-974-4354
Fax: 813- 974-1734
Email:
asharma@coba.usf.edu
Web:
http://www.coba.usf.edu/sharma
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-----Original Message-----
From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion
[mailto:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu] On Behalf Of Mark Cordano
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 3:05 PM
To:
ONE-L@AOMLISTS.pace.edu
Subject: ONE teaching resources
Hi folks,
The school of business at Ithaca College just moved into a LEED
certified building. The building is a critical element in our overall
effort to integrate sustainability across our business curriculum. To
help do this I have a couple of questions I would like to ask everyone
regarding undergraduate business programs and sustainability. I am
looking for examples of courses that are regularly offered that deliver
sustainability content to undergrads.
1) So if you have an elective that is taught regularly please let
me know about your course and some of its history.
2) If you teach some core requirement courses that integrate
sustainability please let me know about the course and how it is
working.
3) Beyond hearing about the courses, I am looking for some
individuals who feel well versed in getting sustainability topics into
core courses. Specifically people who are familiar with course
materials such as cases and readings that can be integrated into
discipline based core courses such as finance, accounting,
operations/production, and marketing. If I can identify people who feel
comfortable in reviewing the available materials and discussing their
experience of delivering these materials in the class I would like to
ask them to visit IC and help our faculty learn from their experience
(and likely organize a PDW for a future ONE program).
I am looking for people focused on teaching undergraduates not folks on
the cutting edge of research teaching doctoral students. The ONE
website is a good place to start for teaching resources but in my
efforts to integrate more sustainability into our program I am finding
the teaching tools are not as easily found as the research. I am
finding is it is hard to find a depth of materials and people who can
implement the work of ONE into the classrooms of receptive programs. I
know so many of us have done a great deal in the classroom to get ONE
knowledge to students. Please help me organize this effort for IC and
for sharing back with the ONE community.
Thanks
Mark Cordano