The College of Business and Economics at Boise State University was recognized Tuesday, July 18, at the 2017 Global Forum for Responsible Management Education, held at the United Nations (U.N.) in New York City by the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME).
The college’s first sustainability report was recognized by PRME, an initiative of the U.N. Global Compact, for excellence in implementing their six principles for responsible business education. The College of Business and Economics was one of only three colleges and universities globally to receive an award for an inaugural report during the reception. Boise State received recognition alongside the Stockholm School of Economics and BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo.
The 2015 sustainability report was compiled by a team of 15 undergraduate and graduate students who researched the college’s material economic, social, and environmental risks and opportunities in order to transparently communicate its impacts on key stakeholders, including students, faculty and the business community. Taylor Reed, the founding MBA graduate assistant for the college’s Responsible Business Initiative, conceptualized the college’s first report and led the student team that produced it. Reed accepted the award on behalf of the College of Business and Economics.
In reporting, the college seeks to role model a leading corporate practice to inspire business and academic peers to follow suit. The college has since launched its second sustainability report in the fall of 2016 and will issue its third report in September. This work is led and funded by the Responsible Business Initiative, a partnership between the College of Business and Economics and Wells Fargo.
“We create our annual sustainability report with students at the heart, both because they take the lead in researching, analyzing, and reporting on everything you read, and also because educating and inspiring our future leaders on responsibility and sustainability is why we exist and why the faculty and staff come to work every day,” said Ken Petersen, dean of the College of Business and Economics. “This report is also one way that we hold ourselves accountable for our actions and how we demonstrate our leadership in higher education.”
Launched at the 2007 U.N. Global Compact Leaders Summit in Geneva and celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the PRME initiative is the largest organized relationship between the U.N. and business schools with the mission to transform management education, research and thought leadership globally by providing a framework, developing learning communities and promoting awareness about the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.