New Business Sustainability Education Site Launched Today
For many years, business students have asked: how can I get involved in sustainability? how can I incorporate sustainability into my major at Smeal or my career? And how can I create a career with social impact? At the same time, faculty across departments have been asking for more clarity and specificity on what exactly our students should be learning about the social and environmental impact of business.
Today, we are launching a new website that addresses both sets of questions. The site is called Major Sustainability and it is a website that allows students to learn about the unique contribution of their major to creating a sustainable world.
“There is an urgent need to integrate sustainability into all business and market activity. This starts with integrating it into business education. I am so proud of this resource, built by and for students and faculty, that does just that: a practical, integrated view of how each business major uniquely contributes to creating an even better world.” – Erik Foley, Director, Center for the Business of Sustainability
The Center for the Businesses of Sustainability invites you to explore Major Sustainability
The site is the result 3-years of faculty work and the original efforts of Danielle Yazaguirre (SCIS 2017) who created an initial version of the site as a senior capstone project for her Sustainability Leadership Minor.
Utilizing Danielle's work, the center continued to develop the platform which now features six majors: accounting, finance, management, marketing, risk management, and supply chain & information systems. The site also features Smeal minors and how they contribute to sustainability.
Meet the amazing Smeal students who created the site: Cecelia Minnick, Zoe Cykosky, Saige Cestone, Victoria Kipiller and Riya Nandedkar. They have worked tirelessly with faculty, industry reviewers and peers who have done user tests and provided valuable input.
Exploring each major, students and faculty can explore key concepts, career advice, Penn State courses, and leading sustainable companies related to their major.
Additional information can also be found on sustainable business and resources at Penn State. When asked about the importance of Major Sustainability, co-creator, Zoe Cykosky said, "Working on the Major Sustainability site has allowed me to leave an impact by helping students find their niche within the business of sustainability. I hope more students will realize that no matter what their major is, there are opportunities to pursue a career path in sustainability."
For the next year, we will be piloting this website within the Penn State community to launch publicly in 2022. Your feedback is always welcome at smealsustainability@psu.edu.
To engage with major sustainability share this resource with your peers on LinkedIn or Twitter.
A big THANK YOU to our student interns, faculty advisors, and professional reviewers for supporting our mission to transform business education. Additionally, thank you to our sponsors and donors who support the advancement of sustainability in business. It is our honor to provide this resource to students, faculty, and alumni as we continue to strive to achieve our vision of sustainability as an integral part of every business.
For more information on the Center for the Business of Sustainability or to follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn, as we continue to advance the integration of sustainability in business.