UMD's Smith School Featured in Guide to Responsible Business Programs

Net Impact, the premiere global nonprofit that inspires a new generation of leaders to put their values to work for a more sustainable future, released its 2012 edition of Business as UNusual: The Student Guide to Graduate Programs on August 21, 2012.The annual guide gives an inside look at MBA programs’ social and environmental curriculum, student activities, and career services, and includes a profile on the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The Smith School rated 4.5 out of 5 for social impact and 3.5 out of 5 for sustainability in the 2012 Business as UNusual guide, which you can download here. (The Smith School's profile is on page 160.)

"We are delighted to be rated so highly by Net Impact and profiled as a business school at the forefront of social and environmental innovation," said Melissa Carrier, assistant dean of global programs and social value creation. "Cross-sector collaboration and entrepreneurial thinking are critical components of business leadership in the 21st century. At Smith, students earn these skills through real-world field experiences, interaction with thought leaders and social entrepreneurs in our robust network, and truly interdisciplinary courses."

This year’s guide is the most comprehensive yet, compiling more than 3,000 student responses. Respondents with primarily nonprofit and for-profit experience pre-MBA expressed interest in a wider array of post-MBA careers, including start-ups, mission-driven companies, and social enterprise. The guide also shows how students themselves are driving change on campuses.

The Smith School has a very active chapter of Net Impact on the graduate and undergraduate level. The club serves as a hub for both academic and career-oriented activities related to developing a broader perspective of leadership and entrepreneurship. Through guest lecturers, student discussions, interactive workshops, and community volunteering members explore new business models and methods to exert a positive impact upon our environment. In 2011 the Graduate Student Net Impact Chapter achieved Gold Chapter standing, an honor bestowed on only 13 percent of the more than 180 graduate student chapters across the country.