The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan and the World Environment Center (WEC) recently announced a partnership to directly engage MBA/MS students in planning and implementing sustainable development initiatives with leading global companies.
The program, known as the “Erb-WEC Fellows,” will be supported by IBM as part of its long-term commitment to environmental sustainability and developing next-generation skills for the 21st century workforce.
The Erb Institute-WEC partnership will provide cross-disciplinary curriculum and training for eight graduate student fellows during 2013. Erb-WEC Fellows will take an active role in WEC’s Roundtables by identifying potential speakers; synthesizing research; participating as speakers; preparing course materials and communications to the professional sustainability community; and developing articles, blogs and social media communications on Roundtable results. Students chosen to participate will then prepare research papers suitable for publication.
The partnership strengthens the University of Michigan’s leadership role in the advancement of sustainability concepts and practices for future graduates. WEC will provide students direct access to senior level sustainability executives of global companies in its membership and beyond, and students will obtain original information on how companies evaluate and apply sustainability-related data and formulate decision making options.
“Education in business and sustainability must transcend the classroom to include engagement with business professionals who are on the cutting edge of the issue. This initiative represents the spirit of that goal with real action learning opportunities for our students,” said Dr. Andrew J. Hoffman, Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise and Erb Institute Director. “I couldn’t be more thrilled with the collaboration among Erb, WEC and IBM.”
Dr. Terry F. Yosie, WEC’s President & CEO, added: “WEC’s new collaboration with IBM and The Erb Institute will lend significant and practical experience to MBA/MS students seeking careers in advancing sustainable development. The partnership adds an additional dimension to WEC’s expanding portfolio of initiatives to improve the teaching of sustainability in leading educational institutions together with global companies whose leaders require in-depth understanding of this subject matter to successfully address challenges to their business and society.”
To learn more about the collaboration, visit IBM’s blog, A Smarter Planet.
For more information, please contact:
- Rick Bunch, Managing Director, Erb Institute at 734-647-6607 or rbunch@umich.edu
- Casey Troy, Sustainability Program Manager, WEC at 202-312-1211, or ctroy@wec.org