The Sobey School of Business has been named PRME Champions for 2024-2025, the third time the school has been reaffirmed as one of the world's leading business schools, supporting the United Nations initiative - Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). "Once again, we are proud to be recognized as PRME Champions," says Interim Dean, Mark Raymond. "The recognition places the Sobey School in a select group, business schools across the globe who are committed to sustainability and to educating the business leaders of tomorrow to make a positive impact on the world."
As PRME Champions, the Sobey School is integrating the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across curriculum, research, and partnerships. Currently, the school's research agenda is aligned to support the SDGs as faculty members generate insights on issues such as corporate social responsibility, poverty-climate change nexus, social entrepreneurship, and the role of gender in venture capital funding. The research intensity associated with the SDGs is a strong point of distinction for the school. Nearly 50% of the faculty have contributed to the portfolio of research aligned with the SDGs with 65% of all research-active faculty engaged in SDG-related research.
The school has also adapted curriculum to meet PRME objectives and in response to student demand. Professor Miguel Morales notes, "Over the past three years, we have strategically adapted the Bachelor of Commerce curriculum to embed sustainability as a core component. The renewed Program Learning Outcomes place a strong emphasis on sustainability, and in Winter 2024, we are introducing two dedicated sustainability courses. These core courses serve as pillars for developing a deep-rooted awareness of sustainable business practices early in students' academic journeys." As a result, Sobey School students graduate with a distinct advantage; they are prepared for the new world of business, one that requires responsible leaders to rise to global challenges in new, integrated ways.
For the 2024-2025 PRME programme cycle, the Sobey School has committed to the refreshed Seven PRME Principles and, in keeping with the new principle on Practice to "adopt responsible and accountable management principles in our own governance and operations", is championing the university's completion of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
Sobey is one of only four business schools from Canada to be considered a PRME Champion. There are 46 other business schools from around the world named as Champions. The Sobey School is the oldest and the most accredited (link to accreditation webpage) business school in Atlantic Canada offering the largest portfolio of disciplines and programs graduate programs east of Quebec.
