Sustainable-business program joins COB

By Kayla Fleming, contributing writer
Posted on October 8, 2007

JMU will be able to add another bullet to its list of accomplishments next fall with the start of an undergraduate sustainable-business certificate program.

“We have a perfect storm going here,” Ronald Kander, Head of the Integrated Science and Technology Department, said.  “The student population wants this, the administration wants this, there’s a high demand from alumni and employers and society in general. It was a no-brainer to start this program.”

While sustainable business is becoming an important global issue, there are only a handful of universities in the nation offering this program or something similar, reported sustainablebusiness.com. It contributes to an equitable and ecologically sustainable economy by offering products and services to society and keeping the well-being of Earth and its inhabitants in mind.

“You aren’t going to see a lot of sustainable-business programs, but it’s a topic that’s very important on campus,” Kander said. “President Rose personally believes in sustainability. There’s a coalition of student organizations called the Clean Energy Coalition. We can’t teach it if we don’t practice it.”

This summer the College of Business’ advisory board discussed the high demand for sustainable businesses and found it beneficial to incorporate it into the curriculum. The board worked alongside CISAT to establish the program for undergraduate students, and now the School of Engineering and CISAT will incorporate sustainability components into their classes.

“Sustainability and profit are not separate areas of a business,” Kander said.  “Companies can still make a large profit while being environmental. They are looking for ways to minimize their footprints left on the planet.”

Students are also excited about the program.

“The way the university is going towards sustainability, I think there will be more people interested in it,” junior Emily Thomas said.  “Lots of people will realize what a hot topic it is right now. Especially since business majors will be taking ISAT courses and vice versa to get this certificate.”

Kander agreed.

“All [COB or ISAT] majors will take these courses and get exposure to it,” he said.  “The leverage factor will be large since many can learn about it. It will be hard to graduate from these majors without hearing anything about sustainability. It will be everywhere.”

Kander thinks that the certificate program will make it easier for students to make a difference.

“There is nothing negative in this process at all,” he said.  “I’m positive about the students, the faculty, the administration and the position JMU is in. Schools don’t find these win-win situations often. Because we have a higher level of cooperation among the colleges, we work across units so easily.”

Clean Energy Coalition President Ryan Powanda thinks the program can be taken even further.

He said, “The next way to go with this certificate program is to incorporate some kind of general education for sustainability, so everyone can learn it, not just these specific majors.”