The Colorado State University College of Business was just named one of the best business schools by the Financial Times, demonstrating systemwide responsible business principles.

The award was given to five different schools for responsible and sustainable business education.

CSU was the only school in the United States given this honor; however, the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley received high commendations.

The other schools were Finland’s Aalto University School of Business, France’s IÉSEG School of Management, the United Kingdom’s University of Oxford Saïd Business School and the Netherlands’ Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam School of Business and Economics.

CSU College of Business Dean Beth Walker said she was proud CSU was included in this group of fine schools.

When Walker and her team began their strategic planning process in 2019, they began to think about what they wanted to be known for in 10 years, and that is when the university initiative Business for a Better World came about.

“The seeds had long ago been planted for this positioning,” Walker said. “This is authentically who we are.”

Years ago, the CSU College of Business implemented a program called the Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise.

“The GSSE and Business for a Better World define our college, not just a course or a track in our MBA program,” Walker said. “It’s not a center in the College of Business but spans across our entire business school. We want to create a community focused around business for a better world.”

Intentional efforts are being put toward underrepresentation and diversity within the College of Business.

“We are all about integrating sustainability into the business world, not separating it out into categories like environmental conservation and nonprofit work.” –Gabrielle Allerton, College of Business graduate student

“We want to make sure our students are prepared to manage and lead in the 21st century,” Walker said. “We want them to know what it means to lead inclusively.”

The College of Business strives to be right at the intersection of business, society and the changing environment. 

“Really, to be selected is such an honor,” Walker said. “We are so proud of what we are doing, and we feel so unique because our entire business school is committed to business for a better world.” 

Grace Wright is the one who found and applied for the award, completing an eight-page application.

“In September, the Financial Times published a call for entries for the Responsible Business Education Awards, and two years prior, they had done an award for case studies and one for research as well, but this year they debuted their best business school demonstrating systemwide, responsible business principles,” Wright said.

The award is about teaching, research and student outcomes.

“We respond to questions about how we integrate responsible business education systematically in our teaching, systematically in our research; student and alumni work and outcomes; operations and engagement beyond academia; and how we foster, incentivize and track the incorporation of responsible business education,” Wright said.

Gabrielle Allerton is a student in the impacted Master of Business Administration program, which is now called the Impact MBA rather than the GSSE MBA.

“We are all about integrating sustainability into the business world, not separating it out into categories like environmental conservation and nonprofit work,” Allerton said. “It’s all about doing good by being good.”

When Allerton was applying for her master’s program, she looked at a plethora of programs all across the country and decided to go with CSU. 

“CSU’s was truly the curriculum that integrated sustainability into every class,” Allerton said.

Reach Gwendolynn Riddoch at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.