News & Upcoming Events
Top 100 Global Beyond Grey Pinstripes Ranking
Beyond Grey Pinstripes, a project of the Aspen Institute's Business and Society program, is a biennial international measure of how well schools are preparing their students for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business. This first-time ranking recognizes Whitman's M.B.A. program and the SEP for leadership in teaching and research pertaining to sustainable enterprise.
GDF Suez Energy Provides Support for CASSE Scholarships
GDF Suez Energy Resources recently announced a donation of $15,000 to the SEP. The gift will provide scholarships for CASSE candidates who have begun the certificate program. "We are extremely grateful to GDF Suez Energy for all their contributions to our sustainability initiatives, and in particular this gift that enables our students to complete the CASSE," says Elet Callahan, SEP faculty director and professor of law & public policy in the Whitman School.
Inaugural CASSE Recipients Complete Certificate Program
Twelve graduate students from Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, L.C. Smith College of Engineering & Computer Science, and Maxwell School, and the State University of New York - College of Environmental Science and Forestry were the first recipients of the SEP's Certificate of Advanced Study in Sustainable Enterprise (CASSE) in May 2011.
In addition to the three CASSE core courses - Managing Sustainability, Strategic Management and the Natural Environment, and Sustainability-Driven Enterprise - each CASSE student completes two electives. Electives are approved on a case-by-case basis by the SEP faculty director in furtherance of a focus articulated by the student. CASSE 2011 graduates took elective courses ranging from Economics of Environmental Policy to Advanced Principles of Wind Turbines to Social Entrepreneurship.
Please refer to In the Classroom for CASSE program details.
Students Earn Scholarships for CASSE Certificate Study
Five students from the Whitman School, SUNY-ESF, and the Maxwell School were awarded $2,000 scholarships for BUA/ECS 651, the second Certificate of Advanced Study in Sustainable Enterprise (CASSE) core course, which was offered in Aug. 2011. These scholarships were funded through a gift from Carrier Corporation.
The scholarship recipients were Kiyana Edwards (SUNY-ESF, Maxwell), Sam Glass (SUNY-ESF), Aaron Green (Whitman), Karen Livingston (Whitman), and Andrea Webster (SUNY-ESF, Maxwell).
Carrier Renews Support for SEP
The SEP recently received a fourth $35,000 gift from Carrier Corp., bringing Carrier's total support of the SEP to $140,000. This generous gift will go toward supporting the SEP's continued engagement in sustainability-focused outreach, curriculum, and research, particularly the Certificate of Advanced Study in Sustainable Enterprise (CASSE). John Mandyck, SU '89, G '92, Carrier's chief sustainability officer, presented the gift to the SEP.
SEP Awards Fetner Curriculum Innovation Grants
The SEP has awarded Fetner Curriculum Innovation Grants to Whitman School faculty MaryAnn Fiedler (accounting) and Johan Wiklund (emerging enterprises and entrepreneurship) for projects in academic year 2011-2012.
The Fetner Curriculum Innovation Grants support projects that promote sustainability-focused learning. Awards are in amounts of up to $3,000 each and are made possible through the generosity of Hal Fetner '83 BS, President & CEO of Durst-Fetner Residential, and his wife, Nina Fetner. Proposals that explicitly link economic, environmental and social considerations and take a transdisciplinary approach are given priority.
Magali Delmas Named 2011 Fetner Visiting Sustainability Leader
Magali Delmas, professor of management at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and UCLA Anderson School of Management, was named the SEP's 2011 Fetner Visiting Sustainability Leader.
One of the nation's leading academics on sustainability, Delmas focuses her research on the interactions between environmental policy and business strategy at the national and international levels, as well as the use of eco-labels and green marketing as a way to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. Delmas has written more than 50 articles, book chapters and case studies on business and the natural environment. She is also director of the UCLA Center for Corprate Environmental Performance and co-director of the UCLA Leaders in Sustainability Program. Delmas was chair of the Organizations and the Natural Environment Division of the Academy of Management in 2010-2011.
Delmas worked with faculty, students, and business leaders during her visit on March 1-3.
CASSE Candidates Complete Consulting Projects with Corning Incorporated, the Durst Organization, and PepsiCo
The centerpiece of the CASSE capstone course, Sustainability-Driven Enterprise, is a semester-long strategic engagement, focused on an applied sustainable business issue, between small teams of graduate students and companies. Corning Incorporated, the Durst Organization, and PepsiCo worked with CASSE students during spring 2011.
Please refer to In the Classroom for CASSE program details.
SEP Awards Three Mini-grants for Projects in Transdisciplinary Research
The SEP awarded three mini-grants in April 2011. The SEP mini-grant program strives to promote sustainable enterprise-focused research at SU and SUNY-ESF. The program is designed to provide seed money for projects that are highly likely to have meaningful impact in terms of publication in a reputable scholarly or practitioner journal, attracting external support, and/or practical implementation.
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Whitman's Panasci Business Plan Competition Awards $5,000 Fetner Prize in Sustainable Enterprise
The 2011 Panasci Business Plan Competition, hosted by the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship in the Whitman School of Management, was held on April 15-16. The annual competition is made possible by the late Henry A. Panasci, long-time Whitman supporter and founder of Fay's Drugs. Business plan ideas are accepted from students in all colleges at SU, as well as SUNY-ESF, at both graduate and undergraduate levels. The top three teams are awarded prizes of $25,000, $10,000, and $5,000, respectively, based on potential for growth and the attraction of outside financing.
The $5,000 Fetner Prize in Sustainable Enterprise is awarded annually to the team whose plan would have the greatest positive impact on society and the natural environment. The Fetner Prize was established by Hal Fetner '83 BS, President & CEO of Durst-Fetner Residential, and his wife, Nina Fetner. The winning concept, "Piezo Touch, Inc.," was developed by iMBA student Leena Chitnis.
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Mike Russo Named Inaugural Fetner Visiting Sustainability Leader
Michael V. Russo, the Lundquist Professor of Sustainable Management in the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon, was named the SEP's inaugural Fetner Visiting Sustainability Leader (FVSL) in February 2010. One of the nation's leading academics on sustainability, Russo's research focuses on the interaction of national and international environmental, social and political policies, and on strategies for social impact and environmental management. His latest book, Companies on a Mission: Entrepreneurial Strategies for Growing Sustainably, Responsibly, and Profitably, was published in April 2010 by Stanford University Press.
During his Feb. 17-19 residency, Dr. Russo taught three classes and conducted seminars for faculty, graduate students, and the local business community. He returned to campus in late August to teach an intensive course on strategic management in the natural environment as part of the SEP's Certificate of Advanced Study in Sustainable Enterprise (CASSE).
The FVSL was established through the generosity of Hal Fetner '83 BS, President and CEO of Durst-Fetner Residential, and his wife, Nina Fetner. The FVSL will be annually awarded to a business or academic expert in sustainable enterprise whose three- to four-day residency involves direct, in-depth work with faculty and students.
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Mini-grant Certified Wood Project Grows With Publication in Journal
"The Potential Certified Wood Supply Chain Bottleneck and its Impact on LEED Construction Projects in New York State," authored by Pat Penfield (Whitman, supply chain management, SEP leadership group) and Rene Germain (SUNY-ESF, forest & natural resource management) has been published by the Journal of Forestry Products. This project was awarded an SEP mini-grant during the first round of funding in 2008.
SyracuseCoE Headquarters Dedication
SEP partner the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (SyracuseCoE) dedicated its new headquarters building at 727 East Washington St. on Friday, March 5, 2010. The award-winning, LEED Platinum-designed building incorporates laboratory and office space.
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SEP Co-hosts Sustainability Icon Adam Werbach
On Nov. 12, 2009, in partnership with the Newhouse Advertising Leadership Series, the SEP sponsored a visit from Adam Werbach, the youngest ever president of the Sierra Club (inaugurated at age 23) and current global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S, the largest sustainability consulting agency in the world. Werbach's firm advises companies with over $1 trillion in combined annual sales on how to organize core business towards long-term profitability. He is also author of the new Harvard Business School Press book Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto.
Approximately 150 people attended the public presentation. Werbach discussed ways in which leading businesses are incorporating and embracing sustainable enterprise management and transparency in order to radically improve their products and engage stakeholders to build their brand and on how consumers and individuals can do their part to encourage such activities in business and in society as a whole. Video from the presentation is available at http://www.youtube.com/NewhouseSU.
Smardon's Book Published
Dr. Richard Smardon, professor of environmental studies at SUNY-ESF and an inaugural member of SEP's leadership and core faculty groups, recently published Sustaining the World's Wetlands: Setting Policy and Resolving Conflicts (New York: Springer, 2009), which examines international wetlands policy in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America; discusses differences between wetlands management issues in developed and developing countries; and suggests strategies for future wetlands management.
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