Undergraduate students have numerous opportunities to learn and explore sustainable business. Beyond extracurricular activities such as events, clubs, and consulting opportunities, Scheller College offers a Certificate in Sustainable Business as well as two sustainability-focused electives, with dozens of sustainability-relevant classes available across campus.
Certificate in Sustainable Business |
Georgia Tech undergraduates from any major have the opportunity to pursue a Certificate in Sustainable Business. Students pursuing the certificate will learn about the importance of sustainability for companies, government, and civil society and develop the skills necessary for evaluating and tackling critical issues. Coursework may be selected from business classes taught with an environmental and social sustainability lens as well as classes from other disciplines that will help students build their fundamental knowledge of sustainability. Curriculum details can be found here. |
Sustainability-focused Electives at Scheller |
Sustainable Business Consulting Practicum (MGT 4369) | Instructors: Michael Oxman & Bob Lax **Course counts as an elective for the Operations and Supply Chain Management and Strategy and Innovation Concentrations (BA Majors.)
**Course counts as an elective for the Operations and Supply Chain Management Concentration (BA Majors), and the Operations and Supply Chain Management Certificate (for non-business majors) offered by the Scheller College of Business. Sustainable Marketing (MGT 4803) | Instructor: TBA **This class is offered in the Fall Semester. Course counts as an elective for the Marketing Concentration (BA Majors), and the Marketing Certificate (for non-business majors) offered by the Scheller College of Business. Business Ethics (MGT 3607) | Instructor: Steve Salbu **Course counts as a core class for the Business Law and Ethics Certificate and a class for the Leading and Managing Human Capital Concentration (BA Majors). A Introduction to Sustainable Systems (SLS 3120) | Instructors: Kim Cobb (CoS), Jennifer Hirsch (CoD, SLS), Beril Toktay (Scheller)
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Undergraduate Sustainability Ambassadors Program |
The Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business empowers students to become leaders in building a sustainable and prosperous future. The ambassador program is an opportunity for those seeking a deeper engagement related to sustainability. Each year, the Center will choose a limited number of Undergraduate Sustainability Ambassadors.
Limited slots are available via a competitive application period each Fall. The application is accessible on our Center website and can be submitted during the application period only. Once applications have been reviewed, applicants may be asked to come in and meet with Center staff. Selected Ambassadors will be notified on a set date each application period.
What events can I attend? We will provide a list of sustainability related events across campus or throughout the city that you can attend, including our own Center events. You may also find an additional event related to sustainability [e.g. circular economy, carbon-conscious business, social performance and human rights, or sustainability innovation and Environmental, Social Governance (ESG) Leadership] that you may request to attend. Many events will be free, however, some may have a registration fee or may require you incur transportation and/or parking fees. The $200 stipend is intended to offset these costs. However, if there is an approved event with a fee of more than $40, the Center will register you directly upon your request. Center staff will work with you to identify a project that fits your interests/goals either from pre-existing ideas or one that you propose. All available project ideas will be presented at the orientation session for ambassadors to choose from and create teams. Some projects ideas include:
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Net Impact Student Club – Undergraduate Chapter |
The Net Impact at Scheller Student Chapter supports the development of the future business leaders by elevating awareness of sustainability, and equipping students with skills to address environmental and social impact issues as they progress in their careers. Net Impact at Scheller College of Business designs experiential learning programs, such as Board Fellows, which provides an opportunity for students to work with non-profit organizations, and coordinates events, such as Career Development Workshops and Speaker Panels, to reveal career pathways in sustainability and the social impact sector. Many of these programs and events are coordinated in partnership with the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business and the Institute for Leadership and Social Impact (ILSI). |
Additional Enrichment Opportunities |
The Carbon Reduction Challenge began as a class project that Dr. Kim Cobb initiated in 2007, and has evolved into a highly-successful mechanism for educating and empowering Georgia Tech students to achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions through short-term student projects. Over spring semester 2017, her students executed emissions reductions totaling more than 12,000,000 lbs of CO2 and saved their external partners more than $50,000. In summer 2017, Dr. Cobb was joined by Dr. Beril Toktay to conduct a Carbon Reduction Challenge amongst a select cohort of Georgia Tech summer intern students. In some cases, teams or individual students worked with their host company/organization to formulate a plan for carbon reductions and cost savings.
The Ideas to Serve Competition (I2S) is open to current Georgia Tech students and recent alumni who have early stage product/service ideas or venture concepts geared towards creating a better world. Entries might focus on reducing poverty, alleviating hunger, promoting health and wellness, improving air and water quality, reducing of the depletion rate of natural resources, or developing alternate sources of energy…just to name a few!
The IMPACT Speaker Series is Atlanta's largest university based speaker series, with weekly presentation (Wednesdays at 4:30 PM), free and open to the public, with the main topics revolving around entrepreneurship (both social and commercial), innovation, leadership, and sustainability. The main goal of the series is to show students the width and depth of opportunities, and challenges they will face in the marketplace; to widen their horizon and understanding of important issues; and to engage the community, on and off campus, in the important debate around these topics.
The Serve-Learn-Sustain Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) aims to equip Georgia Tech students with the knowledge and capabilities to effectively address sustainability challenges and inter-related community-level societal needs in their professions and their civic lives. To achieve these outcomes, the plan focuses on the theme "creating sustainable communities" and emphasizes community engagement and service learning as its central pedagogical approach. |
Scheller College Undergraduate Sustainability Ambassadors
2020 - 2021
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Alex Ard-Kelly
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Kadyn Fleming
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Madeleine Hardt
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Jess Hertzberg
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Alex Ip
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Zachary Jones
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Robbie Kazen
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Mark Leggiero
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Zoie Moore
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Jadyn Sethna
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Alessandra Smith
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Joanna Thomas
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Andrew Todd
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Suhas Yalamarti
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2019 - 2020
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William Abdallah
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Angelica Acevedo
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Achintya Arora
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Thiago Esslinger
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Sabrina Huang
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Hanka Kirby
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Manuel Regalado
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2018 - 2019
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William Abdallah
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David Bostater
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Sharon Choi
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Sam Costa
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Sammie Hardy
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