DATE: December 04, 2008
CONTACT:
John Mittelstaedt, 864-656-5293
jmittel@clemson.edu
WRITER:
Teresa C. Hopkins, 864-656-1222
hopkin1@clemson.edu
Clemson signs PRME agreement
CLEMSON — Clemson University, through its College of Business and Behavioral Science, has committed to adhere to the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). Clemson joins 168 universities from 51 countries in signing the agreement and is the first university in the Carolinas to participate.
The Principles for Responsible Management Education provide a framework for academic institutions to advance the broader cause of corporate social responsibility and incorporate universal values into curricula and research. As a framework, the PRME are meant to guide a school’s effort to continuously improve curricula and research with regard to issues of corporate citizenship and sustainability. The PRME are not a substitute for existing accreditation and quality assurance systems.
“This is an important step in a larger sustainability initiative in the College of Business and Behavioral Science,” said Claude Lilly, dean of the college. “We believe it is the standard by which business education will be judged in the future, and I am pleased that Clemson is committed to a leadership role in this area.”
The initiative was developed by an international task force of 60 deans, university presidents and official representatives of leading business schools, in cooperation with the United Nations Global Compact, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, the European Foundation for Management Development, the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, the European Academy for Business in Society, the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative and Net Impact.
“Creating business and civic leaders that take into account the effects of today’s decisions on future generations is important to all of us. The unique combination of business and social sciences in this college gives us a chance to address issues of sustainability in ways few business schools in the region or country can,” Lilly said.
“The Principles for Responsible Management Education have the capacity to take the case for universal values and business into classrooms on every continent,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in his closing remarks at the Global Compact Leaders Summit in July 2007, when the principles were adopted.
The initiative will provide participating academic institutions a leading role to define a set of good practices on implementation and reporting of the PRME. The principles, participants and additional information can be found at www.unprme.org.
END