Innovative graduate programs for busy adults already have a ten-year track record at the Brattleboro, Vermont-based Marlboro College Graduate Center. The new, accredited MBA in Managing for Sustainability builds on that foundation, introducing what may be the ideal curriculum for CSR professionals, socially responsible entrepreneurs and managers, and all those seeking ways to infuse their careers with a sustainability perspective consistent with their values and visions. We are now accepting applications for September 2007 enrollment.

A Great Turning?

2005 and 2006 may go down in history as years of profound reorientation among citizens, consumers, politicians, and businesspeople. The compelling case for human-induced climate change, backed by a strong global consensus among scientists, took root in entirely new and much larger audiences. Sophistication about energy debates and the prospect of "peak oil" (and natural gas) expanded and deepened. A greater appreciation for the importance of for instance smaller local businesses, socially responsible investment, moral markets, organic products, and renewable energy technologies emerged. So did interest in the role that businesses and private investors will play in the waves of change toward what many hope will be a more sustainable future.

Only Uncertainty is Certain

It is impossible to know how all this will play out. Uncertainty is the only certainty. Coming decades may see a future little changed from the present. Or, changes in society, public policy, and technology may drive successful responses to the needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, end reliance on fossil fuels, curtail various kinds of environmental destruction, and create safer, healthier, more just, and more economically viable human communities. But some argue that the trend-lines of climate change, fossil-fuel scarcity, and economic and political developments are setting the stage for unusual dislocation and adjustment.

Equip & Connect Yourself
Whichever scenario you give most credence to "“ and simply exploring and understanding these complex trends is a major undertaking in itself "“ the Marlboro MBA in Managing for Sustainability offers an effective strategy for anticipating future developments, while expanding your skills and perspectives today. Use it to make change happen in practically any for-profit or non-profit setting, or simply to prepare your thinking and marketability for a future that may differ sharply from our present. Meet like-minded "pragmatic idealists," and join the professional networks based around Vermont’s and New England’s socially responsible business community.

Central Themes in MBA Curriculum:

• Exploration of sustainability integrated throughout
  
• Examination of climate change’s policy and business implications
  
• Strong quantitative, accounting, and financial skills-building
  
• Systems thinking "“ holistic, ecologically informed reasoning
  
• Critical analysis of society, organizations, and human relations
  
• Immersion in CSR concepts, tools, and practices
  
• Interaction with locally and regionally anchored entrepreneurs
  
• Perspectives spanning the local and the global

A Full-Sized MBA You Can Work With

There are many so-called MBA programs today, including short programs and totally online programs. Based on the experiences of the first sustainability-oriented MBA programs on the US West Coast, such as our mentors at Bainbridge Graduate Institute, the Marlboro College Graduate Center chose to offer a complete, more rigorous MBA format to people who are truly committed to learning advanced skills, challenging their own mindsets, and being part of the community of learner-practitioners who will take business sustainability across new frontiers.

The Marlboro MBA:

• Accredited, 2-year, 60-credit curriculum
  
• The academic rigor of a traditional MBA
  
• Limited residency for working professionals: 10 three-day intensives in Brattleboro, Vermont annually
  
• Brings together a faculty and student body of working professionals
  
• Emphasizes the use of information technology to enhance learning
  
• Seeks knowledge and inspiration in New England’s socially responsible business community
  
• Annual international class intensive
  
• Convenient access from Boston, Hartford, Albany, New York, and Montréal

Marlboro College Graduate School

Marlboro College Graduate School

MARLBORO COLLEGE GRADUATE SCHOOL, BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT, USA Master of Business Administration in Managing for Sustainability The Marlboro MBA combines the core competencies of a traditional MBA program with process and content attuned to social and environmental responsibility, triple or multiple bottom-line performance measurement, a global perspective on commerce and economic justice, and the overall notion of sustainability. There are three particular groups of people for whom the Marlboro MBA is specifically designed:

• Those who are convinced our society must follow a more sustainable path, and seek knowledge, skills, perspectives, and a network to help them point their business careers in that direction.
• People who want to immerse themselves in the socially responsible business movement by working at one of the leaders - many of which are located in or near Vermont - or perhaps starting the next trend-setter themselves.
• People who are interested in becoming a corporate social responsibility (CSR) professional for a corporation, auditing firm, consulting firm, or NGO, working to change the system from within

At 60 credits, this full-scale, accredited MBA can be completed in two years, and does not require students to live near the campus. Its hybrid limited-residency format combines attendance of ten 3-day intensive weekends per year and online coursework. The Marlboro MBA in Managing for Sustainability brings the model pioneered by several West Coast MBA programs to Vermont and the Northeast for the first time. Key features include an emphasis on accounting and finance, systems thinking courses, exploration of the policy and business implications of climate change, priority for clear written and verbal communication, mentoring in personal leadership development, and international study.

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