Griffith University’s MBA program has taken out the highly regarded Learning, Teaching and Skills category in the 2020 Australasian Campuses Towards Sustainability (ACTS) Green Gown Awards.
The Green Gown Awards recognise exceptional sustainability initiatives being undertaken by Australian universities and are considered the most prestigious recognition of best practice within the further and higher education sector worldwide.
MBA Director, Associate Professor Stephanie Schleimer, said the recognition was testament to the dedication of MBA staff, students and alumni.
“We are extremely proud and honoured to have won the 2020 Green Gown international awards category: Learning, Teaching and Skills category,” she said.
“The category recognises sustainability excellence in the learning and teaching space, which is core to our program.
“Our submission focused on the transformational journeys of current MBA students and alumni and the impact their learning journeys have on their professional and personal lives.”
Griffith submitted two entries in the Learning Teaching and Skills category, with judges awarding the prize to the University’s ‘The road to Tri Hita Karana’ submission.
Tri Hita Karanais a Balinese philosophy denoting three ways to happiness through attaining harmonies of people with people, nature, and the spiritual.
Griffith’s submission suggested the philosophy could be applied to the United Nation’s 17 Sustainability Development Goals alongside three ways of happiness and well-being and said the Griffith MBA was built on the same principle in the form of the three values that it stands for.
“Winning this prestigious award is true recognition of the exceptional learning and teaching efforts of our Griffith MBA staff and a celebration of the remarkable students and alumni that choose to study with us,” Associate Professor Schleimer said.
The Griffith MBA will now advance to the international stage of the competition. This year marks the first time the Learning, Teaching and Skills category has had an international component.
More 2020 honours
In what has been an extraordinary year for Griffith Business School, the MBA was recently ranked Number One overall in the Corporate Knights 2020 Better World MBA Ranking.
Griffith’s MBA program was identified as the top program in the world for the first time in the 18 year history of the Corporate Knights ranking, in recognition of its clear focus on sustainability across course content and faculty research, and an improvement in gender and racial diversity among faculty staff.
“Our MBA embraced sustainability as the core of business thinking and acting long before the majority of businesses realised it was crucial to operating successfully,” Associate Professor Schleimer said.
“We are creating value through social, financial and environmental approaches that lead to sustainable businesses and communities. and we are preparing global citizens, with a special focus on the Asia-Pacific region.”
The Griffith Business School MBA achieved the stellar ranking from a field of 150 MBA programs around the world, having previously ranked in the Top Five for the past two years.