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Implementation of PRME: Issues and Challenges. Michael Powell Pro-Vice Chancellor (Business) Griffith Business School Queensland, Australia Australia and New Zealand PRME Forum, Sydney 2011. Background. GBS early signatory Already made strategic commitment to sustainability and CSR
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Implementation of PRME: Issues and Challenges Michael Powell Pro-Vice Chancellor (Business) Griffith Business School Queensland, Australia Australia and New Zealand PRME Forum, Sydney 2011
Background • GBS early signatory • Already made strategic commitment to sustainability and CSR • Accepted part of strategy so PURPOSE was addressed • L & T and research initiatives underway
Two Years Later ... • Accepted and acknowledged as strategic and values commitment of GBS (e.g. Finance group) • Business ethics and corporate responsibility modules embedded in core u/grad courses • MBA ranked 27th in Aspen Institute Top One Hundred • U/grad major and Grad Certificate in Sustainable Enterprise introduced
Two Years Later ... • Asia Pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise established with Malcolm McIntosh as Foundation Director (start-up investment) • Successful public seminar series and two academic conferences – thought leadership • Academic staff with focus in this area hired • Research program underway (PhD students and Postdocs
Scorecard: Are we there yet? • Substantial progress but still a lot to do • General acceptance of PRME agenda; gone from periphery to centre (e.g. Assurance of Learning) • Active embedding of principles still patchy in L & T • Research traction achieved but more to do • Student engagement still limited • Environmental sustainability in our operations still not achieved
Challenges to Institutional Adoption • Academic independence and inertia especially in research • Volatility of staff teaching assignments • Changing patterns of student life; less campus engagement means less student engagement • Performance demands on academic staff
Challenges ... • Working across disciplines and across campuses • Breaking through hierarchical journal rankings • Centralised university systems and processes • Can return to periphery with establishment of specialised centres or units • Current politicization of the space around carbon pricing; unhelpful rhetoric
Conclusion • Still on the journey • Some big climbs still to conquered (e.g. student engagement; “greening” of our operations) • Need to maintain the commitment and the drive • Developing new, younger champions!