Sustainable Development Hoops in Business Schools

Dear Colleagues who teach at schools of business:

Were you aware that our accrediting agency, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, now requires member schools to incorporate the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into the curriculum? There are 17 of them. To meet the AACSB requirement, you only need to incorporate one of these goals, but you are free to incorporate more than one. Here is the list:

1. No poverty.
2. Zero hunger.
3. Good health and well-being.
4. Quality education.
5. Gender equality.
6. Clean water and sanitation.
7. Affordable and clean energy.
8. Decent work and economic growth.
9. Industry, innovation and infrastructure.
10. Reduced inequalities.
11. Sustainable cities and communities.
12. Responsible consumption and production.
13. Climate action.
14. Life below water.
15. Life on land.
16. Peace, justice and strong institutions.
17. Partnerships for the goals.

Here’s an easy way to meet the AACSB requirement. Assign this article for your students to read: Is the AACSB Requiring Member Schools to Teach Bad Economics?

You can discuss it in class, or ask them to write a brief summary of the article—either as a nongraded requirement—or for extra credit or as part of the course grade.

You might include the following language in your syllabus or Learning Management System (LMS):

The AACSB, which accredits our business school, requires us to incorporate the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into our curriculum. Reading this article will meet that requirement.

To provide documentation that you have read the article, you are required to write a 200-word summary and upload it to Canvas (or another Learning Management System).

Again, you can give them a grade for it or you can make it a noncredit assignment that they must complete as part of the course in order to document the fact that it has been incorporated into your course.

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