For this week’s Campus Chronicles installment, we’ll take a look at the recent events on Wharton’s campus by reviewing their student newspaper, The Wharton Journal.
Earlier this month students in MGMT 621 had a chance to be taught by Wharton alum Dave Pottruck, the former CEO of Charles Scwab and a current Director on Intel Corporation’s Board. Pottruck also gave a speech as part of the Nonprofit Board Leadership Program, in which second year MBA students serve on Philadelphia nonprofit organization boards. Speaking to these students, he expressed his conviction that holding such positions early in one’s career is beneficial in gaining valuable leadership experience while giving back to one’s community. To excel in these positions, Pottruck encouraged students to value interpersonal relationships over board titles, use personal feedback to increase the board’s effectiveness, and demonstrate genuine interest and curiosity in order to be a persuasive change agent. The NBLP has other events throughout the year, covering topics such as the role of a nonprofit’s CEO and the challenges of running a nonprofit organization when compared to a for-profit organization.
Wharton has recently launched a website highlighting the school’s sustainability efforts. This initiative is similar to many Fortune 500 companies that release Corporate Sustainability Reports, which outline firms’ impacts on the environment and help them engineer sustainability efforts that both add value for ,as well as improve customer’s and employee’s perception of, the companies . Wharton’s site, “S@W,” allows visitors to view new and ongoing projects regarding energy use, recycling, water conservation, and green initiatives, among other sustainability-related topics. Though run primarily by Wharton Operations, Emily Schiller WG ’09, was hired as the Associate Director of Sustainable Initiates to help implement this sustainability program. Recent projects includes implementing a three-bin recycling program to separate waste, making double-sided printing the standard setting for school computers, using energy conserving lighting settings, and shutting down elevators during light-traffic times.
