COB Joins U.N. Initiative On Socially Responsible Business

Illinois State University's College of Business is among the first business schools in the United States to be signatories to the United Nations-sponsored Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), a framework for academic institutions to advance socially responsible corporate behavior.

The Principles for Responsible Management Education are part of the United Nations Global Compact, an international initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with universally accepted principles in the areas ofhuman rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption.The Global Compact is the world's largest corporate citizenship initiative and is committed to fostering social responsibility in business and world markets.

More than 200 business schools worldwide, nearly two dozen of which are in the United States, have signed onto PRME.As a signatory to the Principles, Illinois State's College of Business is showing its continuing commitment to leadership in promoting business ethics and social responsibility.The College of Business already includes those principles across its curriculum.

"The UN Global Compact and PRME together are a recognition that business is truly global; that business can and must be a part of the solution to some of the world's vexing problems; and that American business schools must play a leading role in developing a sustainable global business environment," said Charles McGuire, interim dean of Illinois State's College of Business."Illinois State's College of Business has historically had a core commitment to ethical business conduct, as evidenced by our Standards of Professional Behavior and Ethical Conduct. Our participation in PRME is a logical extension of that commitment and carries that commitment forward to a global level. I am proud that the College of Business at Illinois State will be in the forefront of the movement to sustainable and responsible business conduct."

The six Principles for Responsible Management Education are purpose, values, method, research, partnership and dialog.The Principles outline a commitment by academic institutions to educating students to be future leaders in a sustainable global economy, incorporating social responsibility into academic activities, researching the role of corporations in a sustainable future, partnering with corporations to help them meet social and environmental goals, and promoting an open, public dialog on critical issues of global social responsibility and sustainability.

"By signing on to the Principles for Responsible Management Education Illinois State is once again demonstrating its commitment to promoting responsible global citizenship," said Illinois State University President Al Bowman."Preparing students to be future leaders and engaged, ethical citizens has always been a key part of the University's educational mission.I'm proud of the fact that Illinois State's College of Business is among the first public universities in the United States to join this important global initiative."

The Principles were developed by an international task force of sixty deans, university presidents and official representatives of leading business schools and were launched at a summit meeting of U.N. Global Compact leaders in July 2007.For more information about the Global Compact and PRME, visit www.unglobalcompact.org