Business Program Giving Back to Community

This fall, MBA students at the Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business contributed over 1,200 hours of community service in more than 30 organizations as part of the Ethics, Legal and Social Responsibility of Business course.

The Ethics course, taught by Adjunct Professor Yasmin Tirado-Chiodini, requires each student to volunteer at least eight hours of their time to a local, community-service organization or corporate volunteer program. Students were then required to write a report detailing the organization and how community involvement enhanced their learning process.

Many MBA programs are using the innovative approach of infusing environmental and social impact management into the business school curriculum. Building upon this model, Tirado-Chiodini designed a curriculum using news articles, quotes and situations from movies and television shows. The students also studied many corporate ethics cases and discussed recent corporate scandals. Legal ethics issues ranged from product liability and corporate fraud to bioethics and cloning.

“This course allowed students to experience first-hand the social responsibility role of businesses relative to local community concerns,” said Tirado-Chiodini. “The students also learned that having a sound, well-implemented ethics code is as important for business success and competitive advantage as having a sound, well-implemented business plan,” she said.

Students engaged in projects ranging from writing a business continuity plan for the Red Cross to participating in animal rescue and adoption. Many students chose to exceed their minimum eight-hour requirement, and some students have made ongoing commitments to their organizations.

“The social responsibility of business has been a topic under increasing scrutiny in recent times,” said Dr. Craig McAllaster, dean of the Crummer School. “The experiences in this course allow students to form their own opinions about the role of business in a community.”