Cleary University, based in Howell, conducted numerous studies over the past few years that demonstrated over and over again that green industry and business was indeed the best path to a bright future for Michigan. It's certainly acted on that information.
Last November, the university launched an MBA in Green Business Strategy and plans to kick off four additional programs this year. "(What we found is that this is) not just green organizations, but regular organizations want to have someone on staff that is knowledgeable and can provide that kind of expertise," says Amanda Chaborek, director of communications and community relations. "This is where the future is at."
The new programs include a B.B.A. in Sustainability Management, which is designed to prepare students for an administrative or management position that is engaged in green practices and includes instruction on LEED principles; a graduate certificate in Green Business Strategy, which includes courses on sustainability and business, economics and cultural considerations, sustainable products and services, and sustainability and entrepreneurship; and online certificates in Principles of Green Building and Indoor Environmentalist Certification, which will prepare students for certification exams in those fields.
Chaborek says that Cleary is not just talking the talk with its new course offerings, which is why the university is also making significant investments to greening its campus facilities. "For us to offer up these programs but not be living them as well is really not making a strong case for us offering up these programs," she says. "We are committed to the community to leading by example the route we want to go through."
In 2007, the Lloyd and Mabel Johnson Center for Business and Community Excellence was opened with such features as low-volume, high-pressure toilets; waterless urinals; motion-sensitive lighting systems and T5 and T8 lights in the classrooms; and an individually-zoned and computer-programmed HVAC system.
Next up is the installation of a geothermal HVAC system in a former industrial
building that currently houses administrative offices, the
bookstore, and eventually, a new community health and
fitness center. The geothermal field's targeted completion is summer 2010.
Source: Amanda Chaborek, Cleary UniversityWriter: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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