Leadership at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley recognizes that climate change is a pressing and complex issue affecting all of us, and needs to be addressed immediately. They know that students and prospective students largely feel the same. That’s the impetus behind a new MBA-Master of Climate Solutions double-degree program.
The program, says Ann Harrison, dean of Berkeley’s Haas School, aims to shape the next group of leaders to be at the forefront of the climate solution.
“Meeting the climate and other global challenges will require new leaders who understand the scale and urgency of the challenges, who understand which corporate actions will make the biggest difference, and who can bring practical solutions to addressing the problems,” says Harrison, Poets&Quants‘ 2023 Dean of the Year.
COMBINING THE ACADEMIC STRENGTHS OF TWO BERKELEY SCHOOLS
Ann Harrison, Dean of Berkeley Haas School of Business
The degree, hosted at both the Haas School and the Rausser College of Natural Resources, will enroll its first class this fall. MBA/MCS candidates will graduate with both a Master of Business Administration and Master of Climate Solutions degree in five semesters.
Both Rausser Dean David Ackerly and Haas’ Harrison are at the heart of the push for this type of program.
“Dean David Ackerly and I both deeply understand the climate change challenge and recognize the need to combine specialized business management skills and operational knowledge with deeper content scholarship around climate solutions. There was clear agreement between the two schools’ leadership that the academic strengths of both programs would complement each other and thus justified the creation of the concurrent degree program,” says Harrison.
The schools can’t say for certain how many prospective students will enroll in the program because they are still accepting applications, but based on the widespread interest, they anticipate they will be receiving an abundance of applications. Harrison says that there is much enthusiasm among current and prospective Haas students , who care deeply about climate change and understand it is one of the most critical challenges of their generation.
This interest builds off their popular Michael’s Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Business, which gives students a shorter version of what the new five-semester degree program offers. They started offering this certificate in 2021 and had more than 100 MBAs complete it.
FIVE SEMESTERS BUT A LIFETIME OF IMPACT
The program begins with the MBA core, guest speaker series with speakers who are thought leaders in sustainability, as well as other relevant outings and events. Students will get the chance to visit businesses and network with public agencies. In their second year, MBA/MCS candidates fully immerse in the MCS program, joining the MCS stand-alone students.