Graduate Students
IBiS works with several student organizations at the Darden School to plan events and to host speakers that increase awareness and discussion about business in society issues. IBiS sponsors the annual Business in Society Conference, in which several Darden student clubs such as Business & Public Policy, Net Impact, Energy, Education, Emerging Markets Development, and Health Care convene topical panel discussions about current issues in their respective fields.
The 2013 conference theme was Building Shared Value, which featured a keynote address by Container Store CEO and Conscious Capitalism advocate Kip Tindell. For this conference, held February 7th-8th, IBiS hosted students from several University schools, invited panelists, as well as Darden faculty, staff, and students. These stakeholders participated in a brainstorming dinner session about the cost of health care and the growth of the national debt. Also as part of the Business in Society Conference, IBiS research staff assisted students in writing a case about reducing the environmental impact of Darden's beloved First Coffee tradition. To launch the 2013 conference, student leaders used this First Coffee case to hold a case competition, whereby teams of first-year students presented their proposed solutions to a panel of faculty and guest judges. Since the competition closed, Darden's sustainability and facilities' administrators have been working with the student winners to bring their ideas to fruition.
Undergraduate Students
IBiS provides guidance to the University of Virginia's undergraduate Business Ethics Society, an organization that serves as a forum for college students to discuss and analyze the ethical and philosophical concerns and responsibilities of business leaders. The organization has brought noted speakers to UVA including The Motley Fool co-chairman Tom Gardner. IBiS is helping to administer and judge the second annual BES case competition at the McIntire School of Commerce.
Also, our faculty supported the "Up to Us" federal debt awareness campaign at UVA, co-sponsored by the Clinton Global Initiative University, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, and National Net Impact. For six weeks, undergraduate students at several national unversities engaged their campuses and their communities in discussions about the government's long-term debt. The highlight event of this campaign at UVA was the visit of U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) to speak about the importance of reducing the national debt. IBiS Academic Director Mary Margaret Frank shared her expertise about health care and tax policy with UVA students, helping them to organize events about the importance of health care policy. She also led a university-wide seminar on the tax revenue option. Led by Lena Shi, Joshua Lansford, Alan Safferson, Ryan Singel and Amara Warren, the UVA team won first place and was recognized by Mr. Clinton on April 6, 2013 and won $10,000.