Undergraduate

Information on the efforts of sustainability education at the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Braden Ward sitting with two other people that are looking at a laptop.

Smeal offers a robust academic experience as well as a variety of engagement opportunities for undergraduate students in business. We work to incorporate sustainability education into the core curriculum for each major so that sustainability is not just an add-on, but an essential part of business education. We also provide enriching opportunities from internships, to case competitions, and student organizations. Students will find there is not just one way to do sustainability at Smeal. 

Undergraduate Sustainability Case Competition

Each spring semester, Smeal hosts a case competition for undergraduates in collaboration with a company sponsor. The competition is a hands-on opportunity to work on a cross-disciplinary team, to use business and markets to solve real-world social justice and environmental conservation challenges.

 

Intern Program

The Center for the Business of Sustainability offers paid internships to undergraduate and graduate students where students are charged with a project that relates to the Center’s mission: to accelerate the integration of sustainability in business. We value students’ ideas and work and find it imperative that as a part of students’ experience at Smeal, they should be given opportunities to work on sustainability projects that will help guide their future career interests and skills in sustainability-related topics. Each intern is paired with a supervisor for their individual project and participates in meetings and professional development opportunities with the other interns in the program.

Since 2019, the Center has had over 30 interns. Examples of previous internships include developing the majorsustainability.org project, organizing a sustainability case competition for undergraduates, communications including graphic design and social media, LEED recertification, and impact careers research. In addition to the practical skills they’ve gained, our former interns have really appreciated the community and exposure to collaborative and passionate sustainability professionals.

Openings are posted to Penn State Jobs before or during the start of each semester. Summer opportunities are sometimes offered. Contact Tracey Mariner at tcd119@psu.edu for details.