In July, the United Nations Global Compact released six Principles for Responsible Management Education at the Leaders Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN Global Compact brings business together with UN agencies, labor and civic organizations, and governments to advance issues in human rights, labor, the environment, and anti-corruption.

The six principles provide the first global framework for academic institutions to help advance corporate social responsibility. The six principles embody the following summarized commitments:

• Develop student capabilities to generate sustainable value for business and society, and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy.
• Incorporate into academic activities and curricula the values of global social responsibility.
• Create educational frameworks, materials, processes, and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.
• Engage in research that advances understanding about the role of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value.
• Interact with business managers to better understand the challenges they face in meeting social and environmental responsibilities, and to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges.
• Support dialogue among educators, business, and other stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability.

The six principles were developed by an international task force of deans, university presidents, and other representatives of leading business schools.

“GMAC and the other members of the steering committee are committed to encouraging all graduate management programs to adopt the six principles,” said Dave Wilson, president and chief executive officer of GMAC. The committee urges business schools to work on an ongoing basis to improve curricula and research in the areas of corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

In a statement announcing the principles, Manuel Escudero, head of academic initiatives at the UN Global Compact, said that “globalization not only needs companies that can decisively contribute to more sustainable and inclusive markets, it also needs a new generation of managers and leaders who are up to that task.” He characterized the principles as a “global call” to help make that happen.

In early September, international educators with a focus on graduate education issued a separate set of guidelines, the Principles for International Collaboration in Graduate Education. Developed by educators from the United States, Canada, Europe, China, and Australia at a meeting in Banff, Alberta, the statement is also known as the “Banff Principles.”

Recognizing that graduate education is in transition globally, the Banff Principles push for “inclusive, international, collaborative action to support and strengthen graduate education through the sharing of best practices.”

The nine principles for graduate programs call for improved quality and innovation based on respect and “learning from differences.” They also advocate for collaboration in clarifying and strengthening the role of the master’s degree, and for participants to “review and understand” the global flow of graduate students. Promoting high-quality, international, and inter-university collaborative programs is another goal, as is the establishment of an “inclusive global platform” where best practices in graduate education could be shared. The signatories also seek a focus on the development of global career competencies and awareness in graduates, and to engage employers, policy makers, and universities in improving and advancing graduate education worldwide.

Debra W. Stewart, president of the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS), which helped organize the event, told Inside Higher Education that the principles are “not about standardization,” but suggested that they push toward a common agenda and vocabulary for discussions of quality and degree recognition across national borders.

Related: A CGS study of application, admission, and enrollment trends among international students engaged in graduate education in the United States found that graduate business programs experienced a 15% increase in applications and a 10% gain in offers of admissions in 2007, after a strong showing in 2006.