CHICAGO, IL--(Marketwire - Jun 21, 2012) - After more than 21,000 votes were cast online in May, two business schools -- SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (India) and the College of William and Mary Mason School of Business (United States) -- won TeamMBA awards for their community service and social responsibility programs. The winners were announced today by the Graduate Management Admission Council at its Annual Conference, the largest gathering of graduate business school professionals in the world.
A total of 78 service programs from schools around the world were considered for the TeamMBA award. These programs involved nearly 1,500 students who volunteered almost 50,000 hours and raised $US 2.6 million.
"In honoring these two great institutions, we also recognize the tremendous spirit and passion that business school students around the world have for giving back to their community and to their commitment to improving the lives of others," said Dave Wilson, president and CEO of GMAC. "These are challenging times for many people all over the world and to see the effort that these students are putting in to making a difference is truly remarkable. Today's MBAs and other graduate business students fiercely embrace their obligation to give back and make the world a better place."
SP Jain won the All School Award, which recognizes a school for its commitment to promoting and supporting social engagement by its students through school-led programs, services, institutional culture and community outreach. Through more than a dozen individual, team and school-wide projects, students at SP Jain worked to improve the lives of women, milk and agricultural growers, disaster victims and rural villagers.
The College of William and Mary Mason School of Business won the All Service Award, which recognizes outstanding projects in categories such as community service, sustainability/greening and consulting, for engaging in a variety of projects, including a mustache auction to raise money to start a microlending account, two blood drives that collected 100 pints of blood, and raising tens of thousands of dollars for local and global charities.
Both schools -- and all of the many initiatives at schools around the globe -- have truly changed the world by giving back to their communities in a variety of ways.
About the TeamMBA Award
The annual TeamMBA Award program recognizes schools that exemplify a commitment to social responsibility through the actions of their students and the school's demonstrated support of these efforts. The awards are presented in June during a ceremony at the GMAC Annual Conference. Entries are reviewed by a committee composed of business school professionals.
To encompass the diversity of schools and activities, the award structure includes two annual award categories: All School Award and the All Service Award.
Since GMAC launched TeamMBA in 2005, hundreds of students, staff and faculty from scores of schools have donated thousands of volunteer hours and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities and community organizations.
About GMAC
The Graduate Management Admission Council (gmac.com) is a nonprofit education organization of the world's leading graduate business schools and owner of the GMAT® exam, used by more than 5,400 graduate business and management programs worldwide. GMAC is based in Reston, Virginia, and has regional offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong. The GMAT exam -- the only worldwide standardized test designed expressly for graduate business and management programs -- is continuously available at nearly 600 test centers in over 110 countries. More information about the GMAT exam is available at mba.com.