Franklin University Switzerland

March 2021, Geneva, Switzerland - Franklin University Switzerland (FUS) is a worldwide leader in innovative graduate education. Its mission is to offer interdisciplinary, experiential programs that prepare its graduates to be collaborative leaders in an ever-changing global landscape. It is the only university in the world that is accredited in both the US and Switzerland, and it offers programs that combine American flexibility and hands-on experiences with Swiss rigour. The Master of Science in International Management (MSIM) with Emphasis on Responsible Management and Climate Action is an innovative and award-winning program (9th Worldwide in Ethics the WURI rankings) that exemplifies Franklin’s commitment to sustainable and responsible management.

This innovative Master programme, allows the participants to do a project internship in Geneva or remotely with UNITAR, thanks to the solid partnership between the two institutions. Action Organizations worldwide are engaged in dealing with the challenges of addressing climate change, and leaders are needed who can find solutions to NGO issues from a business perspective that spans many sectors. The MSIM at Franklin University Switzerland is designed to fulfil the urgent need for dedicated and sustainable leadership by preparing students to develop a new set of soft skills, such as critical and collaborative thinking, cultural intelligence, personal and social responsibility, resiliency, adaptability, flexibility, and capacity for uncertainty. Its goal is to bridge the gap between the goals of NGOs and the challenges of industry and government, starting with the hands-on experiences that will be gained in this interdisciplinary Master's programme, conceived in partnership with Franklin University Switzerland.

This international, cross-cultural and inter-generational programme provides the opportunity to collaborate directly with people from multiple backgrounds, work directly at the UN through the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and apply systemic thinking to business and organizational solutions. Environmental goals are turned into functional solutions through practical projects and strategies.  Skills, perspectives, and strategies are developed that can be applied to any organizational context, that allow the MSIM graduates to influence the hearts and minds of new generations toward a green economy.

This programme was designed to embody the values of both UNITAR and Franklin University Switzerland: responsible leadership, civil discourse, collaborative solutions for global success. As one of our current students, Denise Rotondo, recently wrote: “Responsible leadership is leadership that understands the value of, and need for, collective action to achieve economic progress, societal well-being, and to act according to that understanding.”

In the Global Issues and Responsible Leadership- Managing for 2030 course for instance, different instructors, experts in the sustainability field led by Jonas Haertle from UNITAR, guided students to develop a sustainability report for one of the 4 companies they were assigned. Through examples and guidance from experts from the UN, as well as the business and the NGO world, students explore what is discussed at strategy tables and how organizations are constantly revisiting their value chains to ensure long term success.

Franklin University

The Master is made of 3 main blocks:

  1. Leadership and Management (Fall – September to December, Lugano, Switzerland)
  2. Knowledge and Skills for Employment (Spring – January to May, Lugano, Switzerland)
  3. Experiential In-Organization Learning (Summer – May to July, Geneva, Switzerland)

This participative and collaborative curriculum is designed to provide students with an intensive path of study that gives them a strong background in leadership, creates situations that build experience in collaboration and project management, and launches the next phase of their career through internships working on real, ongoing UN projects. Each of the courses and workshops in the programme is a facet of a complete perspective that will help our graduates to be an effective agent of innovation.

See the Master page for an updated course list. 

This programme emphasizes employability. Graduates will have gained practical experience with the UN that they can put on their CVs. Students in this Master's programme not only will have the chance to work with leading professionals and entrepreneurs but after completing the UNITAR component, they will also join a project team working on Climate Change Action directly at the UN in Geneva. This is an opportunity to live in culturally diverse environments and to learn multi-stakeholder collaboration at an international level. Participants will be challenged to find practical, sustainable solutions to real problems facing industry, government and NGOs in the area of Climate Change. These are the kinds of credentials that employers are looking for in professionals working on Climate Change issues.

Faculty and instructors (View Faculty List) are skilled learning facilitators, experts and innovators, who offer multiple lenses through which to view and solve problems.  Each individual on this list will be an important resource and influence as students construct their path toward new ideas and career opportunities.

For more information including on the current rate of tuition and the application process for the upcoming September 2021 intake, please refer to the information provided by Franklin University Switzerland.

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