Students and faculty at the University of Windsor’s Odette School of Business celebrate the school’s advancement to a Level 4 “transforming” designation in the 2026 Positive Impact Rating, reflecting its growing commitment to sustainability and responsible leadership. (FILES/University of Windsor)
By Victor Romao
The University of Windsor's Odette School of Business is one of a small group of business schools worldwide now recognized as actively transforming their programs around sustainability and responsible leadership.
The 2026 Positive Impact Rating placed Odette at Level 4 — its second-highest tier — up from Level 3 last year. The international rating evaluates how effectively business schools contribute to society, drawing on responses from nearly 20,000 students at 87 schools across 32 countries.
The Positive Impact Rating is a global, student-led survey that evaluates how effectively business schools contribute to society and prepare graduates to become responsible leaders.
Unlike traditional rankings, it does not produce league tables but instead measures student perceptions of their school’s impact on sustainability, social responsibility and ethical leadership.
The improvement to Level 4 reflects growing confidence among students in how the Odette School of Business is responding to societal and environmental challenges.
A Level 4 designation indicates a school has embedded a culture of positive impact across its governance and systems, with measurable results across multiple areas. The designation reflects overall scores between 7.4 and 8.7 out of 10.
Students completing the survey evaluate their schools across several key areas, including leadership and governance, teaching and learning, student support and public engagement. A newer component of the framework also examines how faculty research contributes to broader societal change, expanding the scope of how impact is measured.
Together, these areas are designed to capture how a business school operates internally while also preparing students to address complex global issues.
Francine Schlosser, acting associate dean academic, said the recognition reflects both student feedback and the University’s broader institutional priorities.
“This is really about responsibility and sustainability,” said Schlosser. “Being recognized at the transforming level reflects our commitment to those principles and speaks to our vision and mission.”
The PIR framework places schools into one of five levels, with Levels 3 through 5 publicly recognized.
Participation in the rating also allows institutions to better understand how their stated goals align with student experiences in the classroom and beyond. The results can help identify gaps and guide continuous improvement in areas such as curriculum, engagement and research impact.
The survey itself is designed as a “voice of stakeholders” tool, giving students a central role in assessing how well their education aligns with real-world challenges and expectations for responsible leadership.
For the University of Windsor, the move to a “transforming” designation marks a notable step forward in how its business school is perceived by its students and signals continued progress in preparing graduates to lead in a global economy increasingly shaped by sustainability and social responsibility.