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Ethics Today Online Published
by the Ethics Resource Center
** Why We Do Character Development (and Why It Matters) Last month, Ethics Resource Center released the 2005 version of the National Business Ethics Survey. At the same time, we launched the new ERC logo, explaining that each of the letters refers to one component of the work we do here: E for evaluation, R for research, and C for character development. Because of our National Business Ethics Survey and our long history in the field of organizational ethics, it seems only natural that ERC would seek to further knowledge and share research into successful strategies for promoting ethical conduct in organizations. And, having a research base that places us at the forefront of knowledge regarding effective practice in organizational ethics, it is fitting that we would evaluate programs to determine their impact, their strengths, and the areas which still need improvement. But how exactly does character development enter the equation, and why? At first glance, these worlds do seem disparate. Character development generally happens in schools; organizational ethics focuses on the workplace. Character development looks at individuals, whereas organizational ethics is aimed at the organizational level and could encompass literally hundreds of thousands of individuals. But that last statement is telling: every organization, even one with hundreds of thousands of employees, is still a collection of individuals. Each of those individuals makes his/her own decisions about how to act in the workplace. Each has the chance, every day, to make his/her organization a more or less ethical place. The decisions each individual employee makes can powerfully impact the lives of many others in the organizations and, potentially, even far outside its confines. Clearly, character is not just an issue schools must grapple with. Likewise, we must remember that, just as adult workers are influenced by the climate and culture of their organizations, students in schools are not islands either. Schools are organizations, too. ERC's knowledge about ethics in an organizational context has a part to play in the character development field as well. Here's how they work together… Because of our research and evaluation work, especially NBES 2005, we know that:
Because of character development, we better understand:
And so, at ERC, two seemingly different fields, character development and organizational ethics, are linked into a common vision. For example, through our Student Ethics Office initiative, the work of educating students (our next generation of employees) in character and ethics happens at both the individual and organizational level, building on the most advanced understanding of both. Similarly, ERC integrates knowledge gathered from evaluation and research with long-standing expertise on moral and ethical development to help organizations know not only how effective their programs are, but also how to enhance effectiveness at both the individual and organizational levels. So, in our continuing efforts to share our knowledge with you, we offer this issue of Ethics Today, which highlights programs and insights from the world of character development. Take these tools and use them to assist you in your own quest for character; to help you positively impact the individuals in your organization and to promote ethics and integrity in your organization as a whole. Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D, President ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * SEO in Action: Millennium High School On November 3, ERC Manager of Character Development Katie Sutliff, Development Manager Allison Pendell Jones and Associate Researcher in Character Development & Applied Research Rielle Miller visited with students of the Millennium High School (NY) Student Government and Ethics committee (SGE), which is Millennium's version of the Student Ethics Office (SEO). The full day at MHS included taking a tour of the school (floors 11-13 in a high rise in the financial district of the city), attending a SGE meeting, meeting with SGE mentors from Goldman Sachs, and attending the initial Conversations on Ethics (more information about this event below). The SGE meeting focused on the presentation of a Four Quarter Focus Plan devised by five students and two moderators as a part of the ERC's Student Fellows Program (SFP). Two students who attended the summer SFP presented the first quarter's focus—vandalism—to the rest of the group (approximately 35 students from freshmen to seniors). The first quarter's core value is Respect and the students plan to connect the idea of respecting the school environment with the idea of respecting oneself. Following the presentation, students debated the merits of the plan and came up with ideas for implementing and spreading the message. Their ideas ranged from methods of prevention to possible punishments. During their visit, ERC staff learned much about this unique school environment and gained insights into how the SGE operates within the school. “It was wonderful to see the growth of the SGE (it is in its second year of operation),” said Ms. Miller, “and to see the students starting to take more responsibility for, and leadership of, the group.” Millennium High School is a public school in New York City's 2nd District. The school is a partnership between the district and the Greater YMCA of Chinatown and SGE moderators include Millennium faculty and YMCA coordinators. Goldman Sachs is also involved with the SGE and provides four mentors for the Millennium SGE. Working in pairs, the mentors attend all SGE meetings and help connect the students to the business world. Read more about ERC's Student Ethics Office and Student Fellows
Programs at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Conversations on Ethics” is a new piece of the Student Ethics Office program that involves quarterly informal gatherings between student ethics officers and ethics professionals to discuss timely and relevant issues from the ethics field. Ethics professionals come prepared to discuss a specific topic in ethics and encourage student participation in the discussion. On November 3, 2005, Millennium High School hosted the first “Conversations on Ethics” of the 2005-2006 school year in its Student Government and Ethics meeting room. The event was open to all Millennium students, though most of the attendees were members of Student Government and Ethics (SGE). Mr. Joseph Vaccaro, Vice President of Internal Communications, Goldman Sachs, spoke to the students about marketing in general and about ways that Goldman Sachs communicates internally. He focused the discussion on three goals essential to any communications plan—what do you want your audience to know, think, and do. Mr. Vaccaro related the conversation towards the SGE's efforts at Millennium and asked the students to discuss the message they wanted to send to the student body in terms of what they wanted their peers to know, think, and do. The students had a lively debate among themselves and with Mr. Vaccaro and the SGE moderators. Through this discussion, the students realized that SGE members had different ideas about what SGE should do and how it would accomplish its goals, and they discussed differences. The students, working with Mr. Vaccaro and the moderators, also learned more about how the communications strategy of the SGE is deeply tied to the mission of the SGE. They learned that a communications strategy is about the message, but as important is the vehicle for delivery of that message. The SGE is about trust; the message the students want to send to the student body is that the students should trust the SGE. Mr. Vaccaro suggested a personalized delivery of that message, i.e., sending mass emails or hanging posters would convey trust less than personal visits to classrooms. Following the event, Ms. Miller noted that the SGE students at Millennium “were left with a lot to think about, but also with the tools to create an effective communications strategy.” Read the outline of Mr. Vacarro's talk on Marketing and Communications
Strategies at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** Student Ethics Office On-Line Network On October 16, 2005, ERC hosted a two hour Student Ethics Office (SEO) Semester Kick-Off event for local SEO students, including those from Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, Virginia, and Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. Following a brief game to help the students and ERC staff get reacquainted, the students shared updates from their respective school's SEO. At the time, both schools were still in the process of recruiting new members for the school year and both schools were using their Four Quarter Focus Plans developed during the summer Student Fellows Program. The focus of this event was the introduction of the new SEO On-Line Network, developed in response to the Student Fellows request for a centralized communication tool. ERC selected a free online scheduling and communications program called Airset and started running a Beta-Test for the SEO On-Line Network. The Beta-Test is open to all students and moderators involved with the SEO program. (For more information about the SEO On-Line Network please contact Rielle Miller at Rielle@ethics.org.) The students and ERC staff concluded the session by discussing ways ERC can help the schools' SEOs, how the students can get more of their peers involved in their school's SEO, and what might ERC attract more student involvement to its SEO program. The students and ERC staff will assess progress in these areas at the next Student Fellows Program meeting in the winter of 2006. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ERC staffers Rielle Miller and Katie Sutliff Lang wrote an article entitled “Brave Heart for the October issue of Leadership, a magazine for junior and senior high school student activities. In this piece, Ms. Miller and Mrs. Sutliff Lang reworked the key ideas from Ms. Miller's previously published white paper on “Moral Courage” in a way that high school students and adult moderators can easily apply to the high school environment. The article presents a real-life ethical dilemma in which a high school student leader might find him or herself. The character in the scenario is faced with many options for dealing with the dilemma, but only one that demonstrates moral courage. The article then provides a brief synopsis of the components of moral courage and the theory of development of moral courage. The article also provides a conclusion to the ethical dilemma, demonstrating that while choosing the moral courageous option is hard, the character feels good because he knows he did the right thing. The authors also suggest activities to help adult moderators/advisors develop moral courage in their student leaders. Read this article, reprinted with the permission of the National
Association of Secondary School Principals (www.principals.org)
at: Read or download Ms. Miller's research paper on Moral Courage
at: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** National Business Ethics Survey 2005 ERC's 2005 National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) is a nationally representative study of employees' views of ethics in the workplace. The 2005 report marks the fourth implementation of the study, and leverages 11-years of data collection. Findings from the research address:
NBES 2005 is now available in hard copy as well as electronically as a PDF. The price for either version is $49.95, plus a shipping and handling fee for the hard copy.
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** Publications and Media Coverage Following the October 12 release, ERC's National Business Ethics Survey 2005 was cited in the following:
A Wall Street Journal Career Journal article citing the 2005 NBES and also quoting President Pat Harned was reprinted in several other publications
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- ERC held its first "Celebration of Commitment to Ethics" dinner on November 2 in New York City. Look for a report on the event and a list of donors in the next issue of Ethics Today. -- Character Development Manager Katie Sutliff Lang will be leaving ERC in December to accept a position at the Notre Dame Center for Ethical Education. The Center offers an innovative, integrative, and research-based approach for the development of ethics and character, stressing the importance of ethical issues in all aspects of life. The Center accomplishes its goals by developing age-appropriate educational resources for sports, schools, media, and college will be focusing its attention on developing resources and programs for many of the Alliance for Catholic Education network of schools. As part of her work, Ms. Lang, a 1999 ACE graduate, will be helping to develop a version of their homeroom-based Middle School curriculum which coordinates with the religion curriculum and can be used by Catholic schools. Ms. Lang was instrumental in helping to develop ERC's subscription character education program “Maximize the Moment” and the Student Ethics Office program. -- Holiday Closing: The ERC offices will be closed December 23, December 26 and January 2 for the holidays. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As a non-profit organization, the Ethics Resource Center depends on contributions from many generous donors. Without their dedication and trust, many of the programs and projects highlighted in this newsletter would not be possible. ERC thanks the following for recent contributions:
ERC also extends its thanks to all who purchased tickets and tables for the first Celebration of Commitment to Ethics fundraising dinner and those who donated time or services. (More information will appear in the January issue of this newsletter). We invite you to join our loyal contributors
in lending your support. To find out about how to support the ERC,
go to: The Ethics Resource Center (ERC) is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization exempt from taxation under the Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All gifts are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PLEASE NOTE: Ethics Today will be published 10 times this year. ======================================================= Copyright (c) 2005 Ethics Resource Center.
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