Ethics class not required

Since the Enron scandal, the UW has not added an ethics class to its undergraduate program. No ethics classes are required for graduation.

Following the Enron fallout, which cost some stockholders and employees of the corporation all of the money they had set aside for retirement, business ethics became a hot topic in the United States. Universities have struggled with decisions on how and whether to make business ethics a priority in our marketplace.

Some universities have added ethics classes in their business departments; others have made ethics classes from philosophy departments a requirement. Each school is choosing its own way to handle the issue of business ethics.

The UW does have two required business classes that discuss ethics: "Introduction to Law" and "Business, Government and Society." The extent to which these classes discuss business ethics is left to the discretion of the instructor.

"['Business, Government and Society'] is a course about business and its relationship with its surroundings such as government, society, communities and consumers," said Sandy Reiter, pre-doctorate teaching associate in the School of Business Administration. "It is geared toward current events."

Reiter added that business ethics are usually examined for at least a week in the course. She also teaches an elective ethics class, "Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility," that takes an in-depth look at the topic.

"Students do case studies. They get to recognize moral dilemmas and understand options available in evaluating situations," Reiter said. "Groundwork is provided through a philosophical and theoretical perspective on ethical theories."

Her class also discusses different viewpoints on the purpose of corporations.

The universities that have begun to make ethics a required topic in business studies represent a minority of the universities in the United States. About 21 percent of MBA programs require a business ethics course, according to a survey conducted by the University of Notre Dame.

Following a trend among masters programs, the University of Pittsburgh graduate school of business recently decided to eliminate its ethics-course requirement beginning next year. The UW business school requires graduate students to take Management 505, a two-credit course in business ethics. Material on ethics is also included in other core courses.

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, which sets accreditation standards for graduate schools of business, has resisted pressure to make ethics a required course. More than 100 faculty members and business professionals nationwide have endorsed a letter urging that such a course be mandated. A revised standard will be submitted for approval in April.

Reiter stressed that business ethics is a new field trying to gain legitimacy. The UW, she said, is further along than many of its peers.

"UW is unique in having two experts on business ethics. Most schools have none."