The Business Ethics Center of Grand Valley State University’s Seidman College of Business is hosting its first Ethics Week from Oct. 22-26.

“Ethics Week 2012: Find Your Moral Compass” is a weeklong series of events geared toward educating students on ethical values and inspiring them to do business, research and other endeavors in ethical ways.

The events will feature speakers from local businesses, including Chuck Saylor, CEO of izzy ; Kim Horn, former CEO of Priority Health; and the new president of the mid-Atlantic region for Kaiser Permanente, the largest health care concern in the country. Individuals from the GVSU community will also speak.

Ethics Week and its events are in line with the mission of the Business Ethics Center, which is “to examine the role and influence of business in public life, to promote inquiry into ethical business practices and education, and to be a leading resource for business persons, students, faculty members, and administrators who seek to understand the relationship between business, the common good, and a life well lived.”

It also reflects the Seidman College of Business Student Code of Honor, in which students pledge to “conduct themselves with the highest level of integrity, maintain accountability for their actions and encourage the same of others, and (to) be open, fair, trustworthy and honest.”

Roberta Osipoff, special projects and student professional development assistant with the Seidman College of Business, said Ethics Week was the brainchild of Lee Constantine, a member of the Seidman Dean’s Undergraduate Advisory Board (DUSAB) and chair of the Ethics Committee for DUSAB.

“Lee is the driving force behind the week of planned events and has been working diligently on this with his committee,” Osipoff said.
Though Constantine brought the idea to the dean, he was not the primary muse upon which the idea was formed.

“Ethics Week was inspired by Dean H. James Williams of Seidman College of Business,” Constantine said. “He feels that the principals of truth and honesty are recognized as fundamental to a community of teachers and scholars.”

The planned agenda for Ethics Week will start off Oct. 22 with the presentation “Why and How our Moral Judgments Shape Success in Business” with keynote speaker Chuck Saylor. The presentation will take place from 5-6 p.m. In the Loosemore Auditorium of the DeVos Center. On Oct. 23, there will be an ice cream social from 5-6 p.m. followed by a panel discussion on “When Cheating Isn’t Wrong: Collaboration vs. Copying.” This event takes place in the University Club.

Keynote speaker Kim Horn will present on a topic titled “Morality, Money, and Medicine: Thoughts on Universal Health Care” on Oct. 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Loosemore Auditorium. There will be a Student Code of Honor luncheon Oct. 25 featuring keynote speakers from GVSU from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the University Club. The final event of the week will take place Oct. 26 in the courtyard area of the DeVos Center, which will overview the “Best and Worst Ethical Companies of Our Time.”

Osipoff said the Friday event will last all day, but the real kickoff will be at noon.

For more information on Ethics Week, visit the event page at www.gvsu.edu/business under upcoming events, or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/EthicsWeek2012FindYourMoralCompass.
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