Ethics in the College of Business

Ethics education has long been an important component of the business school curriculum. Ethos however, pertains to a culture and environment that not only fosters ethics but is also is based on a strong set of professional and personal values. The students, faculty and staff of the College of Business want to encourage and foster a professional business environment to serve as the foundation for business education.

A gift by the Merlanti family in 2001 provided the impetus to raise awareness of ethics in all we do. The gift was first used to establish the Merlanti Ethics seminar for students . In March 2006, the faculty of the College of Business decided that they wanted to develop a strong statement of the ethics and values that represents the foundation of the college. The resulting Ethos Statement is the first adopted by any business school in the country. It lists six values as the core for the college and is attached to every syllabus for every course offered by the College of Business.

In 2006, the student members of the Dean's Board of Student Advisors (DBSA) worked with Dean Mielke to develop an Ethos Honor Society , developed the concept for an Ethos Week, and planned the events for the first Ethos Week held in 2007.  The podcasts from each annual Ethos Week can be viewed and/or downloaded here.  Ethos Week is the first of its kind offered by any business school in the country. It is a week-long series of events that occurs once a year in March. The purpose of the week is to promote business ethics and to further ethics education.

The 5 foot by 12 foot banner has the Ethos Statement printed on it and students, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community are invited to sign it. The Ethos banners for each year are permanently displayed on the wall on the fourth floor of the College of Business.