Two-session seminar focuses on higher-education ethics

The ethical complexities of administrative decision-making in a higher-education setting will be the topic of a two-session course at the Pyle Center, on Thursday, Sept. 30, and Thursday, Oct. 7.

Sponsored by the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE), the noon-2 p.m. sessions will provide hands-on experience in confronting ethical dilemmas through hypothetical scenarios.

Leading the course, titled “Ethics for Postsecondary Education Administrators,” will be Melany Newby, vice chancellor for legal and executive affairs, and Rosa Garner, assistant dean and ombuds at the UW Medical School.

The course is designed to provide the tools to navigate administrative “gray zones.”

Newby says that a myriad of laws, regulations and policies often establish only an “ethical floor” from which to base decisions.

“Written policies give you a context, but you ultimately have to decide what you think is the right thing to do,” she says. “Determining what is unethical may boil down to the development of your own personal moral barometer.”

Ethical behavior is especially important in public agencies, because of the institution’s need for public trust, Newby says.

“We hope to help participants to develop their own assessment tools, decision-making contexts or moral barometer and give them a sense of what the written rules say, to ensure that their own tests at least meet that ethical floor,” she says.

Registration is required at http://www.wiscape.wisc.edu/calendar/register.asp.The registration fee is $60. For more information, call the center at 265-6342.