Evaluating Conflicts of Interest Am I guilty of having a conflict of interest in using my own Accounting Ethics textbook for that course? I’ve thought about this a lot in the past and agonized over the answer. Before I share my beliefs, let’s get certain things clear. The choice of... Read more →

Academic Freedom Under Attack I have previously blogged about “The Selling of American Universities” that points out the increasing trend of private donors like Nike, Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola influencing sports programs through their donations. A more pernicious situation has raised its ugly head, whereby uber-wealthy individuals donate funds... Read more →

Is it Time to Institute 'Ungrading'? I just read about professors who seem to believe going gradeless in college classes is a good idea. There seems to be serious consideration in some corners to change the traditional way of evaluating the work of college students. Quite frankly, this scares me.... Read more →

What Ever Happened to the Fundamental Value of Academic Integrity? Having taught at the college level for over 30 years, I thought I had seen it all but along comes hoax scholarship – papers written by academics solely to get publications without regard to the accuracy of statements/facts in these... Read more →

How and Why to Discuss Ethics in the Classroom How should we think and talk about moral issues with our youngsters: pre-teens, teenagers, and young adults? The first way to discuss these issues is from the perspective of The Golden Rule, a long-standing moral compass for societies. This ancient Greek... Read more →

What is More Important: Learning Soft Skills or Hard Skills? I recently learned that the School of Public Affairs at the American University in Washington, D.C. is attempting to combat the adverse political dialogue taking place in today’s society by launching a new project on civil discourse. This project, designed... Read more →

Indoctrination Replacing Intellectualism I recently read a study on student attitudes on free expression that suggests students value a diverse and inclusive environment more than free speech rights. The report from Gallup and the Knight Foundation comes at a time when students have challenged the principles of the First Amendment... Read more →

Can Cheating Be Controlled? Cheating in college has reached epidemic proportions. Even though the rate of students who admit to cheating at least once in their college careers has held steadily around 75 percent since the first major survey on cheating in higher education in 1963, the ways in which... Read more →

The Sale of University, Inc. I just read about the University of Wisconsin-Madison's corporate partnerships that bring revenue for the institution but also raise ethical questions. One is example is Mentos. It conducted a campaign that challenged a student to hand out 43,000 packs of the company's gum in order... Read more →

What's Up with UC’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement? The University of California’s recent decision to establish The National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement in Washington, D.C. illustrates all that is wrong with academe today. The typical answer of a university to a perceived problem,... Read more →