CSEP 30th Anniversary
On February 8, IIT's Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions (CSEP) celebrated its 30th anniversary with an invited lecture by John Rowe (Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Exelon Corporation, and Chairman of IIT's Board of Trustees) in the MTCC Auditorium. In his featured talk, "The Many Faces of Stewardship," Rowe described his efforts to address ethical issues in his career.
Featured speaker John Rowe
Photo by Mindy Sherman/IIT
Established in 1976 at IIT, CSEP was the first interdisciplinary center for ethics to focus on the professions and is known for its work on ethics in engineering and science and in related areas of business. Today, CSEP is a member of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) which currently lists over 150 participating institutional member centers on its website. Mirroring CSEP's mission, the APPE is "committed to encouraging high quality interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching in practical and professional ethics by educators and practitioners who appreciate the theoretical and practical impacts of their subjects." CSEP co-founder Prof. Robert Ladenson describes CSEP as the "main interdisciplinary resource to answer ethics problems for faculty and students here at IIT."
WELCOME
While welcoming attendees, Vivian Weil (Director, CSEP) congratulated IIT's Ethics Bowl Team on its performance in this year's Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (IEB). IIT's Ethics Bowl Team placed second, out of 12 schools, in the Upper Midwest Regional Ethics Bowl. The team's second-place finish qualified it to compete in the National Championship of the IEB.
Weil also announced that the National Science Foundation recently awarded a three-year grant to CSEP and the Humanities Department to work with the University of Illinois at Chicago and Howard University in Washington, DC to develop resources on ethics in graduate engineering education. The grant will fund workshops that teach faculty and students to develop "micro-insertions" -- small ways to add ethical issues to problems in the graduate engineering curricula. The grant will also support development of a Web-based "Ethics In-Basket," an archive of ethics problems that can be accessed from anywhere, to disseminate ethics problems to engineering faculty worldwide.
Weil also described the growth of CSEP, which now occupies the entire south side of the Hermann Hall mezzanine.
IIT President Lew Collens congratulated Weil, Michael Davis, and Ladenson for the achievement of creating CSEP. Collens described CSEP as a center that has thrived during its 30-year history, citing its role in the creation of the IEB and the ongoing Fay Sawyier-endowed philosophy fellowships to the Lewis Department of Humanities.
FEATURED SPEAKER JOHN ROWE
Rowe, who has led electric utilities since 1984, spoke about the complicated ethical issues he faces in his role at Exelon, one of America's largest utility companies. Not surprisingly, this role has made Rowe a visible participant in public controversy over energy policies, environmental policies, and others. As an example of the variety of ethical issues he has faced, Rowe mentioned public outrage by recent corporate events which have closed portions of Millenium Park to the public during prime hours. Though not dismissive of the response raised by the public, he wondered if the reliance of the City of Chicago on corporations to fund the construction of the park may have been too great, which has led (not surprisingly) to issues of access.
Rowe went on to state that "whatever business you do, the actual working of ethical issues is inherently a complex process," and can be difficult to address successfully if not filtered through an ethical compass. At Exelon, the ethical compass is guided by principles that employees are encouraged to abide by, including (among others):
- Treating economic opportunities as moral responsibilities
- Working tirelessly
- Committing to diversity
- Committing to environmental obligations (especially when considering nuclear power)
Rowe concluded that each discipline here at IIT must face ethical issues as "real questions." By offering assistance to both faculty and students, CSEP better prepares IIT's students to face the inevitable ethical questions and challenges that their roles as tomorrow's leaders in science, engineering, and business will face. He stated that "no matter the work you do, there will be issues that you would rather not grapple with. Ethics helps to make those decisions, using creativity to move forward."
Fortunately, if you find yourself facing one of the ethical situations described by Rowe in his featured talk, IIT's CSEP is here to help. To find out more, visit their online resource at: http://ethics.iit.edu/index.html.
Rowe answers questions after his talk, "The Many Faces of Stewardship."
Photo by Mindy Sherman/IIT
INTERCOLLEGIATE ETHICS BOWL DEMONSTRATION
A reception and demonstration of the IEB followed. Ladenson moderated the demonstration which posed the dilemma that Weyerhaeuser, a multinational corporation in Oklahoma, faced when trying to address concerns that its employees weren't following drug and safety regulations in its parking lot. In an investigation, Weyerhaeuser searched multiple vehicles in their lot, discovering firearms in 12 employee vehicles resulting in the firings of those employees. In the discussion, the Ethics Bowl team discussed issues of private property, the right to bear arms, the National Rifle Association, and the rights of a corporation to address the rights of employees on corporate property. The Ethics Bowl team discussion was then rated based on the following criteria:
- Clarity and intelligibility of their stated position and reasoning
- Focus on ethically relevant factors
- Avoidance of ethical irrelevance
- Deliberate thoughtfulness
IIT's Ethics Bowl team made it to the National Championship of the IEB, so it was not surprising that their discussion of the day's topic was rated highly by the demonstrations' judges.
The IEB was created at CSEP by Ladenson, and received the 2006 American Philosophical Association/Philosophy Documentation Center Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy Programs.
Prof. Robert Ladenson moderates a demonstration of the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl (IEB).
Photo by Mindy Sherman/IIT
IIT's Ethics Bowl Team demonstrates the IEB during the CSEP 30th anniversary celebration.
Photo by Mindy Sherman/IIT
