To: Blake Mellor, Chair, UCCC From: Christopher Kaczor Re: Proposed Revision to the Draft Model. Executive Summary:

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1 To: Blake Mellor, Chair, UCCC From: Christopher Kaczor Re: Proposed Revision to the Draft Model Executive Summary: Make a course in Ethics a requirement in the core. This proposed revision differs from the Draft Model only in making a course in ethics a requirement in the core curriculum rather than one option among six. Description: 1) Philosophy: The basis for this recommendation is that the core should reflect the mission of this university. Ethics is uniquely tied to the mission of LMU in terms of the promotion of justice. Unless students can think critically about rival understandings of justice, why they ought to be just, and how justice is integrated with other aspects of the moral life such as compassion and respect for diversity, they will lack essential conceptual tools for the promotion of justice. Ethics courses serve two of the three goals of the mission directly, for it serves the promotion of justice and the education of the whole person, including the person as an ethical agent. The other goal of the mission (the service of faith) is already represented by required courses, not merely as one choice among a range of options. 2) Implementation: Given the improbability of additional faculty lines to staff the core curriculum, the proposed change takes better advantage of current faculty resources with faculty already in place and already teaching ethics from the College of Business Administration; College of Communication and Fine Arts; Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering; School of Film and Television, and the Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts, including six endowed chairs in ethics. The implications of Ethics being a requirement are already known since it is currently a required course at the University. 3) Outcomes: The outcomes identified in the Draft Model for the ethics course would be retained. 4) Comparison to the UCCC Draft Model: The proposed revision differs from the Draft Model only in that ethics becomes a required course (as it currently is) for all students, rather than just one option among six. Rationale for a Requirement in Ethics: First, serious reflection on ethical issues is essential for the formation of our students in the Ignatian tradition: as men and women whose actions in the world are preceded by a deep awareness of the moral dimensions of existence and by a concern to act in ways informed by reflection on the bases of right action. The education of the whole person is missing a crucial dimension if ethics is purely discretionary. Indeed, we are aware of no Jesuit university in the world that does not require the study of ethics for its undergraduates, which is unsurprising given the centrality of ethics in the Jesuit education. We do not want to be the only Jesuit university that views ethics as merely optional. 1

Description: 1) Philosophy: The basis for this recommendation is that the core should reflect the mission of this university.

2 Ethical behavior is essential for success in academic work, dealing with people of differing ethnicities, engaging in civil society, and citizenship in a global world. The study of ethics can contribute to fostering, investigating, and intellectually justifying ethical behavior, including but not limited to the promotion of justice. A course in ethics provides students with intellectual tools for making decisions and normative judgments in academic matters such as plagiarism, in social matters such as encountering diversity, and in civil matters such as participating in a global society. The importance of ethics as a required course is also underscored by the many accrediting bodies that require ethics as part of an undergraduate course of study. The AACSB, national accrediting association for business schools, in its recently revised standards now requires that an undergraduate degree program include not only communication, analytic and reflective skills,, multi-cultural and diversity understanding (all related to ethics), but, specifically, ethical understanding and reasoning abilities (Standard 15, Section 2). Similarly, the accreditation agency for engineering, the ABET, requires the study of ethics. Given the demanding and full course of study required for engineers, this inclusion of ethics at the national level is particularly significant. The views of accrediting agencies such as these matter for two reasons. First, the presence of an ethics requirement in the current core helps certain colleges, such as Engineering and Business, meet their accreditation requirements more easily. If ethics is not a requirement, these Colleges at LMU would most likely need to rethink how to meet the requirement and would have to take additional administrative and advising efforts to make sure all students met the accreditation board ethics requirement. Secondly, the recognition by accrediting agencies in widely diverse fields such as engineering and business underscores the importance of having ethics be a required course. Current best practices at universities across the country are moving towards greater inclusion of the study of ethics. We should not be heading in the opposite direction. Finally, on the web, in its promotional literature to parents, in its fundraising efforts, and in the most recent university wide strategic plan, LMU identifies ethics as one of its signature strengths. LMU, as a Catholic institution, has a particular emphasis on ethics as reflected in the six endowed chairs in ethics, one held in each of the six colleges in the University. If undergraduates no longer have to take even a single course in ethics, a disconnect is introduced between LMU s strategic plan, fundraising efforts, promotional literature, and investment in faculty on the one hand and what is taking place in terms of student learning on the other. The University should capitalize on historic strengths and on the perception of LMU has a distinctive place with a special emphasis on ethics by retaining a required course in ethics for all undergraduate students. Thank you for considering this proposed revision. We look forward to hearing from you. Christopher Kaczor, Ph.D. Thomas I. White, Ph.D. Conrad N. Hilton Professor in Business Ethics Director, Center for Ethics and Business 2

A course in ethics provides students with intellectual tools for making decisions and normative judgments in academic matters such as plagiarism, in social matters such as encountering diversity, and

3 Lawrence Wenner, Ph.D. Von der Ahe Chair of Communication & Ethics College of Communications and Fine Arts James J. Walter, Ph.D. Austin & Ann O'Malley Chair in Bioethics Lawrence Kalbers, Ph.D., CPA R. Chad Dreier Chair in Accounting Ethics Department of Accounting Director of the Center for Accounting Ethics, Governance, and the Public Interest Father Philip Chmielewski S.J., Ph.D. Professor and Sir Thomas More Chair of Engineering Ethics Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering Father William J. Fulco, S.J., Ph.D. National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Studies Department of Classics and Archaeology Father Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., Ph.D. T. Marie Chilton Professor of Catholic Theology Father Pat Connolly, S.J. of Mass Communication School of Film/Television Father Dorian Llywelyn, S.J., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Theology Father Jose I Badenes, S.J., Ph.D. Director of Catholic Studies Department of Modern Languages and Literatures Father Mark R. Bandsuch, S.J Department of Marketing & Business Law Sr. Mary Beth Ingham, C.S.J. Chair, Department of Philosophy 3

Seaver College of Science and Engineering Father William J. Fulco, S.J., Ph.D.

4 James Hanink, Ph.D. Jason Baehr, Ph.D. Associate Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D. Robin Wang, Ph.D. Director of Asian Studies Mark D. Morelli, Ph.D. Virgil Martin Nemoianu, Ph.D. Assistant Brian Treanor, Ph.D. Associate Director of Environmental Studies Erin Stackle, Ph.D. Assistant Gretchen Gusich, Ph.D. Assistant Daniel Speak, Ph.D. Assistant Scott Cameron, Ph.D. Director of the Ethics Program Dr. Roberto Dell'Oro Professor of Theological Ethics and Bioethics Nicholas Denysenko, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Theological Studies Jonathan Rothchild, PhD 4

D. Assistant Daniel Speak, Ph.D. Assistant Scott Cameron, Ph.D. Director of the Ethics Program Dr.

5 Director of Graduate Studies John R. Connolly, Ph.D. Professor of Theological Studies Christopher Key Chapple, Ph.D. Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology Dr. David A. Sánchez Assistant Professor of Theological Studies Dr. Daniel L. Smith-Christopher Professor of Old Testament Studies, and Director of Peace Studies Dr. Jeffrey S. Siker Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Theological Studies Amir Hussain, PhD Professor of Theological Studies George A. Dasaro, MS, CPA, CFE Professor Department of Accounting Charles M. Vance, Ph.D. Mahmoud M. Nourayi, Ph.D., CPA, CMA, CFM Professor and Chair, Department of Accounting Rabbi Arthur Gross-Schaefer, JD, MAHL Professor and Chair Department of Marketing Cathleen McGrath of Management 5

Siker Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Theological Studies Amir Hussain, PhD Professor of Theological Studies George A.

6 Myla Bui-Nguyen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Marketing Herbert A. Medina, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics Seaver College of Science and Engineering Michael Berg, Ph.D. Professor of Mathematics Seaver College of Science and Engineering Dr. Martin G. Ramirez Department of Biology Seaver College of Science and Engineering Emeritae Professors Associated with the Marymount Tradition Renee L Harrangue, Ph.D. Emerita Professor of Psychology Sr. Frances Gussenhoven, RSHM Emerita Professor of English 6

Ramirez Department of Biology Seaver College of Science and Engineering Emeritae Professors Associated with the Marymount

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College of Arts and Sciences http://www.slu.edu/x12557.xml Michael D. Barber, S.J. Interim Dean Reinhard G. Andress, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Graduate Education Stephen J. Dina, Ph.D. Associate Dean for