Online Videos Focus on Ethics and Leadership

The Mann Center has launched a new series of short videos, "Conversations on Ethics and Leadership". Published on the center's web site, the first two programs feature recent speakers in the A. Gerow Hodges Lectures in Ethics and Leadership. Jerome Miller, vice president for diversity and social responsibility at Toyota USA, discusses diversity management and its relevance to business and higher education. Betty L. Siegel, president emeritus of Kennesaw State University, shares perspectives on women's leadership based on her 25 years as president of Georgia's third-largest university. Each video is approximately eight minutes in length.

Teaching and Research at Samford

Samford's Health Ethics and Law (HEAL) Institute has published the full proceedings of its 2009 conference, The Intersection of Faith and Ethics in Health Care. The following presentations are available online: “The Numinous, the Medical and the Moral” (Daniel P. Sulmasy, O.F.M., Ph.D.); “The Fine Edge Between Light and Shadow: Spirituality, Illness and Dignity” (Karen Lebacqz, Ph.D.); “When to be Spiritual in Health Care” (Dennis Sansom, Ph.D.); "Conscientious Objection and the Future of Catholic Health Care” (Leonard J. Nelson, J.D., LL.M.); “Self-Deception, Medical Practice and the Eclipse of Spirituality” (John C. Knapp, Ph.D.); and “Justice: Bedside Clinical Ethics’ Next Great Challenge” (Bruce D. White, D.O., J.D.).

The Business of Higher Education, a three-volume collection of essays on critical issues facing colleges and universities, was released this month by Praeger Publishers. Co-edited by Mann Center Director John C. Knapp and East Carolina University's David J. Siegel, the three dozen chapters explore the growing tension between traditional academic values and the need to improve efficiency, fiscal performance and accountability. Forty-four contributors address marketing, academic-industry partnerships, leadership development, academic freedom, unionization, student retention, athletics, tuition cost, college rankings, commercialization and other current concerns.

News and Views

Resume fraud may be on the increase as jobs become more scarce, several studies show. Cleveland-based EmployeeScreenIQ, a background screening firm, reports that half of the resumes it sees contain inconsistencies, while the Society for Human Resource Management says the figure is more like 70 percent. Another company, Orange Tree Employment Screening, reports that 40 percent of resumes this year do not match the findings of background checks, up from 33 percent in 2007. Related resource: Article in National Law Journal.

A strongly worded letter demanding research funding for ethics in biomedical and health-related fields was sent last week to Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, the government agency tasked with life science research. Signed by more than 100 leading biomedical researchers, journal editors and health-care administrators, the letter cites "ethical lapses and financial conflicts of interest," including ghostwritten articles, physician payoffs, and the use of academic opinions to market FDA-regulated products. "Between bench and bedside lies a path treacherous with ethical quandaries," they write. "NIH is the best place to launch and support a scientifically rigorous inquiry into the state of research ethics, industry-academic relationships, and the effect of these relationships on human health." Related resource: November 17, 2009, Letter (PDF file).

The 2009 State of Corporate Citizenship in the United States, an annual survey of more than 700 companies by the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, finds a "significant expansion" of environmental sustainability efforts in products, services and operations, as well as a continuing commitment to philanthropy (only 38 percent of companies had reduced corporate giving as a result of the economic downturn). Related resource: Corporate Responsibility Report 2009 (PDF file).

Human Rights Dilemmas Forum is a new, online resource from UN Global Compact, providing tools for multi-stakeholder discussions of human rights dilemmas faced by multi-national corporations. The first two dilemmas featured on the site involve HIV/AIDS and Human Trafficking; future topics include migrant workers, equality and gender, and child labor, among others. Related resource: Web site, Human Rights Dilemmas Forum.