UA News

Three years after its inception, The University of Arizona's Eller College of Management High School Ethics Forum is expanding to Phoenix. The event is scheduled for April 3, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Eller MBA Scottsdale Campus.

The program expansion is made possible by support from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

"The High School Ethics Forum provides the students with a terrific opportunity to identify, evaluate and discuss real-life ethical dilemmas," said Reed Mittelstaedt, a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner in Phoenix. "PricewaterhouseCoopers has been a proud sponsor of the program in Pima County for the last two years and we are excited to be a part of the Eller College's plans to expand the program to include high school students in Maricopa County this spring."

The event is coordinated by Eller College undergraduate students from the Eller Board of Honor and Integrity.

Paul Melendez, director of the ethics program and public policy lecturer at the Eller College of Management, writes topical case studies for the students and provides them with an ethical framework so they can evaluate the case over the course of the day.

The student teams will develop ethical, responsible and practical solutions for each case, and then share their conclusions with the entire group.

"The experience challenges students' moral reasoning, provides a wonderful networking opportunity and raises students' awareness of the importance of corporate social responsibility," Melendez said.

For this year's events, the students will discuss ethics problems revolving around employers using social networking sites for hiring, students selling class notes against a professor's wishes and the social harm associated with video games. After discussing with participating undergraduate students from the Eller College of Management, the high school students will present their solutions for each case.

Five Phoenix-area school districts will be represented at the event – Chandler, Cave Creek, Gilbert, Scottsdale and Mesa – along with Brophy and Xavier high schools. The event will conclude with a luncheon and a keynote address by Patrick Kuhse, a recognized authority on business ethics with a compelling personal story.