The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative recently sponsored Ethics Week on campus, in partnership with the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute and Hinkley Institute of Politics. Dozens of students, staff and faculty participated in several events throughout the week.
The week kicked off with a “What Does Ethics Mean to You” event in both the SFEBB lobby and the Hinckley Institute. Students stopped by to record short videos about the role of ethics in their lives, and were rewarded with a treat.
On Tuesday, entrepreneur Farzad Mohebbi spoke on “Ethics and Transparency in a Business Setting.” Mohebbi discussed how personal and professional ethics have played an integral role in the success of his business, Papa Pita. Mohebbi began by laying out his own basic personal moral code, including values such as responsibility, loyalty, integrity, and selflessness. He soon moved to his professional ethics, highlighting ideals such as being a transparent business, allowing mistakes to be made, and following through with one’s commitments. In addition, Mohebbi incorporated true stories of the trials his business had faced and how he handled them, emphasizing the fact that he has always adhered to these ethical values regardless of the situation. Ultimately, Mohebbi combined both his personal and professional ethics into the quality of accountability, where in order to run a successful business, one must always be transparent to those associated with the company and responsible for their actions, as leading by example inspires others to do the same.
Wrapping up the week was a panel discussion, “Academic Misconduct, Chat GPT and the Future of Higher Education.” The panel was moderated by T. Chase Hagood, Senior Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at the University of Utah. He was joined by Karen Paisley, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs, Jason Ramirez, Dean of Students, and Robert Payne, Associate General Counsel. The panel discussed the benefits and drawbacks of artificial intelligence in higher education, and how the University will need to grow and adapt. Panelists all agreed that the outlook was promising, comparing the “doom and gloom” attitude expressed by many in academia to the same concerns that were raised when testing moved away from the “blue book” model. All agreed that the University’s code of conduct is a work in progress that is still evolving to include AI considerations.