CUR Annual Meeting 2002 Report
 
Session: Diversity as an Ethics Issue
Date: 6/20/2002

Workshop Leader: Thomas L. Van Valey, Western Michigan University
Recorder: Thomas L. Van Valey
Attendance: 16 participants

Summary:

There was a brief introduction which focused on Diversity leading to Value Conflict, and Value Conflict as an Ethical concern. Then it turned to the issue of Diversity as it relates to the "application of existing standards," since the standards are the meeting point between the faculty and the students. The fundamental position is that the increasing diversity of the student population results in a decreasing awareness of the values held by the faculty. This gap in awareness produces ethical concerns for the faculty as they are exposed to an increasing variety of values held by students. 

During the session, several overheads were shown, one dealing with cheating versus research integrity, one presenting a case dealing with the exploitation of a student by a faculty member, and several others relating to the changing composition of both the student and faculty populations (i.e., increasing diversity) on college campuses. Each overhead generated considerable discussion among the participants, especially the case.