Dixie State College of Utah's Udvar-Hazy School of Business continues its bi-monthly noontime Business and Ethics Forum series Thursday, Oct. 23, with a presentation by Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith.
The Business and Ethics Forum, presented every other Thursday throughout DSC's fall and spring semesters, will be held in the Boeing Auditorium (Room 121) of the DSC Udvar-Hazy Business Building. DSC students, faculty and staff, the entire Washington County business community, and the general public are all invited to attend. Admission is free.
Sheriff Smith's presentation, entitled "How High Should We Set the Bar?," will present some ethical dilemmas facing today's law enforcement officers. He will discuss officer discretion, officer misconduct, and the challenges faced enforcing a written code of ethics in a changing society, among other topics.
Smith is in his third term and tenth year overall as Sheriff of Washington County. He has been a law enforcement officer for 31 years, with the first 21 years as a Utah Highway Patrolman. Smith has received many honors and awards during his law enforcement career, including Law Enforcement Officer of the Year, Outstanding Police Officer of the Year, and was a two-time Lawman of the Year honoree by the Utah Sheriff's Association.
Smith serves on several committees and organizations representing Utah, Western States and National Sheriff's Association, the Utah Association of Counties, and Governors DUI Committee. He is also involved with the St. George Children's Justice Center and the Dove Center.
The series will continue Nov. 6, with a presentation by Scott Hirschi, Director of Washington County Economic Development. In addition, local mortgage broker Alan Crooks will speak to the forum Nov. 20; and Josh Little, attorney with the law firm of Durham, Jones and Pinegar, will wrap up the semester schedule with a presentation Dec. 4.
Each speaker throughout the semester will speak on business matters in their respective professions and have been asked to integrate ethics into the discussion.
The bi-monthly forum, along with campus' Institute for Business Integrity, was created by former DSC president Dr. Robert Huddleston in 2006, as a way to integrate ethics into the curriculum, and have it serve as a blueprint to ensure that students graduate with a set of ethical tools to help them get along in the professional world.
In 2006-07, Dixie State's business program sought initial accreditation with the high profile Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In order to become accredited with the AACSB, ethics were required to be integrated into the collegešs business curriculum. As a result, each business class on the DSC campus now includes an ethical component.
Dr. Huddleston noted that the business forums will give students and current and prospective local business owners an added dose of ethics training that is so sorely needed into today's business world. His hope is that by the time students leave Dixie State, they have been exposed to enough ethical cases that, when they get out in the workforce, they will have the wherewithal and the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing, even when their job might be on the line.
"The Institute for Business Integrity has brought an important opportunity for the business community, as well as DSC faculty and students, to emphasize the significance of social responsibility for business and industry in Washington County," Dr. Huddleston said. "As research indicates, ethics contribute to employee commitment, investor loyalty, customer satisfaction and to profits."
The Dixie State College Institute for Business Integrity is a partnership between the Udvar-Hazy School of Business at Dixie State College, the Small Business Development Center, the Washington County Economic Development Council, and the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce.
For questions regarding the DSC Institute for Business Integrity forums, contact Dr. Huddleston at huddleston@dixie.edu or 435-652-7740.
