An often-neglected word has made its way into the halls and classrooms of the UT business school - ethics.
In the aftermath of the corporate scandals that have rocked the business world, the accounting profession has been placed in the spotlight with the public questioning accounting methods and with government officials calling for reform. Now more than ever, personal character and ethical values seem to be more important qualities for accountants and students considering the career.
The increased focus on business ethics has impacted the University's highly rated business and accounting programs. The UT Professional Program in Accounting - a five-year program in which students receive undergraduate and masters' degrees - is recognized by U.S. News and World Report to be one of the top accounting programs in the nation, with many of its graduates going on to work for top firms across the nation.
Much like the state of the profession now, it is uncertain whether the business school has made ethics a new focus of its curriculum.
Professors and students alike are talking about - and thinking about - ethics. But there is no specific business ethics requirement for undergraduate accounting students. The accounting program did require a course in business ethics in the '70s and the '80s, but was withdrawn amid student complaints that the class, which focused on the philosophy of ethics, was too removed from actual business situations.
As a place of higher learning and a center for guidance to students about to enter the "real world," the University can play a strong role in helping students grapple with difficult ethical issues they and businesses will face, said Stephen Limberg, chair of the accounting department in the Red McCombs School of Business.
Limberg explained that ethics education has been integrated into the accounting curriculum and other business classes in a "context-specific setting."
"Discussion of ethics is most relevant when addressed in the context of the particular subject," Limberg said. "[The school has] made an effort to address [the issues] in specific classes rather than an isolated course."
However, the accounting department requires all third- and fourth-year PPA students to take part in the PPA Lyceum, an ethics lecture series.
Michael Granof, an accounting professor, agrees with the value of raising ethical issues in context, but admits that time often limits how much he can focus on ethics in his classes.
"Most of the time in classes you have a very limited amount of time, and you're trying to make certain technical points, and you just don't have time to engage in lengthy debates," Granof said. "It's a matter of priorities, of course."
A good part of ethics is simply choosing to do the "right thing," and that may be a virtue that can't be taught in a classroom, Granof said.
"The problem with ethics is, when you look at the major scandals that have taken place, I don't think one could argue that the people involved didn't know right from wrong," he said. "They just chose to do wrong. Ethics is very hard to teach as a subject, per se."
Among business students, ethics has been a buzzword during recent conversations.
Andi Titus, president of the University Accounting Association and an accounting senior, has heard both sides of the ethics-requirement discussion from members of UAA, friends and peers.
"About 40 percent think that we're too old to be taught ethics and that if we haven't learned it now, we're not going to learn it, and about 60 percent think that it would be a good idea just to learn from other people's mistakes and see case studies," Titus said.
Michael Perkins, a fifth-year PPA student, said he has mixed feelings about creating an ethics requirement.
"It's probably a 50-50 answer, 'yes' or 'no,'" Perkins said. "Some people are ill-willed and will always be greedy. I don't think that you can necessarily teach people to be good people in a college course. I think that the only way it can maybe help is to shine the light on the consequences possible.
"Maybe these people who act against their better judgment don't realize the consequences until maybe they have the ethics course, so maybe drilling that into people's heads could make a difference."
Perkins said he is pleased with the lessons in ethics he has received thus far.
"I think UT has done an excellent job," Perkins said. "We have got a very distinctive ethics program. I think that it is drilled in our brains in every class that we take, especially in the accounting field. Even more so since the scandals have taken place."
And many students agree.
"I think the school is doing a lot with making sure ethics is all on our minds," said Timothy Tow, a first-year MBA student. "I don't think that you really need a separate course on it. I would think that it has to be a component of every course because every field that you deal with in business will have its own ethical challenges."
Though the recent corporate scandals have created skepticism and worry in some, it has also strengthened the resolve of educators and heightened awareness of ethical issues among students.
Granof described an example of a difficult ethical accounting issue - when an accountant knows that a company sold and then bought back an asset to inflate its earnings. Granof said he would do what he could to address it in class.
"I guarantee this issue will come up in class," Granof said. "Previously, I probably would have just passed over it. Now, I will spend some time questioning it. I think I will be changing it this year. I will probably be picking on those issues a lot more. I feel I owe it to them."
In addition to classroom discussion, students in the business school receive ethics teaching through the Business Ethics Program, a voluntary lecture and event series established in the late '90s that features experts from the industry and college professors to discuss social issues in management and business ethics.
"It's not a curriculum or concentration, but it does have some great events and activities, including an ambitious lecture series," said Steven Salbu, BEP director and associate dean in the business school.
The speaker series will feature five lectures this fall, addressing post-Enron ethics with discussions on ethical issues raised in the Enron case, government oversight of the accounting profession and the ethical duties of CPAs to financial markets as well as to the general public.
Whether business students discuss ethics in a class dedicated to the subject or explore issues as they arise in class, most recognize the value of those discussions.
"One of the professors that spoke said that a large number decisions that we students will make later in the business field involve ethical considerations," Perkins said. "Every day, we're making ethical considerations and decisions."
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