Graduating with Honor: Best Practices to Promote Ethics Development in College Students

by Thomas G. Plante, Lori G. Plante

Overview

A comprehensive summary of best practices in ethics development on campus, providing a variety of practical ways to promote formation of ethics and character among college students and young adults.

• Provides best practices on how university students can develop ethical decision-making skills and explains how the college environment can be an excellent place to nurture the development of an ethical imperative in young adults

• Presents an effective and practical model for personal ethical decision-making that encourages individuals of any age to be thoughtful, intentional, and more likely to maintain one's moral integrity, best interests, and personal sense of honor

• Documents how a thoughtful approach to the formation of ethics and character during college can impact significant social issues, such as sexual assaults, problematic drinking, cheating on tests, and discrimination, both on-campus and in the general population

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440842009
Publisher:	ABC-CLIO, Incorporated
Publication date:	11/21/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	234
File size:	628 KB

About the Author

Thomas G. Plante, PhD, ABPP, is Augustin Cardinal Bea, S.J. University Professor and director of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University.

Lori G. Plante, PhD, is a licensed psychologist maintaining a clinical psychology practice in Menlo Park, CA, for more than 25 years.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xv

I Establishing the Foundation for Ethical Development in College

1 Introduction to Ethical Issues in College 3

2 The Four I's: Developmental Goals and Challenges in College 13

3 Ethics 101: Mora! Philosophy in a Nutshell 27

4 The RRICC Model: Five Ethical Principles for Decision Making 37

II What Colleges, Parents, and Students Can Do to Nurture Ethical Development

5 Creating an Organizational Culture of Ethics 51

6 How Universities Can Teach and Embody Ethical Thought 59

7 What the Faith Communities Can Do to Promote Student Ethics 67

8 How Parents Can Help Young Adults Prepare Ethically for College 75

9 What Students Can Do to Nurture Their Own Character Development in College 85

10 In Their Own Words: Students Offer Their Views on Ethics Development at College 91

III Best Practices in Ethical Development on Campus

11 Best Practices: Curricular 105

12 Best Practices: Extracurricular 113

13 Best Practices: Residential Life 123

14 Best Practices: Athletics 133

15 Best Practices: Campus Judicial Procedures 141

16 Best Practices: Alumni, Donor, and Community Relations 153

IV Conclusions and Resources

17 Putting It All Together: Best Ways to Nurture Ethical Development in Colleges 161

Appendix A Sample Syllabi for Applied Ethics Classes 171

Appendix B Sample Syllabi for Freshman 100/101 Classes 182

Appendix C Sample Honor Codes 191

Appendix D Sample Paradigm for University Judicial Procedures 199

Appendix E A Framework for Ethical Decision Making 202

Appendix F Fifteen Principles for the Design of College Ethical Development Programs 208

Appendix G Additional Resources 218

References 223

Index 227

What People are Saying About This

Stephen A. Privett

"I have been in higher education for more than 30 years. The Internet, among other changes, has introduced ethical challenges that did not exist when most ethics textbooks were written, everything from instant pornography to hook-up apps to made-to-order term papers. The ethical landscape for today's college student is a virtual mine field of life-shaping decision points. The Plantes' book provides a map through that mine field and addresses a need too long unaddressed. This textbook is replete with real-life dilemmas and thoughtful considerations of how to approach them. The authors deliver on their promise to 'provide a model for imparting the skills of ethical decision-making to college students during a time of great transition, temptation, and unprecedented freedom.' This book offers life skills whose worth extends far beyond the college years and provides a framework for lives of responsibility, integrity, and compassion."

Laura Roberts

"True education, as noted by Martin Luther King, Jr., brings forward intelligence and character. In Graduating with Honor, Professors Thomas Plante and Lori Plante seek to advance true education in this sense by defining best practices for nurturing ethics—ethical formation—among college students. The authors provide guidance to students as well as educators, parents, and leaders, illuminating the path for creating an optimal environment for ethical development on college campuses. Situated in the realities of dorms, athletics, and classrooms, this beautifully written text offers insights and practices that are of immediate value to those engaged in campus life. Rather than bringing ethical theory 'down' to the real world, however, Professors Plante and Plante elevate the discussion of college life to enrich our understanding of the hardest moral issues of the day: dishonesty, sexual exploitation, violence, injustice. Martin Luther King, Jr., also reminded us that a person has 'not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.' Professors Plante and Plante through their words and example invite their readers to live more fully by recognizing the role of ethical formation in college students who will shoulder many of the responsibilities of humanity in the future."

Thomas Ehrlich

"What a wise and wonderful book! The team of Plante and Plante focus on one of the most important and challenging issues in higher education—how best to bake sound ethical precepts into the identity of college students so that they follow those precepts in later life. Every arena of college life is covered. With numerous telling illustrations of what to do and why, the coauthors give concrete advice to faculty, staff, and administrators. This is a book that belongs not on their bookshelves, but rather distilled into the daily education of their students."

David Quigley

"Amid a chorus of pessimism and disillusionment about our colleges and universities, Lori and Tom Plante offer up a refreshing critique that takes an honest look at our contemporary challenges and suggest practical steps for faculty, administrators, and parents. Graduating with Honor calls us to imagine how we can deliver on higher education's promise for today's young people as they search for honorable lives of meaning and consequence."

Jeanne Rosenberger

"Graduating with Honors is a comprehensive resource offering practical options for the ethical formation of college students. The authors have captured the subtle complexities of the college student experience and offer a range of formation practices that are accessible to students, parents, and student affairs professionals alike."