April 2007 Archives

One of the highlights of my job is working with students in the Kelley School of Business Honors Program.  The 11 students graduating with Honors this May have been the most recognized group of Honors graduates in the history of Kelley Indianapolis.  They have studied abroad, been named multiple times to the list of IUPUI Top 100 and Top 10 students,  had amazing internship experiences, and many are ready to begin enviable jobs when they graduate in less than a month.

On Sunday evening, April 22, the Kelley Honors Program, in conjunction with the IUPUI Honors Program, held a recognition dinner for the Honors graduates, their friends, and their families.  This was the first year that Kelley students have been invited to this ceremony and, of course, they stole the show.  Here they are:

From left to right:  Nodira Issamiddinova, Branden Harbin, Jaime Nieto Jimenez, Kim Donahue (Honors faculty), Drew Boyd, Alam Crumly, Amy Wright, and Danielle DeNise. 

Students unable to attend included: Wendy Hoffman, Jayna Kadel, Juliana Mattheis, and Tisha Talley.

The Kelley Honors Program has grown from a graduating class of less than 10 students two years ago into a program that now accepts a select group of 30 high-achieving Kelley students each Fall.  Much of the credit for this growth can be directly attributed to this group of students - Thank you.

If you are a regular reader of the Wall Street Journal, IBJ, Indianapolis Star or any of the dozens of other magazines and newspapers dedicated to business, it is hard not to feel a little discouraged at times.  It seems that every day at least one company announces the need to restate earnings due to accounting errors or another high profile executive is caught in the stock options backdating scandal.  Colleges and universities have not been able to escape the limelight either, with several of the country's most well know institutions having engaged in what appear to be, at the very least, questionable practices regarding student loans.  Imagine my surprise when I read that Notre Dame, my alma mater, was swept up in the student loan probe. 

I'm not as cynical as the previous paragraph may suggest, but I do believe that these issues highlight how important it is, even 5+ years after the Enron debacle, for every individual to understand the important role ethics occupy in the workplace.  Most of us can confidently say that we have a set of beliefs and follow our own set of moral and ethical guidelines in our personal lives, but what about when we are at work.  Do the same standards apply or are we a little more lax in our application of ethical standards?

Yesterday the Career Placement Office offered its 3rd workshop in our Issues in the Workplace Series (webasts of previous workshops).  Jackie Smith, the Network Privacy & Compliance Officer for Community Health Network, led an incredibly interactive and thought-provoking workshop entitled Ethics in Business.

Here is one of the many scenarios we discussed for you to consider:

Scenario: You are going on your first business trip for your company.  This is a 2 week engagement.  You decide to go out to dinner at Ruths' Chris (I would choose St. Elmo's, but it's not my scenario).  It is more expensive than what you would normally pay for dinner.  Should you charge it to your expense account?

Additional information: It is your last night and you are taking a client out to dinner.  How expensive of a restaurant should you select?  Is Ruths' Chris too much?  Do you charge both meals to your account?

Even more additional info: The client makes references to attending a strip club after dinner.  What do you do?

Most of us face these types of ethical dilemmas, or even smaller ones at work.  Very few of us are in the position to decide how to account for $12,000,000 in stock options.  Instead we wonder how we should feel about ourselves or colleagues taking home a few office supplies or surfing the internet at work.  The important thing is that we at least spend some time thinking about how we apply our ethics in the workplace. 

Jackie suggested that when confronted with an ethical dilemma in the workplace you should begin by asking yourself the following questions to determine if you are on thin ice:

• What would this look like in the newspaper?
• What would I tell my child to do?
• Will I sleep soundly tonight?
• How would I feel if my family and friends knew what I was doing?
• Am I being fair and honest?
• If you are still unsure, seek guidance from someone whom you trust and respect.

My blog is up a little late this time (and will be a little shorter than usual) simply because my schedule has been as packed as it has ever been over the past month. 

Why? It's getting closer and closer to the end of another academic year, which is, without fail, the busiest, most exhausting, and most fun time of the year for me.  There is never a dull moment around the office - just check out a small sampling of events from my calendar over during March and April and you'll see what I mean:

Everyday - All Day (almost)
Individual career counseling appointments

Sometimes it feels like I see more students in the last two months of the year than I do in the previous 8 months combined.  I've already met with dozens of students looking for help finding summer internships or looking to line up a job prior to graduation - and I expect to see dozens more during April. 

Tuesday April 3rd - 1:30-2:30
IUPUI Internship Council Meeting

Every month I meet with faculty and staff throughout the IUPUI campus who coordinate internship opportunities.  Some of the recent projects we have taken on have included planning and carrying out the 2007 IUPUI Intern Connections Fair and developing an employer guide that will help external organizations navigate the maze of IUPUI schools and departments.

Monday April 9th - 10:30-11:45; 1:30-2:45; and 3:00-4:15
Interactive Interview Presentation for X204 - Business Communications course

I will actually be in Kelley classrooms on a regular basis over the next month (along with the rest of the CPO) giving activity-based presentations on resumes and interviewing.

Thursday April 12th - 11:30-1:30
Employer visit to Brightpoint

I will be meeting with members of Brightpoint's recruiting staff to discuss setting up a rotational internship program within their Finance department.  Additionally, there are over 150 jobs and internships posted on KelleyCareers - and I am constantly on the phone, emailing and visiting with employers interested in recruiting Kelley Indianapolis students.

Thursday March 1st and Thursday March 29th - 4:00-6:00
Finance Meet the Recruiter & Management/Marketing/Human Resources Meet the Recruiter events

During the month of March the CPO put on two on-campus job fairs as well as coordinating several on-campus interview sessions for companies hiring Kelley Indianapolis students   Finance Meet the Recruiter Event and the Management/Marketing/HR Meet the Recruiter Event.  There were over 50 employers on-campus recruiting for internship and full-time positions - and there were 100 students at the Finance event alone.

And today we just scheduled our 2007 summer retreat so that we can get a head start on next year!