Eight UCCS students join 2023-2024 Ethics Ambassador Cohort, partner with campus Ethics Advisors
A total of eight students (four incoming, four returning) from across UCCS have been selected to pursue principle-based ethics projects with a paired UCCS ethics fellow for the fall 2024 semester. These students will engage in ethics opportunities, gain program-based work experience and develop valuable leadership skills.
The student ethics ambassador program is offered through the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program (DFEI) in the UCCS College of Business and allows students to earn up to $1,500 per semester for working on principle-based ethics projects at UCCS.
Students selected for the ethics ambassador program are paired with an ethics fellow in their field of interest to create ethics programs, conferences and curriculum to be delivered to UCCS and the greater southern Colorado community. Ethics ambassadors are given unique opportunities to network with industry professionals and compete in state- and nation-wide ethics events to demonstrate critical thinking skills in business ethics. Each student works collaboratively with their ethics expert to share resources and initiatives with students, educators and the business community.
“This fall, we are pleased to have eight students serve as ethics ambassadors for the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program,” said Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, director of the DFEI at UCCS. “By championing ethics on and off campus, their commitment will help further our understanding of ethical decision-making and leadership.”
Each student ethics ambassador receives a nomination from UCCS faculty and staff and submits a statement detailing how they intend to utilize ethics to support their academic and career goals.
The new fall 2024 student ambassadors include:
2024-2025 new UCCS Student Ethics Ambassadors/Fellow Advisors
- Hayley Crist, Bachelor of Social Work, College of Public Service
- Fellow: Ila DeBose, Clinical Assistant Professor & BSW Director, College of Public Service
- Daniel Cody Rinn, Bachelor of Arts, Social Work, College of Public Service
- Fellow: Ila DeBose, Clinical Assistant Professor & BSW Director, College of Public Service
- Jaryn Winston, Bachelor of Arts, Criminal Justice, College of Public Service
- Fellow: Katy Hudson, Teaching Professor of Criminal Justice, BACJ Director, College of Public Service
- Gabriella Zapata, Bachelor of Science in Business, Sport Management, College of Business
- Fellow: Carolayne Henry, Assistant Teaching Professor of Sport Management, College of Business
The students above will be joined by these returning student ethics ambassadors in fall 2024:
- Gregory Abukar-Duru, Bachelor of Arts, Criminal Justice, College of Public Service
- Fellow: Katy Hudson, Senior Instructor, College of Public Service
- Sana Hamad, Bachelor of Arts, Criminal Justice, College of Public Service
- Fellow: Katy Hudson, Senior Instructor, College of Public Service
- Khamani James Murphy, Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, College of Business
- Fellow: Jennifer Kling, Associate Professor/Director, Center for Legal Studies, Department of Philosophy, College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
- Faith White, Master of Social Work, College of Public Service
- Fellow: Malikah Marrus, DSW, Clinical Assistant Professor & Practicum Director, College of Public Service
This year’s student ethics ambassadors bring perspectives from a variety of majors and industries, and each have put ethics at the forefront of their educational goals.
“Katrina Hudson, an accredited professor, sparked my interest in ethics within the criminal justice system,” said Jaryn Winston. “Her leadership and ethics-based approach were truly admirable when I attended her classes. I intend to work as an Ethics Fellow with Professor Hudson. She can offer me insightful knowledge and real-life experience.”
“My aspiration to become a Daniel’s Ethics Ambassador for University of Colorado Colorado Springs is deeply rooted in both personal interest and commitment to professional growth in the field of social work,” Hayley Crist said. “The opportunity to serve in this capacity holds the promise of significantly impacting not only my own career trajectory, but also the broader ethical landscape of Southern Colorado.”
Find more information about the 2024-25 student ethics ambassadors here.
Eight UCCS faculty and staff selected as Ethics Fellows
Eight faculty and staff members will serve as Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program in the UCCS College of Business as Ethics Fellows during the 2024-25 academic year. The prestigious Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative faculty fellowships are awarded to UCCS faculty who demonstrate excellence in pedagogical activities related to applied business, professional and organizational ethics.
The new fellows are:
- Monica Furey, MSW, Clinical Assistant Professor, Social Work, College of Public Service
- Catherine Grandorff, Principal Instructor of English, College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
- Kathy Liu, Associate Professor of Health Sciences, Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences
- Gabriela Martinez Mercier, Instruction & Research Librarian & Instructor of Learning, Research, and Engagement, Kraemer Family Library
- Armin Moin, Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, College of Engineering & Applied Science
- Cody Parish, Program Director, Chancellor’s Leadership Class and UCCSlead, Student Life
- Curtis Turner, Associate Teaching Professor, Alternative Licensure Program Coordinator, Teaching and Learning, College of Education
- Paul Yankey, Assistant Teaching Professor of Marketing, College of Business
The ethics fellow program started in 2011 in the College of Business and quickly expanded to other colleges across campus. This year, 68 educators on UCCS campus will serve as ethics fellows.
Each fellow is selected based upon their proposal to encourage learning opportunities in ethical thought and decision-making to their respective college and area of focus. This extension of principle-based ethics can take the form of classroom materials, workshops and other various platforms, according to Gonzalez-Padron.
“We are pleased to welcome eight new ethics fellows from across the campus to present innovative approaches to principle-based ethics education” said Gonzalez-Padron. “The UCCS ethics fellow program is a resource for ethics in the workplace for UCCS students, our alumni, and our Colorado Springs community.”
UCCS fellows work with ethics champions from eleven colleges and universities in southern Colorado through the UCCS Southern Colorado Ethics Consortium (SCEC) Ethics Champions Program. The SCEC Ethics Champion program is designed to create a collaborative community to expand principle-based ethics in southern Colorado.
A welcome dinner was held on August 22, 2024, to recognize the incoming DFEI at UCCS Fellows, UCCS Student Ethics Ambassadors and SCEC Ethics Champions. An orientation on the following day prepared them for their new roles as ethics educators. For more information about becoming an ethics fellow, visit our website.
16 Ethics Champions selected in southern Colorado
DFEI recently welcomed three new and twelve returning faculty and staff members from regional colleges to serve as 2024-25 Ethics Champions.
The ethic champions represent two- and four-year colleges from the Southern Colorado Ethics Consortium and work to expand principled-based ethics education throughout their campus and regional community. Each ethics champion works collaboratively with the DFEI at UCCS to share resources and initiatives with educators throughout southern Colorado.
“We are pleased to welcome our ethics champions for 2024-25! Each represents southern Colorado higher education institutions who instill principle-based ethics on their campus,” said Gonzalez-Padron. “The goal of the Southern Colorado Ethics Consortium is to create a collaborative community to champion principle-based ethics in southern Colorado. We look forward to sharing best practices and learn from our new and returning ethics champions.”
The new champions are:
- Caitlyn Dieckmann, Professor of Psychology, Otero College
- Emily Hammer, Professor of Business, Trinidad State College
- Emily Mulvihill, Business Professor and Division Chair for Business, Trinidad State College
Returning champions include:
- J. Beth Almanza, Professor of Medical Imaging, Pueblo Community College
- Christopher “CJ” Clugston, Assistant Professor in Business Administration and Law, Western Colorado University
- Joseph Eubank, TRiO Student Support Services Advisor and Success Coach, Otero College
- Scott Heyler, Assistant Professor of Management, United States Air Force Academy
- Michele Johnson, Assistant Professor of Officer Development Program, United Staes Air Force Academy
- Carol Kurkowski, Professor of Business, Pikes Peak State College
- Monica Novack, Assistant Professor, Computer Science, Pikes Peak State College
- Chris Picicci, Professor and Program Director (Italian), Colorado State University Pueblo
- Zach Sands, English and Humanities, Lamar Colorado College
- Kaori Takano, Professor of International Business, Ft. Lewis College
- Michael Vieregge, Professor of Business Administration, Western Colorado University
- Anthony Webb, Visiting Assistant Professor of Health Care Administration, Adams State University
For more information about the 2024-25 ethics champions, visit our website.
About the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program
The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program at the UCCS College of Business is a resource for principle-based ethics education, serving students, educators and business community. The UCCS College of Business is one of eight original participating schools in the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program that now includes twelve participating schools.
The DFEI supports the Southern Colorado Education Consortium (SCEC) for nine higher education institutions in the southern half of the state. In 2016, the DFEI Collegiate Program at UCCS launched an ethics champion pilot program to expand best practices in ethics education. Each participating school has educators serving as Ethics Champions on their campus to expand principle-based ethics education and resources throughout southern Colorado. The program has since expanded to include a large variety of events and programs for educators, students and business members throughout southern Colorado. For more information, visit www.uccs.edu/businessethics.