Abstract:

The goal of this paper is to look at the major ethical issues in higher education and to suggest that a religious foundation for adhering to these ethics can improve motivation for such adherence.Religious thought has always included moral instruction.These morals provide the foundation for ethical behavior in just about every society.The current drift away from religiously grounded ethics provides a more fertile ground for transgression of ethics because it emphasizes individual experience or group norms, but not a transcendent dimension to shape our conscience.Religious morals can shape ethical behavior concerning not only the issues immediately of concern in higher ed. e.g. plagiarism, research, harassment, and so on, but also provide a foundation for teaching ethical behavior across all majors.The major ethical foundation from the religious realm can be found in the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule.When these principles are applied in common sense fashion, ethical behavior should be more readily displayed in higher education.

Publications and Presentations:

Prescott-Ezickson, R. (2011). Religion and Ethics in Higher Education: Reinforcing Basic Values, OneVoice Conference, Tarrytown, NY.

Prescott-Ezickson, R. (2011). Religion and Ethics in Higher Education: Reinforcing Basic Values, OneVoice (compendium of papers).

Faculty Spotlight:

Dr. Robert Prescott-Ezickson currently serves as Assistant Professor at Central Connecticut State University teaching religion courses. He is also an online adjunct with Grand Canyon University. He was a pastor for 27 years. He earned his Ph. D at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Connecticut with his wife. They have two grown daughters. His hobbies include guitar, percussion, cooking and fishing.