Setting standards for ethics

Most professional schools offer courses in the ethics of their field, but President Bok believes that the teachers of business, law, and medical ethics are not always well prepared for the task. To help change that, the University plans to found the country's first postgraduate training program for the teaching of ethics in professional schools.

Bok says he commissioned a committee of Harvard professors to develop the program because he felt most of the people teaching professional ethics, while experts within their respective fields, are insufficiently trained in philosophy.

"What is missing in this country is any program to prepare people rigorously to teach these courses that is comparable to the kind of systematic preparation that people get to teach in most other courses," he says.

More than 1000 universities and institutions around the country offer courses in pure and applied ethics, but the proposed program would be the first specifically designed to train teachers for those courses at professional schools.

Philosophers around the country agreed with Bok that while it is important for professional schools to offer ethics courses, most tend to be taught haphazardly.

The committee delivered its report to Bok last month, and the program may start as early as next year, although the University must assemble a new base of funds and personnel.

Calling for the program reflects 'Bok's personal interest in ethics and his commitment to making Harvard a leader in education. He says very few universities have both the strong professional schools and good philosophy departments needed to start such a program.

"We happen to have strength in all those areas and therefore we ought to at least poke around to see if there is something we can do to try and provide a place for people who are interested in these fields. And I don't think there is anything like a place like Harvard to do it," Bok explains.

The program will draw from all of the University's faculties, and students will have a lot of freedom to design plans of study to suit their interests.

Students will probably take a basic course or tutorial in teaching ethics and then choose electives from any area of the University during the year-long program.

Bok and the members of the committee are reluctant to discuss their proposal until completion this summer, but the idea has already received an important stamp of approval. Last month when the committee delivered its report to Bok, he discussed it with the deans of Harvard's graduate schools. The deans strongly endorsed the concept and committed their schools to help get the project off the ground.

"We all think it's a very good idea," says Dean of the Graduate School of Education Patricia A. Graham. "The issues of professional ethics are clearly of interest to the University and professional schools, but they really have not been addressed."

Since most electives students would take already exist at the various professional schools, the main problems facing the University are finding the money and people to run the new program.

The more difficult task involves appointing a head for the project--since the program will be the first of its kind, very few qualified people exist.

Bok acknowledges that it may be difficult to convince a scholar, either at Harvard or elsewhere, to take on the administrative duties. He said he hopes to persuade a candidate within a year.

Once an administrator is chosen, details of exactly what the program will offer and how it will be run will be worked out, says Bok.

The amount of money available will also determine how the program operates, says Bok. He says the University is reluctant to divert much existing money to the new program, and he and others involved will have to raise money to support it. Fund raising will most directly affect enrollment.

Bok says the student applicant pool will probably be relatively small, but the eventual enrollment depends on how much money is raised to support it.

At least initially, the program will not offer a formal degree but may issue some sort of certificate.

While most students will already have professional degrees. Bok says that people with philosophy background could also-come to Harvard to study a specific field like medicine or business.

Bok believes the lack of a formal degree will not hurt the program. "Most of the people we envision as being interested in applying to such a program will already have doctorates or other advanced degrees," he says. "The kind of people we're interested in aren't interested in another degree."