NASBA Center for the Public Trust launches first student chapter at COB

Janel Shoun | 

 

The NASBA Center for the Public Trust (CPT) announces the creation of the Student Center for the Public Trust, with the first chapter nationwide sponsored by Lipscomb University’s College of Business.
 
The SCPT provides students with an ethics forum and leadership resources along with a path to a values-driven course of action in which to impact the world of business.
 
The student organization provides unique learning experiences that embody the value of leadership, responsible citizenship and ethics. The program also offers opportunities for students to gain leadership experience and to make a difference when they enter the business community. 
 
The next meeting of the SCPT is at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Lipscomb’s Ezell Center,  where over 70 undergraduate Lipscomb students will discuss ethics and leadership issues with executives from Ernst & Young, one of the world's leading professional service organizations.
 
“We are working closely with universities to promote ethical thinking to tomorrow’s business leaders,” said Lisa Axisa, executive director of the NASBA CPT. “To ensure a future generation of ethical business leaders, we must address them early, before they even set foot in the workplace. That’s why the Student Center for Public Trust is so important over the next few years. It will guide the next generation of employees and executives who have seen the mistakes of the last few decades.”
 
Lipscomb University was chosen as the site for the first chapter of this nationwide program due to its long-standing commitment to integrating business practice, theory and ethics into a holistic curriculum.
 
“Lipscomb students have proven themselves over the years as graduates of character who bring excellent business prowess and high integrity to the companies they lead,” said Lipscomb University College of Business Dean Turney Stevens, a long-time Nashville businessman and entrepreneur. “That strength is even more crucial as we prepare students for today’s business environment, where the news headlines often demonstrate the heavy cost of operating a business outside ethical boundaries.”
 
This fall the SCPT has joined other Lipscomb ethics-focused programs such as the:
  • Hilton and Sallie Dean Institute for Corporate Governance and Integrity providing ethics programming for corporate board members;
  • Heroes of Business Lecture Series bringing CEOs such as William Pollard, former CEO for ServiceMaster, and Sam Moore, Thomas Nelson Printing founder, to discuss ethical business practices with Lipscomb students;
  • The development of customized ethics training for Bridgestone Industrial Products America and other corporations; and
  • MBA guest speakers such as O.C. and Linda Ferrell, authors of Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, a highly regarded textbook used in universities nationwide.
The Nov. 18 meeting of the Lipscomb chapter of SCPT is the second meeting of the organization. Each program will include an address by corporate executive s and an ethics competition is being planned for the spring semester.