Goals:

The Fargo-Moorhead area faces local and regional problems. First, with the loss of human and other types of capital, the emigration of people from the area and North Dakota as a whole promises to harm the area in the short and long term. Second, for the one reason or another, many people have lost trust in one public or private institution after another. Finally, although many well-intentioned community members have diligently tried to solve our local and regional problems, they appear to be at an impasse. If these seemingly intractable issues are to be resolved they will require the application of new approaches. For example, the widely accepted decision making process is to solely focus on the next four years, rather than looking farther into the future. The NPEI, on the other hand, believes that the current standard is self-defeating. The only successful decision making process is that which plans for the next 10, 50, or even 100 years. Hence, adequate strategies for rebuilding stakeholders' trust in institutions, for instance, will require much longer range planning than conventional methods currently allow. The Northern Plains Ethics Institute will continue to develop and utilize these new approaches to resolve the issues that affect our community.

There are a number of additional benefits that the Northern Plains Ethics Institute will bring to the community. Among others, the networking between the various social groups will attract more business to the area to benefit those who live here now, as well as all of those who, in the future, will call the Fargo/Moorhead area home. Furthermore, if the Northern Plains Ethics Institute is able to continue and expand upon its previous successes with the assistance of Wells Fargo, our joint effort will serve as a prototype for universities and communities elsewhere in the nation, and perhaps beyond. Given the ethical problems that all areas of the nation face, the Northern Plains Ethics Institute could have great impact on a number communities.

E-Mail: John Helgeland@ndsu.edu and Dennis.Cooley@ndsu.edu
NDSU Northern Plains Ethics Institute
402 Minard Hall
North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105
Phone: 701.231.8654