History and Accomplishments:

For the last decade, the Ethics Initiative at North Dakota State University has addressed some of the ethical challenges facing the area and nation, such as the ethics of agriculture, education, political life, health-care, and now, business. We have done that in the various conferences and think tanks. Shortly after the North Dakota Board of Education chartered the Northern Plains Ethics Institute (NPEI) in 2000, the Institute created its first think tank, Education and Ethics, followed by Critical Incident, and then the Civil Society. Most recently, NPEI has begun the Regional Culture Think Tank. The new Business Ethics Think Tank (BETT) met at the end of January to discuss how business ethics should be taught in universities and elsewhere, as well as what assistance BETT and university can provide to the local community. The characteristic of each think tank is the Town-Gown format, which allows every member of the community to enter into the discussion and try to find solutions to area and regional problems. The NPEI encourages democratic participation because it believes that the more people participate in constructing solutions to problems, the more likely they are to support those solutions.

1. Hosted five public conferences: agriculture, business, health care, political responsibility, and education.
2. Raised Bush Foundation and private funding for conferences.
3. Established the Group Decision Center
4. Formed the Town-Gown Group

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