About the SEO Initiative

The ERC has developed and implemented two programs to facilitate the partnership between business and schools: the Student Ethics Office™ (SEO™) Initiative and the Student Fellows Program.

SEOs™ are modeled on corporate ethics offices and replicate most of the elements of a corporate ethics office, so students not only capitalize on the expertise of partnering companies, but they see how ethics will pertain to their working life. The ERC is currently working with three schools in Maryland and Virginia to pilot the SEO™ model regionally.

The Student Fellows Program, modeled after the ERC's Fellows Programs, held its first meeting in July 2004. A portion of this coincided with the ERC Fellows July meeting, allowing student ethics officers to meet with leading thinkers in the field of organizational ethics. This benefits all involved by enhancing students' knowledge while increasing practitioners' awareness of the importance of school-to-work educational programs.

The Student Ethics Office™ Model

The ERC has played an important role in the character education field for many years, focusing particularly on school-to-work ethics and values at the high school level. Through this work, the organization discovered that most character education programs employ a top-down approach, giving frustrated faculty "one more thing to do" and overlooking the students themselves. Knowing that student-centered instruction has emerged as a best practice in pedagogy, the ERC developed a novel solution to secondary character education programs. The Student Ethics Office™ (SEO™) model utilizes students as a resource, meeting their needs while maximizing results by tapping into students' insights and enthusiasm. The SEO™ approach is truly character education for students, by students.

SEO's, modeled on corporate ethics offices, further the cause of ethics in the school community by creating an infrastructure to promote the school's core values. Student, acting as ethics officers, communicate the ethical ideals of the community through trainings and educational endeavors, identify areas of need within the school community, develop effective solutions, and serve as a force for positive peer-pressure within a school community.

On June 16, 2005, three students accompanied ERC Character Education Manager Katie Sutliff to the CharacterPlus Conference in St. Louis to make a presentation on the Student Ethics Office program and character education at the secondary school level. The presentation focused on the challenges faced in providing character education at the secondary level, such as resources, relevance and quality, the basic structure and elements of the SEO program, and the experiences of the students. The presentation was followed by a question and answer period.

View the PowerPoint from this presentation.

Student Fellows Program

The Student Fellows Program brings student ethics officers together to share their successes, challenges, and future directions. The Student Fellows Program meetings take place in the Washington, DC, area each summer. The summer meeting includes leadership training for student ethics officers from SEO schools, as well as their moderators. The week-long meeting incorporates time for the representatives to plan their SEO initiatives for the up-coming year and allows for collegial discussions among ethics officers from various schools. In addition to the general SFP meeting in the summer, concentrated, executive-level Student Fellows meetings are held each January. The January meeting provides an opportunity for schools to share their successes and work together to create solutions to program challenges, while developing the skills and expertise of the leaders.

Read about the Student Fellows Program

Student Leadership in Ethics Award

To acknowledge outstanding leadership and service by students participating in the student ethics office program, we have established the Student Leadership in Ethics Award made possible by the generous support of TEOCO Corporation. The annual award, which includes a scholarship, celebrates the contributions of a single student ethics officer. The recipient is selected based on his/her demonstrated commitment to ethics and the ability to translate vision into specific goals and behaviors and evidence of ethical courage in dealing with issues internal and external to the Student Ethics Office, as well as school, and in setting and achieving high standards of ethical conduct within the school.

SEO Network

In September 2005, we started testing a prototype for an SEO/SFP network, which will assist Student Fellows (SEO students) in their ethical leadership efforts through the creation of a permanent, online network of schools involved in the Student Ethics Office initiative. Such a network would allow students (and SEO moderators) to share their successes, to interact in positive ways, and to learn from each other.

This secured network would be hosted by the ERC, would be available only to SEO students and teachers, and would feature: a calendar of SEO events; contact information for Student Fellows and SEO moderators wishing to participate in the network; an interactive weblog, so students can seek and offer advice, share ideas, and connect with other Student Fellows; and a database of ideas, strategies, and activities from SEO schools.

Funding will be needed to establish a permanent SEO/SFP network, to integrate changes to the design, and to secure the staff time required to keep the network current and fresh.