Coonce, Cox selected Business Ethics Teaching Fellows

Monday, February 13, 2023

Media Contact: Terry Tush | Director, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-2703 | terry.tush@okstate.edu

Spears School of Business faculty Jennifer Coonce and Rachel Cox have been named Business Ethics Teaching Fellows to recognize their efforts teaching business ethics and working with students to raise awareness of the importance of business ethics.

Coonce, assistant professor of professional practice in the Department of Management, and Cox, instructor of professional practice in the School of Accounting, both teach ethics in their disciplines and are also faculty co-sponsors of the Spears Business Student Center for Public Trust (Student CPT). The school’s Center for Legal Studies and Business Ethics (CLSBE) selects the Teaching Fellows.

“The Center for Legal Studies and Business Ethics is pleased to recognize the efforts of professors Coonce and Cox,” said Laurie Lucas, the center’s director. “Both have been instrumental in raising student awareness at Spears about the importance of good business ethics.

“For several years, professors Coonce and Cox have been faculty co-sponsors of the Spears School’s Student CPT organization, which works to bring students together with leaders in industry to help them see the value of ethical behavior. These faculty deserve recognition for their efforts in highlighting these issues for our students.”

The Business Ethics Teaching Fellows appointment is for two years, beginning in 2023, and Coonce and Cox will work to support the mission of the CLSBE and underscore the importance of business ethics with Spears students.

“For the accounting profession specifically, ethics has to be fundamental to our students’ education,” Cox said. “Accountants have a huge responsibility to identify and practice appropriately responding to the ethical pressures they will face in the workplace. Equally important is the establishment of effective internal controls to prevent misbehavior. We need our students to leave OSU with a high commitment to moral principles, or else no one could trust our profession.”

Coonce said, “I love teaching business ethics to our students because our Cowboy culture reinforces strong ethical stances of integrity, truth, and doing the right thing. In fact, our new university strategy includes developing strong ethical leadership skills as a requirement for our ideal graduates. Our students enter the classroom with a strong ethical posture, but they need to develop the skills to manage complex business situations for when students inevitably encounter organizations and individuals who may not share their same value system.”

Cox has taught the Ethics for Public Accountants course for six years, while Coonce has taught Management and Ethical Leadership for five years.

“Recognition from the Center for Legal Studies and Business Ethics as a Business Ethics Teaching Fellow is a very high distinction,” Coonce said. “As a professor of practice, I consider it a privilege to return to my alma mater to share my industry experience with our students. Our university continues to highlight the importance of ethical leadership and this fellowship is a commitment to further that mission.”

Cox said, “Being recognized as a Business Ethics Teaching Fellow is a huge honor and shows our business school’s commitment to training our students to be ethical leaders, both presently in college but also looking towards ethical dilemmas they will face in the future. I think it’s also recognition for the work Professor Coonce and I have been doing since 2019 through the Center for Legal Studies and Business Ethics and for starting the Student CPT chapter. Our chapter provides an interactive environment where ethical behaviors and ideas can flourish. We bring in high caliber guest speakers to engage with us about ethical leadership in business and provide the opportunity to discuss challenges we will face in the real world of business.”

Visit the website to learn more about the Center for Legal Studies and Business Ethics.