Spotting and Solving Ethical Dilemmas at Work

Dr. Terry Newell (l) and PEC chair Rob Dry at special presen-
tation for AFSA and PEC staff.

 Dr. Terry Newell, author and professor at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, conducted a class on 'Spotting and Solving Ethical Dilemmas at Work' for members of AFSA and attendees from the Department of State and other foreign affairs agencies at AFSA headquarters on Marcy 10, 2016.

Hosted by AFSA's Committee on the Foreign Service Profession and Ethics (PEC), the purpose of the class was to improve attendees' ability to identify ethical issues in the work place and find ways to effectively deal with them. Newell, who has conducted presentations on ethics for AFSA in the past, began by stressing that some of the most prevalent ethics issues faced in the work place have nothing to do with violations of law or regulation, but are the ethical components of technical and management issues, which often are cases of right vs. right, rather than right vs. wrong.

AFSA/PEC staff in meeting with Dr. Terry Newell

Newell used examples from other government agencies, such as the VA and NASA to illustrate the process of identifying and dealing with ethical issues, as well as the difficulty of getting it 'right.'

Dr. Terry Newell at afternoon presentation for members of
the foreign affairs community.