As a result of the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics’ commitment to ethics, WVU graduate Sue Seibert Farnsworth has established the Carlyle D. Farnsworth Ethics Enrichment Fund in honor of her husband, a West Virginia native and banker who served on the Visiting Committee of the College of Business and Economics.

The Wheeling alumna and lawyer emphasized that she donated $25,000 to fund a program to encourage opportunities beyond the classroom that reiterate the importance of ethics in business.

“We are honored to receive this unique gift because ethics is very important to us at the College of Business and Economics,” said Jose “Zito” Sartarelli, B&E Milan Puskar Dean, who schedules time to speak to classes at the business school on the subject of ethics. “We communicate a very strong message to students on the importance of ethics, integrity and character.”

Ethics is taught across the core disciplines at the college as a three-credit-hour course required of all students pursuing an undergraduate degree in Business Administration — accounting, economics, finance, general business, hospitality and tourism management, management, management information systems and marketing. It is also ingrained in a number of individual courses, internship and study abroad opportunities, as well as through the activities of the B&E student Business Ethics Club.

“Carlyle has placed a great deal of emphasis on ethics throughout his professional career. He has been concerned that there were few, if any, ethics courses offered at the college or at the continuing education level,” Farnsworth said. “Dean Sartarelli’s emphasis on ethics in the curriculum provides an opportunity to recognize Carlyle’s interests and concerns, to honor him and to even further enhance the quality of the business school. We believe this gift will help expand and instill that important component of the collegiate learning experience.”

Dr. David Cale said the increased emphasis on ethics since Sartarelli’s arrival has yielded better overall business students.

“On virtually any given day, you can read in the news about unacceptable, unethical behavior by CEOs and other business leaders,” said Cale, who teaches ethics at B&E and is the faculty advisor to the Ethics Club. “We believe this is an opportune time to teach ethics to our students, and to demonstrate that there is a right way and a wrong way to do business.”

“All of us at the WVU College of Business and Economics believe our students leave here better graduates and better people because of that emphasis on ethics,” said Sartarelli.

Based upon ethics education and practices, Bloomberg Businessweek last year ranked WVU #5 among Top Undergraduate Business Schools for Ethics. The internationally renowned publication ranked B&E fifth out of a total of 124 top undergraduate business schools across the country. Bloomberg did not release an ethics rankings list this year.

The contribution was made through the Foundation’s A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia University, the largest private fund-raising campaign in WVU’s history.

For further information on the WVU College of Business and Economics, visit be.wvu.edu.

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CONTACT: Patrick Gregg, WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.5131, Patrick.Gregg@mail.wvu.edu

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