Ethics Complex

Robert Miller, General Counsel/Ethics Officer, Eastern Illinois University, USA

In order to effectively provide goods or services it is obviously beneficial to establish – and then maintain – an impeccable reputation for quality and integrity. Creating a working environment based on ethical decision making and actions takes time, and the outcomes of such programs can be difficult to measure. In fact, success in this area can often be measured by a single outcome – failure. Our efforts to sustain an ethical culture do not truly inform us, rather we are informed by how often or how dramatically we fail. The silence of success is not deafening, it is expected and we may grow too accustomed to it.

Robert Miller has served as general counsel at Eastern Illinois University for nine years, and is the university's ethics officer.

Eastern Illinois University is a public master's comprehensive university serving students since 1895.