(St. George, UT) - Dixie State College of Utah’s Udvar-Hazy School of Business continues its bi-monthly noontime Business and Ethics Forum series on Thursday, November 4, with a presentation by Steven G. Caplin, President and CEO of Steton Technology.

The Business and Ethics Forum, presented every other Thursday throughout DSC’s fall and spring semesters, will be held in the Boeing Auditorium (Room 121) of the DSC Udvar-Hazy Business Building. DSC students, faculty and staff, the entire Washington County business community, and the general public are all invited to attend. Admission is free.

Caplin’s presentation will explain Steton Technology’s place in today’s business world and how ethics and integrity play a critical role in the company’s success. Currently, Steton is deployed in over 85 countries and in 34 languages, and is used to measure quality, service, safety and brand delivery.

Prior to forming Steton, Caplin was successful in sales and business management at IBM, as well as in corporate accounting at Southland Financial Corporation. Caplin graduated Summa Cum Laude in Accounting from Southern Utah University and holds an MBA from the University of Texas, where he focused on high technology entrepreneurship and competitive corporate strategy. Caplin is involved in community service and currently serves as Vice Chair of the DSC Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Dixie Regional Medical Center’s governing board.

The series will continue November 18, featuring Dixie Regional Medical Center Administrator Jon Pike, while DSC faculty member Professor Al Keller will wrap up the semester schedule with a presentation December 2.

Each speaker throughout the semester will speak on business matters in their respective professions and have been asked to integrate ethics into the discussion.

The bi-monthly forum, along with campus’ Institute for Business Integrity, was created by former DSC president Dr. Robert Huddleston in 2006, as a way to integrate ethics into the curriculum, and have it serve as a blueprint to ensure that students graduate with a set of ethical tools to help them get along in the professional world.

In 2006-07, Dixie State’s business program sought initial accreditation with the high profile Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). In order to become accredited with the AACSB, ethics were required to be integrated into the college’s business curriculum. As a result, each business class on the DSC campus now includes an ethical component.

Dr. Huddleston noted that the business forums will give students – and current and prospective local business owners – an added dose of ethics training that is so sorely needed into today’s business world. His hope is that by the time students leave Dixie State, they have been exposed to enough ethical cases that, when they get out in the workforce, they will have the wherewithal and the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing, even when their job might be on the line.

“The Institute for Business Integrity has brought an important opportunity for the business community, as well as DSC faculty and students, to emphasize the significance of social responsibility for business and industry in Washington County,” said Huddleston. “As research indicates, ethics contribute to employee commitment, investor loyalty, customer satisfaction and to profits.”

The Dixie State College Institute for Business Integrity is a partnership between the Udvar-Hazy School of Business at Dixie State College, the Small Business Development Center, the Washington County Economic Development Council, and the St. George Area Chamber of Commerce.

For questions regarding the DSC Institute for Business Integrity forums, contact Dr. Huddleston at huddleston@dixie.edu or (435) 652-7740.