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An effective facilitator does not have to have any special ethical training or to be a subject matter expert. While facilitators are all accomplished in their fields of expertise, they are not tasked with teaching or lecturing like in a more traditional classroom study.

Rather, the skill set we are looking for is:

• Guiding students through each of the short case studies.

• Motivate participation by each participant.

• Maintain a safe and open environment for sharing ideas.

• Watch carefully for interpersonal dynamics of the group looking for signs of potential strain, weariness, lulls, and readiness to move on.

• At every opportunity, recognize the participants for their efforts and the progress they make, and their results.

• Keeping the session on track by tactfully cutting short irrelevant discussions, preventing detours, and maintaining a consistent level of detail throughout the session.

• Listen carefully to the discussion and be able to quickly analyze and compare comments and to formulate questions that help manage the group discussion and challenge the group when appropriate.

As an ethics symposium facilitator, it is important to emphasize that this should be a low stress role for you. There is not a lot of prep you need to undertake. Your life experience will guide you. The learning experience comes from students interacting with each other. The job as a facilitator is to nudge, redirect, challenge, encourage, question, and simply use your life experience to draw the most out of the students. While you may share a bit of your experiences or point of view, the emphasis will be upon student participation with the sharing of different views and the exploration of the ethical issue.

As a word of caution – many of the skills you have developed that led to success can work against you in being an effective facilitator. You are used to being the focal point and decision maker. We lead rather then defer. The focus here is on students learning from each other, not from you personally. The actual speaking time of a facilitator in these small group sessions should be minimal.

The case discussion session is the heart of the Ethics Symposium. The small groups will ideally be of seven or eight students. The purpose of discussing the cases is to understand the process whereby one arrives at an ethically responsible decision. To begin a discussion, it is more important to seek answers to the right questions than to search for right answers to the wrong questions. The cases act as a discussion starter on a particular ethical dilemma. You will find that the cases do not have a simple right-wrong answer but have several options based upon different perspectives and possible outcomes. The goal of the small group discussion is not to debate, solve, arrive at consensus, or convince others that my views are right and your views are wrong. Rather, the focus is getting the students to focus on the process to arrive at the most ethically responsible position based upon certain core values and ethical principles.

Open Your Heart & Home: Host students and/or a faculty member.

Why Your Hospitality Matters

For nearly 50 years, the College Ethics Symposium has empowered college seniors to succeed in their future careers without compromising their integrity. We are welcoming nearly 80 student leaders and faculty members to Hilton Head Island—and we cannot do it without you!

Opening your home offers students a warm, safe, and encouraging environment as they grapple with life’s biggest ethical questions. Our host families consistently share that opening their home creates some very special memories. We would love for you to have the same opportunity.

Here is what you would provide:
• Lodging on Thursday (10/14) and Friday (10/15) nights - For up 2-4 students and/or a faculty member.
• Dinner on Thursday night if possible (cooking or ordering in is totally fine).  If you are unable to do this,that is O.K.  There are other volunteers that are happy to do this.
• Light Breakfast (think granola bar/pop tart – these are college students!) on Friday and Saturday morning
• Transportation to/from Providence will be provided by the faculty advisor (meaning not you!)
• Attend (if interested/available) Friday night appreciation dinner at Providence.

We are currently building our host roster to ensure we can accommodate all incoming schools. Indicating your interest today is not a final contract—it simply helps us plan!

To RSVP or indicate tentative interest, please reach out to our team within the next week:
Mike Brock
👤 Host Family Coordinator
📧 Email: HHILIFE2003@yahoo.com
📞 Phone / Text: (843) 290-3744

Thank you for your ongoing support, hospitality, and dedication to mentoring the next generation of ethical leaders!

If you’d like to chat with someone with host family experience, please feel free to reach out to:
Joanne Brandes (262) 497-8720 Ford Allen (843) 290-4159

The College Ethics Symposium depends heavily on the ethicssyposium.org for coordination and providing content for the program.  

Website development skills are scarce.

If you have a passion in this area, please contact Jaime Palatucci

hhipal@gmail.com

843-816-1506