Required Courses
To earn an M.S.L. in Ethics and Compliance, students must complete 30 credits. Twelve credits of required coursework (three credits each, listed below) and 18 credits in elective courses.
Introduction to Legal Reasoning engages students in careful reading and analysis of case law and statutes to prepare them to address the ambiguity of many scenarios that arise in compliance work, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and argument. The course also introduces students to the common-law method by which doctrine is created; the importance and authority of statutes, codes and regulations; and the structure of the U.S. legal system. The doctrines of contract and tort liability form the substantive underpinning for the course, both because it provides a foundation for later courses and because compliance professionals encounter these areas of law.
Compliance and ethics management is a complex process that requires program design that supports management's objectives, coordinated activities across functions and geographies, and performance measurement. This course engages participants' knowledge and experience to explore program design frameworks and key elements (including risk identification and assessment, communication and training, investigations and discipline, reporting and disclosure, auditing and monitoring, and remediation) and how to measure effectiveness.
Cultures of economic competitiveness and legal compliance are necessary but not sufficient for corporate responsibility. This course examines ethical decision-making and corporate cultures from the perspective of an organization's leadership. Leaders are the architects of corporate culture, and their moral agenda should include three practical imperatives: elucidating, institutionalizing and sustaining ethical values. The case method is used to introduce frameworks for making reasoned ethical decisions, and to diagnose both positive and negative cultural leadership. Students learn to recognize and resolve ethical issues and identify ways to enhance or remediate ethical cultures.
This course provides students with an opportunity to learn about compliance from the perspective of executives and leaders in the industry. Practicing compliance executives discuss goals, strategies, activities and challenges associated with their business. Students have an opportunity to relate the philosophies and techniques developed in the Organizational Ethics and Compliance Program to those presented.
