Home
/
Faculty Senate
/
E Focus Board

Contemporary Ethical Issues Board

The Leeward CC Contemporary Ethical Issues Focus (E Focus) Board is responsible for reviewing and approving proposals for E Focus courses and proposals for the renewal of existing E Focus courses.

Board Members

Lu‘ukia Archer, Chair – Arts and Humanities Division
Corey Adler – Social Sciences Division
Tina Lee – Business Division
Michael Scully – OCEWD Division
Susan Waldman – Language Arts Division

What is an E Focus Course?

The goal of E Focus courses, at least in part, is to equip students with some degree of proficiency in ethical deliberation. These courses should not be purely descriptive—merely characterizing, for example, the moral beliefs of a person or peoples. Nor is it intended that the pedagogy be value-free, using approaches that maintain an “arms-length” relationship with current ethical issues.

Different academic approaches and methodologies may be used to give students tools for the development of responsible ethical judgments. Approaches might include small group discussions, formal debates, round-table discussions, or Socratic questioning.

E Focus courses may be associated with particular disciplines, professions, and larger enterprises: the ethics of human and animal research, medical ethics, bioethics, biotechnology, business ethics, engineering ethics, ethics in government, or journalistic ethics. Still others might examine ethical issues that emerge at cultural interfaces, such as war, evangelism, colonialism, or multicultural societies.

Contemporary ethical issues must be fully integrated into the main course content and tied to activities that develop students’ proficiency in forming ethical judgments.

Suggested frameworks or approaches to teach your classes include:

Code-based E-courses: These take as a central text an explicit code of professional ethics. Successful courses of this type do not simply teach the rules but emphasize the complexities and hard decisions that emerge when the rules are applied in difficult situations.
Community practice-based courses: These delineate the ethical concerns in a particular community that are not explicitly codified or are only partially codified. An example would be the ethics of scientific research. Here again, pitfalls and potential double-binds force the student to think ethically rather than just follow a rule.
Ethics-in-everyday-life focused courses: These may not identify a specific community but instead explore the ethical dimensions of ordinary practices we all engage in. For example, participation as a consumer or audience member in economic, cultural performance, or political activities in the public sphere may involve ethical choices that are often taken for granted.
Critical ethics courses: These focus on more intense, highly polarized issues and often critique the status quo in economic, political, and cultural life. Examples include current and historical practices involving injustice, exploitation, or abuse. While the ethical choice may seem obvious (i.e., one option is clearly bad), a strong E Focus course goes beyond the obvious to raise ethical awareness and challenge students to confront their own certainties. These courses foster an atmosphere where diverse ideas are encouraged and debated.

Hallmarks

HALLMARKS

Hallmark E1

Contemporary ethical issues will be presented and studied in a manner that is fully integrated into the main course content.

Hallmark E2

The disciplinary approach(es) used in the class will give students tools for the development of responsible deliberation and ethical judgment.

Hallmark E3

Students will achieve basic competency in analyzing and deliberating upon contemporary ethical issues, to help them make ethically determined judgments.

Hallmark E4

The equivalent of one semester credit-hour, or 30% of a three-credit course, will be devoted to contemporary ethical issues.

Hallmark E5

A minimum of 8 hours of class time will be spent in discussing contemporary ethical issues.**

**For Hallmark 5: there is a different requirement to fulfill the 8 hours of class time discussion between F2F and DE synchronous modalities and DE asynchronous modality. Please see the application form for details.

Hallmark E6

The class will be numbered at the 100 level or above.

How Do I Apply for the E Focus Designation?

Instructor-based

Instructor-based Focus Forms are submitted by individual instructors seeking an E-Focus designation for their course or section of a course. Thus, each person who is teaching a section of a course must submit his/her own proposal for approval. New courses satisfying the E-Focus requirements will receive a three (3) years approval period. Renewals will receive a five (5) year approval period.

Course-based

Course-based Focus Forms are for disciplines with courses that inherently meet the E-Focus Hallmarks. These courses must fit the following criteria:

Inherency of Focus* – All course syllabi demonstrate that the course meets the Hallmarks of the Focus designation requested, either because the Focus is inherently a part of the course content, or because the discipline has dictated that all sections of the course will meet the Focus Hallmarks.

Focus Course Coordinator – The discipline must designate a Course Coordinator who will submit the application form to the Board. The Course Coordinator will ensure that all course instructors are aware of the E-Focus designation and teach the course in accordance with the Focus Hallmarks. The Course Coordinator will report to the Board with a list of instructors teaching each semester.

All sections of the course will be offered as an E-Focus.

The course-based approval period is five (5) years.

*Notes on the “Inherency of Focus” criterion

The course may meet the Hallmarks either because (a) course content dictates it or (b) discipline policy dictates it.
Courses that involve content relating to a Focus area but can be taught without meeting all of the Focus Hallmarks do not meet the inherency criterion. For example, a course may involve writing but provide little guided writing instruction. That course is not inherently Writing Intensive.
Courses for which one instructor has developed a syllabus that meets the Focus Hallmarks, but which other instructors can teach without meeting all of the Focus Hallmarks, do not meet the inherency criterion.

Existing Courses

If an existing course already addresses ethical issues within a specific field of study, the instructor should apply for an E-Focus designation. Or if instructors are interested in enriching their course content to include discussion over ethical issues in the field, they should consider applying as well.

Instructors should submit the appropriate application form and sample syllabus to the Leeward Community College E-Focus Board. The board accepts applications each semester; the designation will take effect the following term.

Leeward CC – Approved E Focus Courses

 </p> <p>

Deadlines: Priority and General

The Board has two deadlines per semester: Priority and General.

Priority Deadline: All new applications must be submitted under the Priority deadline. These applications will receive an early review and opportunity to resubmit should it not meet E-Focus guidelines.

If the board determines a Priority application does not meet E-Focus guidelines, the application may be amended and resubmitted one time for reconsideration.

General Deadline: Renewal applications may be submitted under the General deadline. Under this deadline, all applications will not have the opportunity to resubmit should they not meet the E-Focus guidelines.

Terms and Restrictions

For first time designees, the E-Focus designation will be given only for a 3-year period. Thereafter, renewals of the previously approved courses will last 5 years at a time.
Once given an E-focus designation, the course cannot have a Foundations designation.
The course carrying the E-Focus designation must meet the hallmarks each time the course is taught.

Fall 2025 Deadline

All applications (new and renewal) are due by Friday, September 12, 2025.

Application Forms

Course Based E Focus Application (F2025)

Instructor Based E Focus Application (F2025)

Note: The video is dated, but it includes key points on how to fill out the E Focus Application Form