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Clearly, it would be unrealistic to argue that serving in harm's way is the best or only way to develop leadership skills in young people. Fortunately, the cauldron of war is not likely to be experienced by the vast majority of undergraduates, at any point in their lifetimes. Yet, U.S. military colleges and service academies have the unique missions of preparing young men and women for serving and leading in perilous circumstances within just a year or two of graduation. What lessons, regarding leader development, can be transferred from this small subset of schools to more traditional institutions?

Our purpose was to advance the current academic discussion on how to most effectively teach managerial ethics at the undergraduate level.  We argued that undergraduate ethics education should be comprehensive, multi-dimensional and woven into the fabric of each student’s experience.  In particular, we hypothesized that the inclusion of service-learning experiences and a rigorous honor system would lead to better identification and resolution of ethical dilemmas.  A survey of 304 undergraduates from four colleges and universities yielded modest support for our hypotheses.  In conclusion, we discuss possible explanations for the results and avenues for future studies.

We examine the history of VMI's use of the Major Field Test as an assessment tool for its Department of Economics and Business. Further, we chronicle how the information gathered from a decade and a half of use has shaped the curriculum, faculty composition and policies within the Department. There is evidence that the policies surrounding how and when the Major Field Test is administered influences student performance on the test and that it can be a valuable component of a comprehensive assessment program.

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