RICHMOND, VA. ? Participants in a conference on academic integrity will find plenty to talk about in the wake of high-profile corporate scandals, plagiarism cases and rmadding, the executive director of the organization sponsoring the event said.

The conference is scheduled Friday through Sunday at the University of Virginia, where more than 150 students were part of a cheating investigation last year. The event is sponsored by the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University.

The approximately 300 educators and students attending the conference in Charlottesville will examine ethical dilemmas and ways to deal with them, including strengthening student honor codes.

Diane Waryold, executive director of the center, said promoting integrity in schools could help prevent scandals like the one at Enron.

“If you’re rewarded in high school for cheating, you’re more than likely going to continue that behavior in higher education, and we think it transfers to the world of work,” Waryold said.

An educator with firsthand experience dealing with a major cheating scandal will give the opening speech at the conference. Mike Adams resigned as principal of Piper High School in Kansas City, Kan., after the school board and superintendent ordered one of his teachers to change the failing grades of 28 students she had accused of plagiarism.

“I know the people there are going to want me to talk a little about what occurred last year, and I will do that,” said Adams, now principal at Arkansas City High School in Kansas.

He said the incident showed many parents talk about the importance of teaching character and ethics until their own child does something wrong.

“I was shocked by the attitude of some of the parents, and most of all the attitude of some of the school board members and the superintendent at the time,” Adams said. “That was probably the most disappointing thing.”