Stefany Samp plans to take more than a new master’s degree in accounting to Wichita, where she’ll be crunching numbers for the largest private company in the United States.

Equally important as her parchment – if not more so – will be the ethics- and fairness-minded approach that she’s been honing on and around Mount Oread, and intends to keep building on during her professional career.

Kansas University’s School of Business calls it RESPECT: responsibility, enthusiasm, self-esteem, professional integrity, equity, compassion and teamwork.

Samp simply sees it as good business.

“The problem with some businesses nowadays is that people don’t look at the seven factors,” said Samp, who is scheduled to received her degree in December, then report for work as an accountant at Flint Hills Resources, a subsidiary of Koch Industries. “Doing that not only keeps you safe, but it also leads to better companies.”

Samp’s commitment to and practice of the RESPECT virtues, which form the cornerstone of the business school’s Positive Code of Conduct, earned the Lawrence resident a 2007 Positive Code of Conduct Award.

Samp, the daughter of Ed and Cheryl Samp, is among seven inaugural winners of the award, presented by the school to recognize students who will serve as role models to others in their professional careers.

“Too often, universities only punish unethical behavior and don’t celebrate those students who demonstrate exemplary commitment to ethical principles,” said Douglas May, a business professor and co-director of KU’s International Center for Ethics in Business. “This was one of the driving forces behind the development of the school’s Positive Code of Conduct and the student awards.”

Fellow award winner Ric Rosenfield, who moved to Lawrence three years ago to attend KU, said that he hoped that the honors would boost awareness for the value of ethical behavior.

He’s already been working with May to create a degree concentration in environmental sustainability, to give graduates a better feel for how helping the environment also can boost a business’ bottom line.

“Some people consider corporate responsibility a subsidy or corporate welfare, but the argument is that it’s not,” Rosenfield said. “There are ways to differentiate your business and, while doing that, be responsible to the environment. : Some companies are starting to realize that, and they’re pulling away in the market.”

Among the examples, he said: Toyota and Microsoft.

Other 2007 winners:

¢ Olivia Pfannenstiel, of Wichita, a master’s student in accounting and information systems.

¢ Erin Schaiberger, of Mesa, Ariz., a graduating senior studying accounting and business administration.

¢ Travis Grosser, of Alta Loma, Calif., a master’s student in business administration.

¢ Sarah Kierl, of Edmond, Okla., a graduating senior in management and business administration.

¢ Zelin Zhang, of Tianjin, China, a doctoral student in business and a master’s student in physics.