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ETHICS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

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WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

To define what we mean by “ethics” and “ethical decision making”To understand ethical standards of conduct for employees of HCCTo discuss HCC scenarios that embody competing ethical systems

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WHAT IS ETHICS?

Standards of behavior that tell us how we ought to act

The positive moral principles that an individual or group abides by

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WHAT ETHICS IS NOT

Not the same as feelingsNot religionNot following the lawNot following culturally accepted normsNot science

(Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University)

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DIFFERENT SOURCES OF ETHICAL STANDARDS

The “Utilitarian” Approach: ethical action is the one that provides the most good or does the least harm.

Give an example

( Markulla Center for Applied Ethics)

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DIFFERING SOURCES….

The “Rights” Approach: the ethical action is one which protects the rights of people, their right to make their own choices, be told the truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy….in short, a right to be treated as ends and not merely a means to other ends.

Give an example

(Markkula Center for Applied Ethics)

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DIFFERING SOURCES…

The “Fairness or Justice” Approach: ethical actions treat all human beings equally, or if unequally, then fairly based on some standard that is defensible.

Give an example(Markkula Center for Applied Ethics)

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“The Common Good” Approach: life in a community is a good in itself, and our actions should contribute to that life. The interlocking relationships of society form the basis of ethical reasoning; respect and compassion for all others, especially the vulnerable, are requirements.

Give an example(Markkula Center for Applied Ethics)

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The “Virtue Approach”: ethical actions should be consistent with ideal virtues that help us act according to the highest potential of our character. Examples of virtue are honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, prudence.

Give an example

(Markkula Center for Applied Ethics)

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WHAT DO YOU VALUE?

• Do you strongly agree with or identify your ethical values with any of the approaches we’ve discussed?

• Participant exercise to determine your most important values and how these values express your personal job-related ethics.

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FRAMEWORKS FOR ETHICAL DECISION MAKING

Identify/Recognize an ethical issueGet the factsEvaluate alternative actions from various ethical perspectivesMake a decision and test itAct, then reflect on the decision later

Issues in Ethics, V.1,N.2 (Winter 1988)

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VARIOUS ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

Utilitarian: The ethical action is the one that will produce the greatest balance of benefits over harms.

Rights: The ethical action is the one that most dutifully respects the rights of all affected.

Justice: The ethical action is the one that treats people equally, or if unequally, then treats people proportionately and fairly.

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VARIOUS ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES….

Common Good: the ethical action is the one that contributes most to the achievement of a quality common life together.

Virtue: The ethical action is the one that embodies the habits and values of humans at their best.

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REVIEW, THEN ACT

Don’t be paralyzed by difficult decisionsThoughtfully review, then make a decisionImplement your decision, then reflect on decision laterLive with the decision, and learn from the decision

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WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL STANDARDS OF HCC?

What are the current mission, values, and vision of HCC as stated in our current catalog?

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MISSION

“Houston Community College is an open-admission, public institution of higher education offering a high-quality, affordable education for academic advancement, workforce training, career development, and lifelong learning to prepare individuals in our diverse communities for life and work in a global and technological society.”

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VALUES OF HCC

FreedomAccountabilityCommunity MindednessIntegrityExcellence

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VALUES…

“Freedom: The essence of education is the cultivation of an open environment that promotes a rigorous, untiring life-long pursuit and expression of truth, and free exchange of ideas.”

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VALUES…

“Accountability: A responsible individual is committed to doing one’s duty and taking the right actions.”

“Community-Mindedness: The bonds of our community are care, open communication, cooperation, and shared governance.”

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VALUES…

“Integrity: Personal and community well being demands a commitment to honesty, mutual respect, fairness, and empathy in all situations. It means doing the right things at all times.”

“Excellence: Our will and spirit is to achieve the best in teaching, learning, community building, and stewardship.”

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VISION OF HCC

“Houston Community College will be the most relevant community college in the country. We will be the opportunity institution for every student we serve—essential to our community’s success.”

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PUBLISHED CODES OF ETHICS

HCC Board of Trustees HCC Office of the OmbudsmanHCC Internal AuditorHCC Finance and Administration DeptHCC Office of Purchasing

(Handouts)

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HCC ETHICS TRAINING

Human Resources and Legal Department are responsible to provide yearly ethics training to all employees in:

• Ethical Behaviors in the Workplace• Drug and Weapon Free Workplace• Sexual Harassment• Violence in the Workplace• Diversity• Equal Employment Opportunity Law, including

ADA Compliance

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HCC ETHICS POLICY

Legally applicable to trustees only as “public officials;” however, it applies to the rest of HCC employees as “public servants.”

“Public servant” is an office, employee, or agent of government. We are subject to the Texas Penal Code and the Texas Ethics Commission.

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CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Self Dealing: Participating in, or voting on, a matter in which the public official has a “substantial interest” with reasonably forseeable economic benefit conferred.

Give an example for both a public official and public servant.

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NEPOTISM

Appointing of, or voting for, an individual related to the public official to a publicly funded position.

Give an example for both public official and public servant.

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BRIBERY

A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly offers, confers, or agrees to confer on another, or solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept from another any “benefit” as consideration for violation of his or her duties.

Give an example for both public official and public servant.

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BRIBERY…

“Benefit” means anything reasonably regarded as economic gain or advantage.

• Case by case determination of benefit• Applies also to benefits given to public official’s family• Not necessary to give benefit at time of offer

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BRIBERY: Benefit Exceptions

“Benefits” do not include the following:• Reimbursable expenses incurred in discharge of duties of public

official, e.g. travel, lodging, and food• Promotional or commemorative items of minimal values, e.g. caps,

coffee mugs, and t-shirts

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BRIBERY…

The important question to ask: Was the benefit offered or received with the intent to influence official conduct?

It is no defense if the person bribed was not qualified to act, or that the benefit is not conferred until after a vote, decision, recommendation, etc.

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GIFTS TO PUBLIC SERVANTS

A public servant who exercises discretion with contracts, purchases, payments, claims, or other pecuniary transactions of government commits an offense if he solicits, accepts, or agrees to accept any benefit from a person the public servant knows is interested in or likely to become interested in any contract, purchase, payment, claim, or transaction involving the exercise of this discretion.

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GIFTS TO PUBLIC SERVANTS…

Exceptions:• Any item with a value less than $50, excluding cash or a negotiable

instrument• Food, lodging, transportation, or entertainment accepted as a guest • A gift or other benefit conferred on account of kinship or a personal

relationship independent of the official status of the recipient• A political contribution as defined by Election Code, Title 15

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ABUSE OF OFFICE, OFFICIAL OPPRESSION

A public servant acting under color of his office or employment commits an offense if he intentionally subjects another to sexual harassment.

“Sexual harassment” includes, but is not limited to, unwelcome sexual advances, unwelcome requests for sexual favors, unwelcome verbal comments of a sexual nature, and physical contact or touching of a sexual nature.

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OFFICIAL OPPRESSION, SEXUAL HARASSMENT…

Conduct is unwelcome when it is not solicited by an individual and is regarded by him or her as unwanted and offensive.

Sexual harassment is prohibited regardless of whether the parties are of the same sex or of the opposite sex.

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In the college setting, violations occur when(1) Submission to such conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of employment, instruction, or participation in other college activities;(2) Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis for personnel or academic decisions that affect the individual who has been subjected to sexual advances, and/or…

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(3) Such conduct has the effect of interfering with the individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or learning environment.

Give some examples in the office space and classroom.

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ABUSES OF OFFICE

A public servant commits an offense if, with intent to obtain a benefit or with intent to harm or defraud another, he intentionally or knowingly misuses government property, services, personnel, or any other thing of value belonging to the government.

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MISUSE OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY

Exceptions:• Discount awards are not “things of value.” An employee who flies for

the college can keep “frequent flyer miles” since they have no value to the institution.

• Incidental government telephone use not misapplication of government property.

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MISUSE OF GOVERNMENT PROPERTY

Work time of government employees is a “thing of value” and, if used for personal purposes, can result in misusing government property.

Work time abuse can include abuse of time-keeping and time-entry. HCC will discipline, terminate, and/or prosecute.

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MISUSE OF OFFICIAL INFORMATION

A public servant commits an offense if, in reliance on information to which he has access by virtue of his office or employment and that has not been made public, he/she

• acquires or aids another to acquire a pecuniary interest• speculates or aids another to speculate, or• coerces another into suppressing information.

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PERJURY AND AGGRAVATED PERJURY

A person commits an offense if, with intent to deceive and with knowledge of the statement’s meaning, he makes a false statement under oath or swears to the truth of a false statement previously made and the statement is required or authorized by law to be made under oath.

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PUBLIC RECORDS

Governmental bodies are required to maintain and retain public documents.

Government records must be available for public review.The integrity of public records must be protected.

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OPEN RECORDS ACT

Public may initiate a written request for information.Request may not require the governmental body to create new

information, do legal research, or answer questions.Public information is contained in records of all forms. This includes

email written and sent on college accounts and computers.

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HCC RECORDS RETENTION

HCC follows all state laws with regards to records retention.Records may not be destroyed if litigation is pending.Penalties are imposed for illegal destruction.

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RECORDS INTEGRITY

It is illegal to alter a government record.It is illegal to tamper with records or make false entries on records.It is illegal to remove records.

Examples of altering grade sheets, submitting false change of grade forms, and altering time sheets that led to prosecution.

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FERPA

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act affords the following rights to students regarding their educational records:

• The right to inspect and review their records• The right to have records amended• The right to have some control over the disclosure of information

from the records

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FERPA, cont.

Faculty should not do the following:• Use student ID’s or Social Security numbers in a public posting of

grades• Link a student’s name with a number in any public manner• Leave graded tests in a stack for students to pick up• Circulate a printed class list with names/numbers as an attendance

roster

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FERPA, cont.

Discuss the progress of any student (including parents) without the consent of the student

Provide anyone with lists of students enrolled in your sections for commercial purposes

Provide anyone with student schedules or assist them in finding a student on campus (other than college employees)

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COMMON SENSE ETHICS

Would you like your behavior, decisions, or email to appear on page one of “The Houston Chronicle”? Depicted or mocked in “The Houston Press” in “Hairballs”? Captured on video, recorded on cell phone, or played widely on YouTube?

Use the smell test; use your common senseThink about transparency

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TYPICAL SCENARIOS

A colleague in your office is running a small business, using her computer to keep track of sales, update her website, and communicate with customers. She spends perhaps an hour a day keeping up with her business, even though she generally completes her tasks. Is there any problem here?

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TYPICAL HCC SCENARIOS

Your supervisor has been pressuring you to hire a friend/acquaintance for PT employment. This individual, you find out, is marginally qualified for the position (whether teacher, counselor, technician, office assistant), but you will have to displace a current PT employee who is loyal and who does a good job. What do you do?

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TYPICAL SCENARIOS…

You are aware that a faculty member teaching next door to you is habitually late. In addition, she dismisses her class after only thirty minutes of instruction. On the other hand, you are never late and teach for the entire 75 minutes. The department chair is not around to observe this behavior. Should you do anything?

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The employees you supervise are used to taking their vacations anytime they wish, including high demand periods when you really need them, like registration. This year, you decide that no vacations can be taken in August and inform your employees six months in advance in a email. In June, one of your best employees says that her family reunion will take place during the second week of August and she insists that she must go. What do you do?

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You are aware that a fellow faculty member is dating a student in his current class. You’ve seen your friend at the movies with his student. Should you do anything with this information?

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An employee in your office is deeply involved in his church. One morning you come in to see a church program left in the copier, and you also can see by the counter that 300 copies of this document have been duplicated. What should you do?

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A Colleges-to-Standard initiative shows that your unit has more secretarial support than warranted by the formula. You have to decide which of the two secretaries to let go: the more recently hired who has organized the office and brought order out of chaos, or the longtime employee who has limited technology and organizational skills but has been a loyal presence in the department. What do you do?

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You become aware that a biology faculty member teaching at your campus has his own daughter in his class. Is there any problem with this situation? What, if anything, should you do?

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While on alternative assignment, a faculty member in your department develops some curriculum materials (a lab manual or study guide) that would prove useful to students in the discipline. She seeks out a publisher for the material, and then goes to her discipline committee to seek approval and adoption. The faculty member wants to keep royalties from the sale of the book. As a member of the discipline committee, what do you do?

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During the current presidential election season, an enthusiastic faculty member spends a great deal of time on the phone and attending meetings during the work day to promote his candidate. He’s so persuasive that he’s convinced even you to vote for his candidate. Is there any problem here?

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You are the member of a large teaching discipline where textbook adoptions are very lucrative for publishers. As a member of the textbook committee, you believe that all books should be screened fairly and objectively according to agreed upon standards. You want to chose books that do not impose great economic hardships on students, but are also excellent teaching tools. You make every attempt to rate books fairly. However, on the day of the committee vote, you hear some faculty members say “Well, I’m voting for publisher X because they were the only ones who took us out to lunch and spent any money on us.” Publisher X’s books are not high on your list. What do you do?

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The parent of an international student in your class calls from the Middle East to check on his son. Is he attending class? Is he keeping up? The parent has invested considerable money in sending his son abroad to school and is sincerely interested in his progress. How do you respond?

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A faculty member in your department who has an interest in photography is selling photos to students in the classroom. The prints are $5, and she displays them on her desk. The faculty member believes she is offering something of value to students, and they would make great gifts. One student comes to the office and complains about this situation. As the department chair, what do you do?

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As the department chair, you notice that a regular adjunct faculty member always submits a large number of Change of Grade forms at the end of every semester. You recognize that errors can occur on an occasional basis, but you are concerned about this situation. The changes are almost always from F’s or D’s to the grade of C. What, if anything, should you do?

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As Department Chair, you begin to notice that Professor Brown is frequently late for class and has more absences that are unreported to you. His students are complaining about his lack of focus, and a few have reported the aroma of alcohol on his breath. He’s been a good teacher in the past, but how do you handle this situation now?

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A secretary in your department is a technology whiz. She has learned to navigate all the PeopleSoft screens with ease and can look up any kind of information. In fact, her office mate, who is a very private person, is currently taking classes, and this secretary has checked out her grades on the system. She also knows her address, birth-date, test scores, and financial aid status. Is there any problem here?

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On an HCC Distance Education listserv to which you belong, you notice a good deal of aggressive speech (name-calling, etc) directed against individuals…whether administrators, faculty peers, or even troublesome students. You’ve been hesitant to participate. What should you do?

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