Code of Professional Ethics
Contents:
GFC Ad Hoc Committee On Professional Ethics For Academic Staff
Approved January 20, 1994
Preamble:
The University of Calgary is a place of education and scholarly inquiry. Its mission is to seek truth and disseminate knowledge. [Its] aim is to pursue this mission with integrity for the benefit of the people of Alberta, Canada and the world (University of Calgary Mission Statement, 1990).
The purpose of this Code of Professional Ethics for Academic Staff is to provide guidance in exercising the ethical responsibilities inherent in an academic staff position at the University of Calgary. This Code applies to all academic staff, including those who carry out administrative responsibilities.
Ethics is here defined as that set of principles, rights and obligations that ought to govern human relationships. It is recognized that the relationships among scholarly, teaching, and service activities of academic staff are complex. Nonetheless, given that there are unwritten minimum standards expected of academic staff, this Code seeks to identify areas of responsibility of academic staff and the expectations associated with those responsibilities. In some cases the University has established formal policies and procedures; these are referenced in the document. In other cases no formal University policy exists apart from general University processes.
This Code of Professional Ethics for Academic Staff does not in any way diminish the principle of academic freedom, which includes a duty of scholarly integrity to use such freedom in a manner consistent with the responsibility to base both research and teaching on an intellectually honest search for knowledge. This Code does underscore the principle of respect for students, support staff and academic colleagues. It also requires that academic staff be sensitive to the potential for abuse inherent in any authority relationships academic staff have with students, with support staff and which they may have with some colleagues even in those situations where an individual has given consent.
As responsible scholars and members of the University community, academic staff should assist in upholding this Code of Ethics.
NOTE: The Committee is indebted to the Canadian Association of University Teachers Policy Statement on Professional Ethics and Professional Relationships which provided the basis for this Code of Professional Ethics, and the Daniel Callahan for his article "Should there be an Academic Code of Ethics?", Journal of Higher Education, 1982, 53(3):335-344.
1. Relationship Between Academic Staff And Students
1.1 Academic staff should treat students with fairness and respect (e.g. in classroom interactions, in faculty discussions, in providing some method of out of classroom contact with the academic staff member related to course concerns).
1.2 Academic staff should encourage the free exchange of ideas between themselves and students. They should ensure that issues are raised and dealt with in a balanced objective manner while recognizing that effective learning often requires challenging and/or questioning previously held beliefs and assumptions.
1.3 Academic staff should conscientiously strive to be fair and balanced in their evaluation of student work.
1.4 Academic staff, in their scholarship, teaching, service, public performance and other work, should acknowledge academic or intellectual debts to students.
1.5 Academic staff should not exploit their students for personal gain or represent jointly prepared work as their own without acknowledging in full the contributions of their students.
1.6 Academic staff should be fair and objective when providing references for students.
1.7 Academic staff should hold in confidence all personal information gained about students (concerning, for instance, academic progress, personal lives or political and religious views) unless one or more of the following apply:
a) there is a legitimate academic purpose (e.g. consideration of academic or non- academic misconduct) in sharing the information,
b) the student has agreed to having this information shared,
c) the academic staff member believes, on reasonable grounds, that sharing such information will be beneficial to the student or minimize harm to others.
1.8 Academic staff-student personal relationships are ethical insofar as they do not hinder the student's academic progress or create a situation in which a student is favoured on grounds other than academic performance. However, in order to foster objective and professional relationships between academic staff and their students, a member of academic staff should not enter into a sexual relationship with his/her student.
1.9 Where an academic staff member is involved in a relationship as described in 1.8 above, the potential for conflict of interest should be independently evaluated. The academic staff member should inform his or her immediate supervisor of the relationship in order that alternative arrangements can be made for supervision and/or evaluation of the student's work.
2. Relationship Between Academic Staff And Support Staff
2.1 Academic staff should treat support staff with fairness and respect.
2.2 Academic staff should respect the contribution of support staff to the work of the University.
2.3 Academic staff should not put support staff in a position which creates an ethical or legal dilemma for them (e.g. requests to copy materials in violation of copyright, to complete fraudulent expense claims, to protect the academic staff member's unauthorized absence from campus, or to access confidential material).
2.4 Academic staff should not make requests that create a personal or administrative problem for support staff (e.g., expecting staff to stay late to suit an academic staff member's schedule or requests which violate the accepted priorities established by the Department or other administrative unit).
2.5 Academic staff, in their scholarship, teaching, service, public performance and other work, should acknowledge academic or intellectual debts to support staff.
2.6 Academic staff should not exploit support staff for personal gain or represent jointly prepared work as their own without acknowledging in full the contributions of support staff.
3. Relationships Among Academic Staff
3.1 Academic staff, whether acting in academic or administrative capacity, should treat each other with fairness and respect.
3.2 Academic staff should defend the right of their colleagues to academic freedom. It is unethical for them either to act so as deliberately to infringe that freedom or to allow such infringement by others to pass without opposition.
3.3 While critical evaluation is an essential part of academic activity, academic staff should be fair and objective when presenting a professional judgement on their colleagues' work and should refrain from private and public denigration of their colleagues' professional competence.
3.4 Academic staff should respect the confidentiality of information about colleagues gained during participation in the work of University committees or funding agencies.
3.5 Academic staff, in their scholarship, teaching, service, public performance, and other work, should acknowledge academic or intellectual debts to their colleagues.
3.6 Academic staff should not exploit the work of colleagues for personal gain or represent jointly prepared work as their own without acknowledging in full the contributions of their colleagues.
4. Academic Staff And Scholarly Inquiry
4.1 Academic staff engaged in scholarly inquiry should be sensitive to the objectives of scholarship which include:
a. the pursuit of knowledge and understanding;
b. the communication and application of knowledge within the University and broader community;
c. the communication to one's students of the specialized skills and knowledge of the academic discipline in which one conducts research; and
d. the improvement of the quality of instruction.
4.2 Since academic staff must be free to engage in scholarly inquiry they should not enter into any agreement that infringes on that freedom or that compromises their scholarly integrity. The University's policies on "Integrity in Scholarly Activity" (January 1992) and "Research Policy/Research Contracts" (October 1991) provide guidance regarding problems that may arise in the conduct of scholarly inquiry and means by which these problems can be handled. Prior disclosure and discussion with Department Heads, Deans or Vice-Presidents (Academic or Research) is also a mechanism to avoid ethical violation.
4.3 Academic staff should exhibit intellectual honesty and integrity in all their scholarly endeavours.
5. Relationship Between Academic Staff And Their University
5.1 In accepting a University appointment' academic staff assume obligations to contribute to the University community in addition to their duties as teacher, scholar, librarian, counsellor, etc. They should act so as to secure the good of the University. Such activities include, though are not limited to, participation in the governance and administration of the University through membership on committees and organizations at various organizational levels.
5.2 Academic staff should seek to inform themselves about, and abide by the policies established for the orderly conduct of the affairs of the University as they are expressed in various University documents. Academic staff should, however, attempt to balance these policies with due attention to the academic freedom of others and the principles of ethical conduct set forth in these guidelines.
5.3 Academic staff should avoid potential conflicts of interest unless, after full consultation, they have the approval of the appropriate University authority to whom they are responsible.
5.4 Academic staff should avoid engaging in outside professional activity that conflicts with their responsibilities and duties to their University appointment.
6. Academic Staff And The Non-University Community
6.1 In their research, teaching, service, and professional roles academic staff should avoid making statements which blur the distinction between their function as employees of the University and their private capacity. When there is a possibility of such confusion, academic staff should clarify whether they are acting as representatives for the University, or in their own name.
7. Harassment And Sexual Harassment
7.1 Academic staff must not engage in behaviour that constitutes harassment. Harassment means oral, written or physical behaviour or visual display that is abusive or is intended to persistently annoy others and which the instigator knows, or ought to know, creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working, learning or living environment.
7.2 Academic staff must not engage in behaviour that constitutes sexual harassment. Sexual Harassment means oral, written or physical behaviour. physical or visual display that emphasizes gender sexuality or sexual orientation in a manner which the instigator knows, or ought to know, creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working, learning or living environment.
Academic staff should be familiar with the University policies and disciplinary procedures in place for dealing with matters of harassment and sexual harassment. (Academic staff are referred to the University's 'Policy and Procedure on Sexual Harassment").
7.3 A reprisal or threat made to the individual who has reported harassment, or sexual harassment, or who has rejected a sexual advance, is also a form of harassment/sexual harassment. Additionally, making a false or mischievous allegation of harassment or sexual harassment, also constitutes harassment.
7.4 Academic staff who are informed of an incident of alleged harassment or sexual harassment have an ethical responsibility to offer to the recipient of the alleged action both appropriate support and advice regarding correct avenues of possible redress.
Relevant Policies
1. Integrity in Scholarly Activity
2. Outside Professional Activity
Faculty Guidelines - Outside Professional Activity
3. Research Contracts
4. Policy and Procedures: Sexual Harassment
