Code of Ethics of the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business

“Certified personnel in the Commonwealth:

1. shall strive toward excellence, recognize the importance of the pursuit of truth, nurture democratic citizenship, and safeguard the freedom to learn and to teach;

2. shall believe in the worth and dignity of each human being and in educational opportunities for all;

3. shall strive to uphold the responsibilities of the education profession, including the following obligations to students, to parents, and to the education profession”*

This Code of Ethics has been adopted by the Arthur J. Bauernfeind College of Business at Murray State University to help the faculty and staff of the college uphold the responsibilities of the educational profession and maintain the highest ethical standards (also see Faculty Handbook). By adhering to this policy we, as educators, are recognizing the magnitude of our responsibility to students, colleagues, and others.

1. Responsibility of faculty and/or staff toward students:

   • Shall provide students with a quality education on a fair and equitable basis. There shall be no discrimination regardless of age, race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, or political beliefs.

   • Shall uphold student rights to privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) which requires maintaining the confidentiality of academic records and private communications, unless disclosure is mandated by law or the students’ approval.

   • Shall maintain a professional approach to relationships with students and must avoid manipulation, coercion, or exploitation of students. This is especially true of acts that secure monetary or sexual gratification.

   • Shall not participate in any form of sexual harassment as defined and explained in the appropriate section of the Faculty Handbook.

   • Shall not knowingly make malicious or false statements about students.

   • Shall refrain from subjecting students to embarrassment or disparagement.

   • Shall respect the constitutional rights of all students.

   • Shall not deliberately distort or suppress subject matter for which the educator is responsible.

   • In addition:

     • Students shall be granted freedom of research, freedom of classroom discussion, and freedom to advocate alternative opinions to those presented in the classroom within the structure of the goals and objectives of the course.** 

     • Students shall be free from evaluation based on personal or political beliefs and shall have protection from capricious evaluation or evaluation based on prejudice.**

     • Students accused of breaches of institutional regulations shall be guaranteed due process within the University community.

2. Responsibility of faculty and/or staff toward colleagues:

   • Shall keep in confidence information acquired about colleagues in the course of employment.

   • Shall not knowingly make false and/or malicious comments about a colleague.

   • Shall apply for, accept, assign, or offer a position of responsibility only on the basis of professional preparations and legal qualifications.

   • Shall not use coercive means or give special treatment in order to influence professional decisions.

3. Responsibility of faculty and/or staff to our profession:

   • Shall avoid personal conflicts of interest so they can deal impartially and objectively with persons inside and outside the institution.

   • Shall handle all funds in accordance with the established and responsible accounting procedures.

   • Shall recognize and follow all copyright laws on articles, textbooks, computer software, etc.

   • Shall not knowingly distort or misrepresent information relating to our teaching, research, and service.

   • Shall not abuse institutional privileges for private gain, nor use institutional privileges for the promotion of political candidates or partisan political activities.

   • Shall not accept gratuities, gifts, or favors that might impair or appear to impair professional judgment.

   • Shall not offer gratuities or gifts in order to maintain a special advantage or for personal gain.

   • Shall not knowingly falsify facts relating to his or her own qualification or the qualification of other professionals.

*This statement and many of the following responsibilities were taken from “Educator Ethics” (paragraph 1) as regulation 16 KAR 1:020 by the Commonwealth’s Education Professional Standards Board.

**Taken from Murray State University Student Life Handbook, p.2.

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