FACULTY ETHICS STATEMENT

The faculty of San Bernardino Valley College strive to maintain the principles of ethics in our interactions with students, colleagues, the institution, and the community.  The following statement of faculty ethics is modeled on the Statement of Professional Ethics of the  American Association of University Professors (AAUP), 1987, and the State Academic Senate’s paper “Faculty Ethics: Expanding the AAUP Ethics Statement,” 1994.

It is expected that faculty conduct themselves in accordance with the Current Agreement Between the San Bernardino Community College District and the San Bernardino Community College Chapter CTA/NEA, Title XI, and AP 3430. The Faculty Ethics Statement presents a code of values that faculty can use to assess their professional conduct and to maintain professional standards.  These responsibilities are based on integrity, trustworthiness, respect, tolerance, fairness, caring, and citizenship.

We value the following responsibilities:

1.  Responsibility to Discipline

  • Seek and state truth as we see it
  • Develop and improve scholarly competence
  • Nourish intellectual curiosity
  • Sustain enthusiasm in our field
  • Maintain and model professional standards
  • Practice intellectual honesty

2. Responsibility to Students

  • Encourage intellectual curiosity  and the pursuit of learning
  • Demonstrate respect for students as individuals 
  • Respect individual perspectives and contexts
  • Demonstrate sensitivity to the educational needs of our diverse student population
  • Protect students from exploitation, harassment, or discriminatory treatment
  • Adhere to proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors
  • Utilize fair and equitable evaluation practices that accurately assess the student’s performance
  • Respect confidentiality when appropriate
  • Attempt to instill an interest in life-long learning
  • Protect, promote, and model academic honesty and integrity
  • Promote excellent support services and instruction
  • Encourage participation in civic responsibilities

3. Responsibility to Colleagues

  • Accept our share of faculty responsibilities for  the success of our academic programs and the governance of  the  institution
  • Respect and defend the free inquiry of associates
  • Show due respect for the opinions and diversity of others through the exchange of constructive criticism and ideas
  • Strive to be objective in our professional judgment of colleagues

4.  Responsibility to Academic Institution

  • Seek above all to be effective educators and scholars
  • Respect the stated regulations of San Bernardino Community College District, (provided the regulations do not contravene academic freedom), maintaining our right to criticize and seek revision to improve the regulations of the college
  • Avoid creating conflicts of interest in the exercise of multiple professional activities
  • Respect our institution by determining the appropriateness of the amount of work done outside the institution
  • Create a safe, trusting, non-hostile, and open learning environment

5.  Responsibility to Community

  • Respect the rights and obligations of others
  • Promote conditions for free inquiry and to further public understanding of academic freedom
  • Uphold the integrity of SBCCD by identifying statements as one’s  own and avoiding creating the impression of speaking or acting on behalf of the college when speaking or acting as an individual  in a public forum
  • Serve as models of lifelong learning to  students and local, national and global communities

Conclusion

We commit to abide by these ethical principles in the spirit of collegiality, professionalism, and responsibility.  By adhering to these principles we aspire to meet our goals as an institution for educational excellence.


Last Revised: September 20, 2017