Ethical Guidelines to be Followed in a University (Essay Sample)

ETHICAL GUIDELINES TO BE FOLLOWED IN A UNIVERSITY
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Introduction
Ethics is a term used to describe what the society can accept to be honorable, right and within the moral boundaries of behavior. Ethics cannot be standardized and, therefore, it is the societies that one lives in that determine what is right or wrong. Ethics is applicable in all business environments, in different private organizations, governments, and communities. Ethics is basically a set of what the mind conceives to be justifiable in different circumstances. The main understanding as to what ethics is the determination of the consequences of one’s actions if he or she is being placed in the situation of the recipient of the act. In this way, one is able to find out what they think is good and societally acceptable. Many philosophers and scholars have argued out about ethics, but we cannot unify ethics in our societies. Different people live in different societies which have different ways of life, beliefs, norms, traditions, and perceptions. It is the duty of every individual to behave in an ethical manner in regards to his or her societal requirements.
In the business world, ethics is used to denote what the business can do that is socially and legally acceptable. In determining what is ethical in the business environment it is always not easy to say, since businesses are run in very different ways. But in more general terms ethics in business should conform to some values such as integrity, fairness, professionalism, respect, responsibility, quality products or services among others. Therefore, conventionally, most professions have come up with their clear ethical guidelines in the business world to help regulate the way businesses and corporates behave. The impact of any business is felt ideally by many stakeholders such as consumers and governments. Ethics helps define how people should relate amongst themselves for mutual understanding and cohesion. In my personal view, ethics helps businesses to generate genuine revenues, compete favorably with other businesses, to achieve growth and development, and to satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders.[Peg Tittle, Ethical issues in business: inquiries, cases, and readings, (Peterborough, Ont: Broadview press, 2010), 84.]
University as a business
A business is any profession or economic engagement aimed at creating value in the end. A business operates with, by, for, and uses people as workers and creates goods and services for people, hence very necessary to act ethically. On the other hand, a university is an institution of higher learning where value is created to the end user or student, by teachers and for purposes of intellectual enhancement, research and development. Therefore, in simple terms, a university in all aspects has most of the business elements in it. It uses people to add value to others through behavior and trainings. It takes students and invests in them to give results, as the students themselves also invest their time and economic resources with an aim of getting value at the end of it. Just like any other business, a university carries out a number of activities which are investments in nature, so as to achieve growth and relevance in the society. In this regard, a university should embrace utmost ethical standards to ensure delivery of quality learning and teaching services, aimed at transforming society and world economy while making lives of individuals better.[Peg Tittle, Ethical issues in business: inquiries, cases, and readings, (Peterborough, Ont: Broadview press, 2010), 15.]
The university should, therefore, follow many ethical practices in carrying out its mandate and promoting efficiency in its operations. Perhaps in determining the ethical guidelines, the focus should be on the types of activities that take place in the universities and its main responsibilities. Away from learning, universities are responsible for enhancing research and innovations, which are helpful at all levels of the economy. Therefore, for its successful operation, the university should embrace number of ethical guidelines as discussed below.
Promoting good practice to extend knowledge
While carrying out its major mandate of enhancing higher learning, the university should in all ways ensure good practice. This should be in all levels of operation such as from the students, workers and management. A university is expected to deliver quality services that will have a positive impact on the lives of learners and community as well. Therefore, one of the ways to promote good practice is to ensure they employ qualified personnel to teach. In this regard, the services rendered will be up to standard as set out in the legal requirements so as to meet job specifications. The market pressures and requirements are usually very demanding, hence proper execution of its practice is very necessary. This should be enhanced by close and adequate monitoring of the tutorials to ensure they are carried out in an effective way. While teaching, teachers should uphold professionalism in the way they execute their duties. This involves the learning materials they offer to students and the syllabus coverage. The main concern here is whether at the end of the course, the learning objectives were met or not. There should be in place proper evaluation mechanisms that are revised from time to time to accommodate the changing trends and needs of education.[Kevin Gibson, Ethics and business: an introduction, (Cambridge New York: Cambridge University press, 2007), 12.]
For instance, a teaching material should not be so compressed with a lot of contents within a very short time. It is important that time allocation takes into consideration the content and the objectives aimed at. Teachers should also be encouraged in their work by being given adequate attention and proper treatment, so as to promote their practice and delivery. In many circumstances, people are motivated to do work well by many factors. The university should embrace many of the motivating factors such as good incentives, good working environment, mutual understanding and demonstrated attention from management. In this case, the university will be demonstrating its willingness and readiness to extend knowledge as expected. The university in reality extends knowledge by use of the teachers. Therefore, they should be treated with respect for the objectives to be met. Just like a business which has the core objective of profit maximization, the university’s main objective is to extend knowledge. Proper ethical standards can be the sure way to set base upon which the pillars for success can be built.
On the other hand, students should also be encouraged to behave ethically and take responsibility of what they are expected. This is basically by following rules and regulations set out by the university. In doing so, this helps the students to corporate with their tutors to their benefit. Knowledge is the principal reason of the students being in school. It is only fair if they are allowed to achieve this but they should also show willingness and concern, by performing their respective duties. For instance, when students are given work to do by their professors, they should do because this is one of the indicators designed by the university in measuring the level to which the objectives have been met. Adequate responses should also be given to students while taking corrective measures in case of variances from the expected achievement. This will help improve and promote practice to extend knowledge as the main business of the university.[4 Kevin Gibson, Ethics and business: an introduction, (Cambridge New York: Cambridge University press, 2007), 20.]
Demonstrating proper use of public funds
Universities, especially public universities are funded by respective governments. It is very ethical that there is responsible use of the funds. Looking at the private universities as well, they obtain their funds majorly from the students as fees. The students and parents who make these payments expect quality service delivery and responsible use of these resources. The university through its management should ensure that proper use is achieved, by keeping the university relevant. For instance, lack of adequate facilities is a sign that funds are not put into proper use. The university through its administration should carry out ongoing projects and investments in areas of technology advancement, buildings and general improvement of the university condition. Due to massive increase of demand for education in society, most universities are now admitting many students than they used to before. This means that the current facilities do not meet the demand. A good and ethical management will quickly respond to this need and therefore make necessary acquisition of the facilities. In most cases, management embezzles funds for personal benefit, leaving the universities with insufficient resources, hence not able to operate effectively. Adequate resources will not only attract many students to the universities, but also will motivate all key players in the education sector especially teachers and students to work towards goal achievement.[Smarajit Mandal, Ethics and business and corporate governance, (New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2010), 17.]
Building support for research
One of the principal roles of the university in the community is to support research and development. In achieving this, there should be very clear strategies put in place to offer support for this very important function. In most cases, universities which are not science and technology related tend to do very little in research and development. The truth remains that all areas of learning needs further improvement and research, for purposes of being relevant with current trends. Th...