Employee Code of Ethics

Institutions of higher education are entrusted by society with great resources and commensurately great responsibilities for creation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge. Higher education faculty and staff play a key role in assuring that high standards of ethical practice attend to the custody and use of these resources. Employees are expected to adhere to legal, moral and professional standards of conduct in the conduct fulfillment of their professional responsibilities. The employee’s personal and professional conduct reflects on his or her institution, the collective profession, and higher education at large. To guide employees in setting and practicing high standards of ethical conduct, Cleveland State Community College has adopted the following code of ethics. Cleveland State embraces the values expressed in this code and advocates their observance by its employees.

An employee of Cleveland State should be characterized by integrity and dignity, and he or she should expect and encourage such conduct by others.

Cleveland State employees, both faculty and staff, should adopt and be faithful to personal values that:

  • Accord respect to self and others;
  • Preserve honesty in actions and speech;
  • Give fair and just treatment to all;
  • Respect and protect privileged information to which they have access by virtue of their office;
  • Aspire to achieve quality;
  • Refuse conflict, or the appearance of conflict, between personal and institutional interests;
  • Embrace forthright expression of one’s own views and tolerance for the views of others;
  • Assure that they act with competence and strive to advance competence, both in self and in others.
    To this end, employees should continually enhance their own professional competence, encourage professional growth and development of colleagues and promote excellence in public service;
  • Assure that they understand and support the Cleveland State Community College’s objectives and policies, be capable of interpreting them within and beyond the college, and contribute constructively to their ongoing evaluation and reformulation;
  • Assure that they communicate to colleagues the content of this code of ethics and strive to ensure that the standards of professional conduct contained therein are met;
  • In discharging his or her duties in accordance with this Code of Ethics, college employees should enjoy the following rights:
    • The right to work in a professional and supportive environment;
    • The right to have a clear, written statement of the conditions of his or her employment, procedures for professional review, and a job description outlining duties and responsibilities;
    • Within the scope of his or her authority and policy, the right to exercise judgment and perform duties without disruption and harassment; and
    • Freedom of conscience and the right to refuse to engage in actions that violate the ethical principles contained in this code or provisions of law.

 

Adapted from the NACUBO Code of Ethics, the GFOA Code of Professional Ethics, and the CCBO Code of Ethics

Subscribed

Partners & Initiatives

  • Cleveland Bradley Business Incubator
  • America's SBDC Tennesseey
  • Your Skills. Your Future.
  • OneSource
  • Cleveland State Sustainability Initiative
  • TBR The College System of Tennessee
  • TN eCampus
  • Tennessee Transfer Pathway