do the right thing - nat2011 - vicky

7/28/2019 Do the Right Thing - NAT2011 - Vicky

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Do the Right Thing:

Ethics & Your SGA

Vicky Owles, Ed.D.

Leadership Development Consultant &

Diversity Trainer


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What does it mean to beethical?

Source: http://www.sdhdf.org


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Defining the terms

Ethical behavior is is actingresponsibly in difficult and/orcomplex situations with quality

character and judgment

Ethical dilemma a situation inwhich there is a conflict betweenwhat is right and what is wrong.You have a to make a choice.


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Leading by example?Washington, DC

Overall, three out of five government workersacknowledge witnessing violations of ethical standards,policy or law over the past year, according to a surveyreleased Tuesday by the Ethics Resource Center. TheWashington-based nonprofit research group hasstudied organizational ethics trends for severaldecades.

At the local level, 63 percent of government employeesobserved at least one type of misconduct, ranging fromabusive behavior by superiors to bribery. At the statelevel, the comparable figure was 57 percent; at thefederal level, 52 percent.

The center says 30 percent of the incidents gounreported and there are too few systems in place forcombatting misconduct when it is exposed.

One reason for the low reporting figure is that 17percent of employees who did report misconduct saidthey experienced retaliation. One in four governmentworkers believe that leaders tolerate retaliation

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,326311,00.html


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Leading by example?Columbus, OH

Ohio Governor's ethics violations expose moneytrail to stolen 2004 electionby Bob Fitrakis & Harvey WassermanAugust 30, 2005

COLUMBUS -- The shock waves from Ohio GovernorBob Taft's no contest plea to four misdemeanor ethicsviolations have turned this state's politics upside down.They also have direct roots in the stolen election of2004.

Ohio's "Mr. Clean" governor has been forced to admithe took gratis golf games and other insider graft andgoodies. His tearful no contest plea led to a nominal

fine where lesser public figures could have gottensubstantial jail time. Taft faced up to two years in jail.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/19/2005/1428


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Leading by example?Florida

This state has been rocked by ethics scandals from oneend to the other over the past year, says CherylForchilli of Tampa, head of the bipartisan, nine-membercommission. The public consciousness has really beenraised to the level of corruption and unethicalpractices. If there's ever been political will, it's going tobe now. We've attempted to craft proposals that don'toverreach.

'The past year has brought indictments against a state

legislator, a Broward County commissioner and SchoolBoard member and a prominent Hollywood lobbyist,and a wide ranging criminal inquiry into a majorBroward County fundraiser that has seen federalagents questioning senators.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/1379543.htmlhttp://articles.sun-sentinel.com/keyword/ethics-commission


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The Ethics Check Question

Is it legal?Will I be violating either civil law or companypolicy?

Is it balanced?Is it fair to all concerned in the short term as wellas the long term? Does it promote a win/winrelationship?

How will it make me feel about myself? Will itmake me feel proud? Would I feel good if mydecision was published in the newspaper? WouldI feel good if my family knew about it?


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Case Studies & Scenarios

What is your group response to thescenario?

Questions to ask yourself when making an ethicaldecision

1. Have you defined the problem accurately?

2. How would you define the problem if you stood onthe other side of the fence?

3. Whom could your decision of action injure?

4. Could you disclose without qualm your decision or

action to your boss? You council? The BOD? Societyas a whole?

5. What is the symbolic potential of your of your actionif understood? If misunderstood?


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Case #1: Voting EligibilityJoey is a sophomore and he is currently running for SGApresident. He has a situation that he has come to you as hisfriend for advice on because he is unsure on how to handle asituation. He has also asked you not to say anything.

In order to be eligible to run for SGA president you mustmeet the required GPA level and have served in the senatefor a minimum of 15 weeks. One ticket has been deemed

invalid because they have not served on senate and becauseof their GPA. Here lies the problem, Joeys ticket is valid andmeets all the requirements. There is a 3rd ticket that heknows about and a lot of people know that do not meet the15 week requirement. So far no one has said anything. Theelections commissioner is going by the idea you must haveserved 15 weeks by the time you are elected, but theconstitution clearly states that you must have served 15weeks to be a candidate.

Joeys question is should they call the candidates on this andif so how do they go about not looking like they are petty andjust doing what is good for his ticket. Joey feels that he isright and the way he sees it, if they are going to say one isnot eligible than why let the other candidate run when theydon't meet the requirements?


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Case #2: Financial Impropriety

Stephanie is a junior and serves as theComptroller (Finance Chair) for the current SGA.She has been in this position for two years andhas earned the respect of her fellow constituents.As far as you know there have never been anyissues with the spending of the budget.

Bob, a Freshman Intern and a non votingmember of the Finance Committee, comes to seeyou with some concerns about an occurrence inthe last Finance meeting. An allocation waspresented by an organization, one that Stephanie

has strong affiliation with. Stephanie agreed toallocate funding to this organization even thoughthe program has no direct benefit for the generalstudent body. He is very upset with this decisionbut doesnt want you to say anything.


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Case Scenario #3: CouncilIssues

As per the constitution, any Senator whomisses more than two meetings isautomatically placed removed fromcouncil without pay pending a judicial

meeting. However, this will only occur ifthe Senator is brought up on charges byanother Senator on council. The memberin question is a close friend of yours from

your Greek organization. Do you keepquiet about the issue or do you proceedwith the judicial process and risk yourfriendship?


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Case Scenario #4: OfficeSupplies

The president of the SGA has put out amandate that due to budget restraints,the informal policy of council membersusing office supplies must come to an

end. You are in the office late one night.You hear someone in the copy room. Asyou investigate, you see that it is yourfellow council member copying chapters

from a book and class notes that sheborrowed from a friend. She asks younot to tellafter all it is student fees thatpay for the paper she says.


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Case #5: SGA Travel

Your Advisor shares with your council that s/he willnot be able to go on your next state lobbying trip.The administration however has agreed to let thestudents go without an Advisor but all thestudents going must sign a waiver that students

will act accordingly as a representatives of theschool. There is also an expectation that studentswill not drink or partake in any illegal drugactivity even if the student is of age. After a longday of lobbying, a group of SGA students decides

to go out for dinner. At dinner a few studentcouncil members order a beer with dinner. Theysay that its just a beer with dinner and its notlike we are getting drunk or anything. What isyour response to this situation.


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Why have a code of ethics?

to define accepted/acceptable behaviors;

to promote high standards of practice;

to provide a benchmark for members to use for

self evaluation;

to establish a framework for professionalbehavior and responsibilities

Source:http://www.ethicsweb.ca/codes/coe3.htm


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Continued Will your new ethics document include some sort of

enforcement? If so, what kind?

Often the principles or values listed in an ethicsdocument will be listed in rough order of importance tothe organization. The ordering need not be strict, butgenerally the value or principle listed first will have anatural prominence.

Think carefully about theprocess by which you createyour new code. Who will be involved? A small workinggroup? Or all the people affected by the code? How willyou distil the needs of your organization and thebeliefs of your members into a document? The processmay matter as much as the final product.

How will your new code be implemented? How will itbepublicized, both inside and outside of yourorganization? What steps, if any, will be taken toensure that the values embodied in your code getimplemented in organizational policies and practices?

How / when will your code be reviewed / revised?


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How to write a code ofconduct

These suggestions are in no particular order. What will be thepurpose of your new code? Is it to

regulate behavior? To inspire?

Different kinds of documents serve differentpurposes. Is your new document intended to guide

people or to set out requirements? Is it really a Codeof Ethics that you need? You might consider creatinga Statement of Values, a Policy, a Mission Statement,a Code of Conduct...

A code of ethics should be tailored to the needs andvalues of your organization.

Many ethics codes have two components. First, anaspirationalsection, often in the preamble, thatoutlines what the organization aspires to, or theideals it hopes to live up to. Second, an ethics codewill typically list some rules or principles, whichmembers of the organization will be expected to

adhere to.


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And remember that a code of ethics willnot solve all ethical problems:

"But we must remember that good laws, ifthey are not obeyed, do not constitutegood government. Hence there are twoparts of good government; one is theactual obedience of citizens to the laws,

the other part is the goodness of thelaws which they obey..." (Aristotle,Politics 1294a3-6).


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Questions?

Thank you for coming!

Enjoy the rest of your stay!

do the right thing - nat2011 - vicky

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