Stephanie A. Johnson, Esq. Kamilah Woodson-Coke, Ph.D

Ethical Issues in
the Academy
Stephanie A. Johnson, Esq.
stejohnson@howard.edu
Kamilah Woodson-Coke, Ph.D
kwoodson@howard.edu

How to handle an illegal question
1. Answer the question
2. Refuse to answer the question/tell the
interviewer that the question is illegal
3. Consider how the question relates to the job,
and respond to that.

Basic Faculty Ethical Issues
! Plagiarism
! Contributions
! Data
! Conflict of Interest
! Responsible Research
! Harassment
! Non discrimination/Fair evaluation
! Allegations of ethical misconduct

Plagiarism
Representing the ideas,
words, or data of
another person or
persons as one’s own.

Acknowledgement of Contributions
Appropriately recognizing
and acknowledging all of
those persons who have
contributed to the work.

Data Usage
! Must acknowledge the source of
the data and the method of
collection.
! Must not fabricate or falsify the
data.

Conflict of Interest
! Can be with research sponsored by a
corporation or for profit entity, government,
or non profit.
! Must not let source or promise of funding
affect methods of research or reporting of
results.

Sexual Harassment
! Pressure for sexual activity;
! Unwelcome touching, patting, or hugging;
! Forced sexual intercourse;
! Unnecessary and unwelcome references;
! Belittling or negative remarks about a person’s
gender or sexual orientation;
! Inappropriate sexual innuendos or humor;
! Obscene gestures;
! Offensive sexual graffiti, pictures, or posters;
! Email and internet use that violates this policy.

Responsible Conduct of Research
!Risks of Research
!Informed Consent
!Research Misconduct

Ethical Misconduct
! Make yourself aware of the rules of your
university or workplace.
! Entitled to due process.
! May be consequences outside of university.

Non-Discrimination and Fair
Evaluation
!Must not allow personal
feelings to affect judgment
of students’ work.

Other issues that you may encounter as
a faculty member
! Privacy/Confidentiality
! Disgruntled Students
! Students with Disabilities
! Curriculum Issues

Student Privacy
! Records are protected by Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act.
! Parents have rights until the student turns 18,
then rights transfer to student.

Students with Disabilities
! Must be accommodated, may result in a
modification of teaching.
! Usually must be certified by a university
office.

! Proportion
! Consistency
! Zero tolerance?
Curriculum Issues

Academic Freedom
A university may determine for itself
on academic grounds who may teach,
what may be taught, how it shall be
taught and who may be admitted to
study.
Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957)

General Ethical Guidelines
Act in a manner that best serves the education and
professional development of students
Impartially evaluate student performance regardless of the student’s religion, race,
gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or other criteria that are not germane to
academic evaluation
Maintain confidentiality in communication with students, taking care not to discuss
a student’s performance, research results, or behavior with other students
Serve on graduate student committees without regard to the race, gender, sexual
orientation, or national origin of the graduate student candidate
Prevent personal rivalries with colleagues from interfering with duties as graduate
advisor, committee member, or colleague

Guidelines, cont.
Discuss laboratory, studio, or departmental authorship policy with graduate
students in advance of entering into collaborative projects
Acknowledge student contributions to your research
Familiarize yourself with policies that affect their graduate students
Create an environment and provide opportunities within the graduate program
for students to seek assistance for their grievances without threat of
retaliation
Respect the academic freedom for students to express opinions that may differ
from those of faculty
Ensure that a student’s experience as a teaching, research, or staff assistant
contributes to his/her professional development and does not impede the
student’s progress toward the degree