Ethical Issues in a College Education - Essay Example

Introduction This researched essay examines the ethical issues in a College Education today. It identifies the issues involved, examines the implications of the actions that are taken to resolve them, before finally evaluating the modern-day ethical position according to Association of American University Presses (AAUP). In doing so, the essay lays particular emphasis on State of Texas’ Core Curriculum. The Ethical Issues Involved It is appropriate to enumerate the major ethical issues in a college education today! These issues revolve around academic freedom, grading, priorities, intellectual freedom, classroom management, confidentiality, interpersonal relationships, academic honesty, learning environment, intellectual property, letters of recommendation, advising and mentoring, and research ethics (Brown and Krager, p404). In summary therefore, this essay endeavors to answer all the questions that touch on the principles of academic freedom as highlighted by Couch and Dodd (p20). It is abundantly clear that the main AAUP’s policy document advocates for academic freedom as indispensable in order for the institutions of higher education to provide quality education, when it states that “institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole” (King and Connor, p18). This common good surely depends on the free exposition as well as free search for truth. Another issue of paramount importance to college education is the governance of the institutions, which, traditionally, has been the responsibility shared among trustees, faculty, and administrators. Consider, for instance, the ‘contingency faculty’. Depending on the college, “contingent faculty” can be lecturers, adjuncts, instructors, post-doctorates, clinical faculty, TAs, non-tenure-track faculty, non-senate faculty or part-timers (Stephens et al, p43). All these, have one thing in common! They offer their services in insecure and unsupported positions – i.e. with modest job security - and with little protection for their academic freedom (p44). Contingency faculty being the vast majority in college education in US today, particularly in the State of Texas, surely something needs to be done to change this status. All academic professionals should be adequately compensated. It is encouraging that, since 1940 when the “Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure” (Brown and Krager, p405) declared that both economic security and academic freedom were indispensable for professors, the AAUP has been supporting fair compensation for professors and other staff, in many ways. It is evident that the world of learning, especially college education, is undergoing a fast-paced change in terms of educational delivering. For instance, information and communications technology (ICT), particularly multimedia, is now embedded in the core of most educational systems the world over. In fact, Texas, a prominent State in US, is in the forefront for utilizing ICT and multi-media in the Core Curriculum for college education. Furthermore, the said technologies are “profoundly affecting the work of faculty members” in that the technologies are: changing the formats of learning and teaching; “redefining the roles and restructuring the authority of faculty members in organizing and overseeing the curriculum”; and shifting the basis for education evaluation and methods of evaluating students’ - and faculty members’ – performance (Couch and Dodd, p20). It is now common knowledge that open learning (OL), electronic distance learning (EDL), and the use of information superhighway, cyberspace, presentations, search engines in college education – and the general use of Internet – have not only introduced profound ethical and moral issues in college education, but also call for review of both copyright and intellectual property laws. In the core curriculum for higher education for most of the States of USA, accreditation bodies together with several dozens of specialized educational groups create, implement and regulate quality standards for higher education (Brown and Krager, p417). However, since some of these bodies are non-governmental agencies comprising their member institutions, their centre of interest may not be to ensure high quality standards in college education but rather to plant and nurture their philosophies or ideologies in the education system. This raises a valid ethical issue. Several cases of sexual harassment or assault have been reported in several institutions of higher learning as noted by King and Connor (p31). Policies that govern sexual harassment have also been subjected to heated debates in many college campuses. For example, the testimony advanced by Anita Hill during the hearing by Clarence Thomas increased the entire nation’s consciousness of sexual harassment so much so that even today, sexual harassment is still a contentious and ethical issue, especially in college or university campuses (quoted by Stephens et al, p46). This notwithstanding, AAUP strongly advocates the “fair and equal treatment of all members of the higher education community”, and encourages and supports diversity amongst faculty, students and administrators (Couch and Dodd, p20). Teaching and academic research are the two primary responsibilities of faculty members. This is so much so that whether or not there are research accomplishments, would bear heavily on tenure decisions. Furthermore, educational research together with its results publication represents a very important way in which academia serves the fundamental common good. An example suffices! The ‘Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure’ of 1940 states that: “freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth” (p45) and the common good. Research is therefore, an important ethical issue. Yet another ethical issue is the question of civility. There have been concerns as to how much the college administrators can restrict a college faculty members’ extramural speech considering the fact that, since its inception, AAUP has been defending the right of a college faculty members to speak freely as citizens (Brown and Krager, p416). The issue of faculty members’ appointments or reappointment, promotion or tenure is a major ethical concern to AAUP. As a matter of fact, AAUP’s staff often advises all college faculty members regarding the Association’s standards. On a regular basis, the association would advise the faculty members how and to what extent the Association can offer meaningful assistance in resolving a member’s complaints. Coupled with this, this staff continually works with the national committees of the Association in order to develop policy statements that deal with matters of all the faculty personnel. An important ethical issue in college education is the so called “academic collective bargaining” which is the “unionization of all divisions of the higher education workers” —ranging from tenured faculty members to graduate-student workers, as well as from purely academic professionals to pure support staff (King and Connor, p19). In US, academic collective bargaining has undergone two stages of growth: firstly, the expansion of faculty members and supporting staff “collective bargaining” power due to changes in State and Federal labor laws in 1960-1970’s; and secondly, swift increase in “graduate-employee unionization” in 1990s due to the increased employment of graduate-employees as observed by Stephens et al (p48). Discrimination is an issue that raises profound legal, ethical, moral implications irrespective of what aspect of human race it is committed. Discrimination in college education has been a serious ethical issue until AAUP adopted a statement in October 1976 – this statement has undergone successive revisions until June 1995 when it was fully adopted (King and Connor, p28). The first part of this statement is concerned with the twin issue of diversity and affirmative action. It is complimentary that AAUP has a “longstanding commitment to increasing diversity in higher education”. This is witnessed by the AAUP’s governing Council declaration in 1976 that “the Association is committed to use its procedures and to take measures, including censure, against colleges and universities practicing illegal or unconstitutional discrimination, or discrimination on a basis not demonstrably related to the job function involved, including, but not limited to, age, sex, disability, race, religion, national origin, marital status, or sexual orientation” (Brown and Krager, p418). AAUP believes that academic freedom is correlated to certain fundamental rights. These rights are described in the “Statement on Professional Ethics” of 1966, as well as some derivative statements dealing with a number of ethical issues, such as conflicts of interest, plagiarism, and recruitment or resignation of college faculty members (Couch and Dodd, p20). Faculty workload is a grave ethical issue in higher education. When a State’s legislators are faced with decreasing resources, some call for less research and more teaching; others demand for greater accountability; yet others seek to do away with tenure system, while others attempt to mandate more hours that a faculty member should spend in a lecture theatre. Balancing family and academic work is an ethical issue in higher education that all faculty members face. For instance, in addition to teaching, a faculty member would advise students; serve on departmental or faculty committees; keep abreast of developments in their respective fields of specialization; must engage in research; participate in activities of professional societies; and read latest research studies. In other words, a faculty member will always have a question to ask, or an issue to discuss or some analysis to perform. What happens if a student refuses to accept the grade awarded by a faculty member? This is an ethical questions occasionally faced by professors despite the fact that they (professors) have “the right to evaluate and grade students in their courses” (King and Connor, p38). The Implications of Alternative Actions Adopted Issues of special concern to graduate students including collective bargaining, academic and intellectual freedom, institutional policy and all other policies as outlined in the Association’s Statement on Graduate Students (2000), are carried out by a special committee of AAUP’s that deal with Graduate and Professional Students (Stephens et al, p47). Since 2004, several State legislatures have sought to establish “The Academic Bill of Rights” by considering legislative proposals which challenge the concept that “higher education in the United States is, and should be, free of government control or interference” (Couch and Dodd, p20). Conclusion In conclusion, the essay examined the contemporary ethical issues in a college education laying a particular focus to the State of Texas. It identified the issues involved, and examined the implications of the alternative actions taken to resolve them. All along, the essay evaluated the present-day ethical position from the view point of AAUP’s policies. Works Cited Brown, R. D. and Krager, LuAnn. Ethical Issues in Graduate Education: Faculty and Student Responsibilities. The Journal of Higher Education, Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 403-418, 1985 Couch, Sue and Dodd, Sara. Doing the Right Thing: Ethical Issues in Higher Education. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, Vol. 97, No.3, pg.20, 2005 King, Madeleine and Connor, Helen. Ethics Matters: Managing Ethical Issues in Higher Education. The Council for Industry and Higher Education, 2005 Stephens, J., Beaumont, E., Colby, A., and Ehrlich, T. Educating undergraduates for responsible citizenship. Change, 35(6), 42-48, 2003 Read More