Monday

What are your Ethics?

Classes are definitely in full swing here at the Warner School, as I have been swamped with work. I never thought I would miss taking an exam, but after writing so many papers these past couple weeks, I must say I have thought about it. Luckily, I was able to complete everything, and although there were some very late nights, the early returns on the grades have been good!

Aside from the paper writing, I wanted to discuss a little bit about what we discussed in Dr. Hazen’s Administration of Student Affairs in Higher Education class. It was a discussion on ethics in the professional world of Higher Education. The discussion can be best described through an example we did in class. Keep in mind that these were just made up scenarios to get us thinking.

One of the situations Dr. Hazen gave us was that we were all to pretend that we were Residential Life professionals at the University. A student who in the past has considered suicide, and had a history of depression problems, came back from summer vacation and brought a cat with her to live in her dorm room. Her morale had perked up, and she seemed to be doing better. She even brought with her documentation from her doctor saying that the cat was needed for medical reasons.

That is where we were presented the question, as Residential Life professionals.  What do we do in this situation, because the University’s policy is that no animals can be in the dorms. Dr. Hazen wanted us to voice what we would do and split up into groups accordingly. It was interesting to see the different reactions. Some said that they would make her get rid of the cat, or she would be kicked out of the dorm. Others suggested that she be let out of her Residential Life contract so that she could move off campus with the cat. Another group believed that the cat was essential to her well being and that as long as her roommate was okay with it, that she should be able to keep the cat.

You can see where this discussion led, and why this activity was brought up to us. These are issues that are tackled by people in the field of Higher Education everyday. And there are positives and negatives to each reaction. Each individual has their own views, thoughts, and ethical stand on issues such as the cat and many other controversial issues that come up in Higher Education.

Another lesson to take away from this is that what do you do if the decision that gets made isn’t the decision that you were behind? Do you support it, and hope that you can work with it to make it the best situation possible under the circumstances? Do you say nothing, kind of shrug your shoulders and not strive to make it work? Or do you quit, because your ethics and your views are so strong and different from the decision that was made that you are no longer to work for that particular institution? No matter what your answer is to any of these questions, one point remains constant: Ethics plays an enormous role in the field of Higher Education, and working together to understand each others views, principles, and beliefs, while trying to achieve a common goal that everyone can get on board with is the ultimate recipe for success.