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Preserving a Culture of Trust

Preserving a Culture of Trust. Paul Tanaka Office of University Counsel. Why did events in State College become The Pennsylvania State Scandal?. Not the Jerry Sandusky Scandal? Not the Second Mile Scandal? Not the Penn Department of Welfare Scandal?

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Preserving a Culture of Trust

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  1. Preserving a Culture of Trust Paul Tanaka Office of University Counsel

  2. Why did events in State College become The Pennsylvania State Scandal? • Not the Jerry Sandusky Scandal? • Not the Second Mile Scandal? • Not the Penn Department of Welfare Scandal? • Not the Centre County District Attorney Scandal?

  3. We are an Institution of Higher Expectation • We see ourselves as belonging to a community that represents the best of society • Including a place with high ethical standards • But the cynical public has lust for stories of failure of higher education

  4. Other Headlines

  5. The Dilemma • We believe higher education is best when we operate in a culture of trust • We want to do more scholarship and less compliance • But higher education has had dramatic failures • So the question becomes: How do we preserve a culture of trust?

  6. The Usual Institutional/Governmental Solutions • Legislation • Regulation • More Policies • More Procedures • And public flogging

  7. That Dirty Word: Compliance AAU/COGR Survey of PI Administrative Burdens on Federal sponsored programs: • 1980’s: 18% of time • Now: 42% of time Source: http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/gcprod/documents/RFIRegReview_CouncilGovtRelationsAppendix_03212011.pdf

  8. What Does Experience Tell Us? The worst problems arise from • Ethical Failure • Ignoring the problem • Decisions, incentives and rewards unconnected with ethical standards • Or, in the worst case, a combination of the above

  9. What Can Chairs Do? Do ethics get any consideration in: • Who we hire? • The evaluation process? • Who we promote? • Who we reward? • Who we recognize?

  10. Common Hiring/Tenuring Issues • Knowingly hiring, tenuring or promoting individuals with a problem history • Ignoring the importance of collegiality • Hiring a team, without asking who is on the team • Lack of diligence: • Not calling references because of a known general reputation • Not asking reference questions about ethics and character

  11. Sometimes Time Therapy Won’t Work • We all have that place where unpleasant things might end up: the back burner or the “get to it later pile” or if there is enough gravity, the black hole. • But that’s not the place for these clear ethical issues: Abuse of colleagues and students, lying, cheating and stealing.

  12. More Talk is Not Always the Answer • Yes, fairness requires that we be interactive, we talk and listen. • Unfortunately, ethical problems are not sourced in reason. • And, deep character flaws are not cured by talk.

  13. The Chair’s Role • Ethics a consideration in decision-making, especially relating to personnel • Empowering staff whose job it is to facilitate compliance • Seeing the difference between fast; and fast and loose • Developing intuitions about what’s a red flag • Reaching out for confirmation • In short: Developing a team with sound judgment

  14. Discussion

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