Preserving a Culture of Trust

Paul Tanaka

Office of University Counsel

Why did events in State College becomeThe 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?

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

Other Headlines

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?

The Usual Institutional/Governmental Solutions

Legislation Regulation More Policies More Procedures And public flogging

That Dirty Word: ComplianceAAU/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

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

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?

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

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.

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.

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

Discussion