The University of North Carolina at Wilmington hereby adopts this ethics statement in the belief that a shared statement of ethical values will strengthen the overall quality of the university community.

General Policy

The University of North Carolina at Wilmington is committed to maintaining the highest professional standards in all of its academic and administrative operations; promoting ethical practices among its students, faculty, and employees; and ensuring a level of accountability appropriate for a public institution.

Intellectual Honesty

Personal interactions among university community members should be characterized by truthfulness, openness to new ideas, and consideration for the rights of others. Each member of the university should respect the right of others to freedom of thought, opinion, speech, and association.

Personal Conduct

University employees shall present information accurately, comply with policies to the best of their ability, and use the institution's resources appropriately. Each employee is responsible for avoiding real or apparent conflicts of interest, ensuring that authority is exercised within a framework of accountability; and ensuring that information is managed in accordance with relevant public record and privacy statutes. Employees must ensure that the university's interests are foremost in all official decision making and shall remove themselves from decision making roles which involve the employee in any personal capacity or which involve friends or family members.

Shared Responsibility

The achievement and continuation of an ethical educational and administrative environment is a shared responsibility among administrators, faculty, staff, and students. Consultation with appropriate university departments or officials will be treated as confidential. Employees may exercise a right of appeal through the chain of command up to and including their division Vice Chancellor or the Senior Officer responsible for the academic or administrative function at issue. Employees shall be free from retaliation for voicing concerns.

Related Policies

A number of university policies establish ethical guidelines or standards for appropriate professional conduct for particular educational or administrative functions. In addition to the Administrative Policies & Procedures Manual, the Code of Student Life and the Faculty Handbook include such relevant policies as the policy on academic freedom and tenure, policy on freedom of expression, academic honor code, EEO/AA policy, statement on diversity in the university community, policy on scientific research, institutional patent and copyright procedures, policy on protection of human subjects, computing resources use policy, and conflict of interest policy. By way of example, the following are brief summaries of the principles embodied in two of our key policies.

Computing Ethics

Computing resources are available for processing university business and communications. Access to and use of computing technology places a responsibility on each employee to conduct computing business in the same ethical manner that is required of all other official conduct with added concerns for: 1) legal use of licensed software; 2) protection of confidential information; 3) authorized use of hardware/software/periphery devices; 4) authorized access to and valid use of data; 5) asset management; 6) right to privacy; and 7) respect for and safeguarding of security passwords, user identity, and system access.

Research

Research carried out by university faculty and staff shall be characterized by the highest standards of integrity and ethical behavior. Every effort shall be made to ensure that all research data or results of projects or programs sponsored by, or under the administrative supervision of, the university are represented completely and accurately. Additionally, all research involving human subjects must be approved by the Institutional Review Board, and all research involving the use of animals must be approved by the Institution's Animal Care and Use Committee.

Addressing Concerns

Individuals who have concerns about the conduct of a university employee or the propriety of a given situation should: 1) consult with the director of the office responsible for the educational or administrative function at issue; or 2) notify their department chair, dean, director, or an administrator in their supervisory chain at a level sufficient to allow objectivity in evaluating the subject of concern. Concerns about ethical practices may also be reported anonymously to the State Auditor's Fraud and Abuse Hotline by calling 1-800-730-8477. The Vice Chancellor or Senior Officer responsible for the academic or administrative function at issue shall respond to university community members who express concerns about ethical practices and shall inform the Chancellor regarding their response.