Standard Eleven: Integrity

Description

The University is committed to the principles of academic freedom and the promotion of free and open exchange of ideas. These principles are clearly articulated to members of the University community in Wesleyan’s statements on academic freedom and the responsibilities of the University, and in other components of the Faculty Handbook, the Honor Code, the Code of Non-Academic Conduct, and the Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students.

The University has clear and well-distributed guidelines and standards for ethical conduct by the institution and its members. The essential capability in ethical reasoning, outlined in Standard Four, and engagement with ethical issues across the University curriculum, are factors in curricular development.

The University has endeavored to conduct regular and critical self-analysis, along with timely amendments and updates to ensure that its standards and policies remain appropriate and applicable.

The University operates as a non-profit corporation under a special Charter granted by the State of Connecticut and By-Laws last revised and amended by the Board of Trustees in May of 2011. The University, while private, strives for transparency in its governance and operations. Decisions by the Board of Trustees and the administration are made with the participation of students, faculty, staff, and others through their own governance structures.

The University’s faculty is the principal vehicle for the fulfillment of the University’s core mission of scholarship and teaching. The faculty is governed by written standards of faculty governance and conduct set forth in the Faculty Handbook.

Student academic integrity is governed by an Honor Code, enforced by a student Honor Board under the supervision of the University’s Vice President for Student Affairs. The conduct of students in other aspects of their life at the University is governed by a Code of Non-Academic Conduct, enforced by a Student Judiciary Board under the supervision of the Office of Student Affairs.

Guided by its Vice President for Diversity and Office of Affirmative Action, Wesleyan emphasizes nondiscriminatory behavior and practices in all areas including recruitment, admissions, employment, disciplinary activities, and community and business partner relationships. The University seeks to go beyond non-discrimination to create an institutional environment that welcomes and promotes diversity in its faculty and student body, and in all University operations. Consistent with the mission statement of the New England Small College Athletic Association, of which Wesleyan is a founding member, the University is committed to institutional control of its athletic programs to secure a proper balance in accord with its academic mission.

The University makes its Charter, By-Laws, and key policies available to the Wesleyan community and the general public alike—encouraging education, questions, criticism, discussion, and a spirit of cooperative compliance. Its Board of Trustees conducts regular evaluations of all governance documents in order to allow for deliberation, debate, and updating, and it completed its last such update in 2011. The University emphasizes integrity: The same standards and policies apply at all levels of the University. A Cabinet position (Vice President for Institutional Partnerships and Chief Diversity Officer) is dedicated to oversight of these and other issues. 

Appraisal

Cultural, economic, technological, and institutional changes in higher education have the potential to affect many aspects of the University’s integrity as an academic institution. Since the previous reaccreditation, the University has undertaken systematic reviews and revisions of many of its most important policies and practices that sustain the University’s commitments to integrity and transparency.

Concerning its academic core, the University has systematically reviewed and revised its processes for the reappointment, promotion, and tenure of faculty with regards to the following: improving transparency and uniformity of standards, focusing and clarifying its appeal procedures, ensuring confidentiality, providing a more appropriate role for tenure-track faculty in the tenure process and tenure policy, and keeping candidates appropriately informed of their standing in the process. The Advisory Committee of the Academic Council oversees the implementation and assessment of these changes. The University also regularly conducts reviews and updates to its general faculty standards and conduct contained in the Faculty Handbook.

The University’s two major policies and processes for ensuring the integrity of student life at the University have received extensive attention since the previous reaccreditation. The Student Honor Code was recently revised to enhance its visibility and transparency. The Code of Non-Academic Conduct has also recently been revised in order to remove barriers to reporting sexual violence, and to enhance the visibility of University resources and procedures for responding to such violence. The University continues to address other concerns with aspects of student conduct and culture, seeking to enhance the visibility and recognition of the Code of Non-Academic Conduct, address specific concerns that may arise from time to time, and maintain clearer and more effective enforcement of its provisions.

The University is currently undertaking a new initiative to enhance awareness and understanding of what diversity should mean in an academic setting, “Making Excellence Inclusive,” presented in Standard 6. This project has initiated discussions on inclusiveness throughout the academic and supporting units.

The University expects behavior by all employees to be consistent with its key policies, routinely enforces those policies, and has recently instituted several new procedures to help fulfill that expectation. The University has created an on-line University Code of Conduct wherein all employees are required to review and acknowledge the University’s key policies and are afforded an opportunity to report issues, concerns, or questions. Included therein is a Whistleblower Policy affording concerned parties a safe method for reporting problems or concerns without fear of inappropriate retribution.

The University requires its business partners to agree to University terms and conditions including nondiscriminatory behavior, fair employment practices, avoidance of conflicts of interest, and general compliance with the law. These terms are regularly updated, and the University trains its applicable personnel in the significance of these key terms.

Finally, the Athletic Department regularly reviews its policies and practices for compliance with the University’s core values. The University is currently conducting a review of the Athletic Department’s fulfillment of the University’s commitment to gender equity.

Projection

Maintaining academic and institutional integrity in a changing environment requires continued attention and oversight. Because many of our core policies and practices in this area have recently been revised, we anticipate that during the next few years, we shall primarily be monitoring the implementation of these changes and assessing their effectiveness. Further change will be undertaken if and when new issues arise or if recent changes were to prove ineffective or insufficient. The extent of the University’s effort to review key policies and practices reflects the level of recognition by senior administration, faculty, and staff that the appropriateness and effectiveness of our policies concerning academic freedom, ethical behavior, and institutional integrity and fairness are indispensable to fulfillment of our institutional mission.

Institutional Effectiveness

The University has endeavored to conduct regular and critical self-analysis, along with timely amendments and updates to ensure that its standards and policies remain appropriate and applicable. Wesleyan monitors the implementation of its policies with the intent of improving both policy and practice regarding academic freedom, ethical behavior, and institutional integrity and fairness.