Given its mission, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (the “College-Institute”) establishes the following Code of Ethics (the “Code”), its principles apply to its volunteers (including but not limited to its Boards of Governors and Overseers), employees (including but not limited to its Administrators, Faculty, Staff, Independent Contractors and vendors), and Students (collectively, “College-Institute community members”). The purpose of the Code is to set forth the ethical expectations for the College-Institute community and our partner institutions with whom we work and place students. This is a statement of principle which cannot serve effectively as a stand-alone document. Rather, its requirement that College-Institute community members act ethically is incorporated into all other College-Institute policies. Our collective and individual duties to act ethically are an inherent part of all policies.
- Complying with Legal and Professional Obligations
The College-Institute requires its members to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and to conform to the highest standards of professional conduct. To the extent the College-Institute community members are governed by standards specific to a profession (such as attorneys, psychologists, professors, or certified public accountants), community members must adhere to those professional standards. For the sake of clarity, when the Code of Ethics contains higher standards than those specific to a profession, this Code of Ethics will prevail.
The College-Institute community members must conduct themselves in accordance with professional principles for scholarly work, including upholding academic codes of conduct and professional standards for research.
The College-Institute strives to recognize vulnerabilities among its community members. Any act or behavior which exploits the vulnerability of another, compromises the College-Institute’s moral integrity and is an ethical violation. It should go without saying that any crime, abuse or attempted crime or abuse committed towards children, the legally incompetent, or those otherwise unable to give consent is never ethical, never acceptable and will be subject to disciplinary action by the College-Institute as well as referral to legal authorities.
- Academic Integrity
True learning requires an environment of honesty. That environment is undermined by such overtly dishonest acts as misrepresenting your status, work, or qualifications, misappropriating the work of others, fabricating, or manipulating data, plagiarizing, and cheating.
An honest environment may also be impeded by less overt behaviors such as denying students access to or freedom to express divergent views, denying students effective class participation, or deliberately suppressing or distorting subject matter. Members of the College-Institute community are entitled to an informed and impartial evaluation of their work and/or academic performance.
- Operational Integrity
All financial transactions or data must comply with all applicable legal, regulatory, and professional requirements, as well as College-Institute rules and policies, whether applicable to funding grants, purchase of goods or services or expense receipt processing, as a few examples. The spectrum of financial matters, large and small, is covered.
Relatedly, College-Institute services, time, materials, supplies, equipment, and facilities are dedicated to College-Institute operations, not for any individual’s personal benefit.
The use of the information and communication systems of the College-Institute is dedicated to its operations and must reflect its ethics and values. All such systems, including computer programs, electronic mail, voice mail, electronic archives, should primarily be used for business or academic purposes and regardless of the nature of use, must comply in all respects with College-Institute policies, including those prohibiting discriminatory, degrading or obscene communications.
Users of our information and communication systems must also observe all applicable licensing and other terms and conditions of use, including copyright and other protections of intellectual property. Use professionalism and good judgment when using any information or communication technology, including social media, blogs, message boards, chat rooms, electronic newsletters, online forums, social networking sites and the like. These tools allow the efficient and broad communication of ideas and knowledge.
Inappropriately used, they also enable the rapid and broad dissemination of information that is false, inane, unprofessional, or harmful. Do not post impulsively or without verification of information from third parties. Recognize and take steps to maintain a demarcation between a personal and professional presence on social media. Do not present your personal views as those of the College-Institute. Do not post or comment on social media using your College-Institute title without express authorization.
While the College-Institute recognizes that incidental use of its information and communication systems may be necessary, such usage must be kept at a minimum and not interfere with work or academic efficiency.
- Social Integrity
The College-Institute is committed to providing a work and academic environment where it not only complies with legal obligations against unlawful discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct, but it also maintains a higher standard of treating all individuals with respect, professionalism and civility. To that end, the College- Institute emphasizes its prohibition against potentially damaging behaviors that may not rise to the level of unlawful conduct, such as bullying or sexual relationships between those of unequal power.
Academic and employment relationships should be based on trust, respect, and mutual regard. Relationships between persons of unequal power are susceptible to coercion, real or perceived. Abuse of power or the exploitation of an individual for one’s personal benefit is anathema to an honest academic and/or employment environment. Those persons in a position of authority over another, persons whom they supervise, teach, coach, advise, mentor or evaluate, for example, must avoid conflicts of interest and are prohibited from engaging or attempting to engage in a romantic or sexual relationship with an individual in a role subordinate to him or her. This prohibition applies to all members of the College-Institute community, including supervisors, administrators, faculty, mentors, and students. In the event that a consensual relationship preexists a subsequently developed relationship of unequal influence or authority, the specific circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether an exemption to this provision is warranted with the development of appropriate safeguards.
- Avoiding Conflicts of Interest and Commitment
College-Institute community members should not have direct or indirect interests or commitments, financial or otherwise, which conflict with the proper discharge of their duties to the College-Institute. The primary professional allegiance of all College-Institute community members rests with the College-Institute and the advancement of its mission. College-Institute community members are not allowed to solicit or accept any gift, service, or favor that might reasonably influence the discharge of their duties or that they know or should know is being offered with the intent to influence any official conduct. College-Institute community members are not allowed to accept other employment or engage in business or professional activities outside of the College- Institute when such work might reasonably cause real or apparent conflicts of interest or conflicts of commitment.
College-Institute community members must disclose potential conflicts of interest to their supervisor or other relevant official as soon as possible when they realize that a conflict has or potentially may have arisen. In the event a conflict exists, the College-Institute community member must work with the College-Institute to resolve the conflict in accordance with the conflict-of-interest policy or resign from their College-Institute position.
College-Institute community members represent the College-Institute whether on campus or elsewhere. The College-Institute expects community members to conduct themselves in a manner that does not injure the College-Institute’s mission, community, reputation or standing. The Code extends not only to all College- Institute facilities (including Israel) but to offsite College-Institute events, and any communications made via the internet, including social media and email, or other third-party platforms with any nexus to the College-Institute.
- Collective Responsibility
All College-Institute community members should report actual or suspected violations of the Code in accordance with Section IV. In cases where a person of authority is present and observes such behavior (such as an educator in a classroom, presiding officer in a board meeting, or during faculty meetings), that person has an ethical obligation to prevent that behavior from escalating and to report it.
The College-Institute has an “open door policy” where community members are encouraged to share their questions, concerns, suggestions, or complaints with someone who can address them properly. In most cases, a supervisor is in the best position to address an area of concern of an employee, and a faculty member for a student. However, if an employee or student is not comfortable speaking with a supervisor or faculty member, or is not satisfied with their response, the employee or student is encouraged to speak with the President, Chair of the Board of Governors, or anyone in management whom they feel comfortable approaching. Supervisors and managers are required to report suspected violations of the Code to the College-Institute’s Compliance Officer. For suspected fraud, or when an employee or student is not satisfied or uncomfortable with following the College-Institute’s open-door policy, individuals should contact the Compliance Officer directly.
- Compliance Officer
The College-Institute’s Compliance Officer is the CFO/VP of Finance and Administration, with support staff from the Department of Human Resources. The Compliance Officer is responsible for investigating and resolving all reported complaints and allegations concerning violations of the Code and may use appropriate staff or third parties as necessary to assist in investigatory efforts. The Compliance Officer must inform the President and Chair of the Board of Governors of any pending complaints and must provide status updates as necessary to inform the President and Chair of the Board of Governors on the findings of the investigation, the actions taken to resolve the complaint (if any), and a recommendation as to the disciplinary actions to be taken. Should the complaint involve the President, the Chair of the Board of Governors, or any other high-ranking Administrator to which the Compliance Officer feels, in their sole discretion, to be an inadequate investigator to investigate the complaint, the Compliance Officer may refer the matter to an appropriate authority within the College- Institute who can better carry out the duties and responsibilities of the Compliance Officer.
The Compliance Officer has direct access to the Board of Governors and is required to report to the Board of Governors at least once a year on compliance activity, if any.
- Handling of Reported Violations
All reported violations will be promptly investigated, and appropriate disciplinary or corrective action will be taken if warranted by the investigation. For procedures and due process, see attached Appendix on procedures.
- Acting in Good Faith
Anyone filing a complaint concerning a violation or suspected violation of the Code must be acting in good faith and have reasonable grounds for believing the information disclosed indicates a violation of the Code. Any allegations that prove not to be substantiated and which prove to have been made maliciously or with knowing falsity will be treated as a serious disciplinary offense, which may result in written warning, demotion, transfer, suspension, dismissal, expulsion or termination.
- Confidentiality
Violations or suspected violations may be submitted on a confidential basis by the complainant or may be submitted anonymously directly to the Compliance Officer. Reports of violations or suspected violations will be kept confidential to the extent possible, consistent with the need to conduct an adequate investigation.
- No Retaliation
College-Institute community members who in good faith report a violation of the Code shall be protected from harassment, retaliation, or adverse employment consequences. Any College-Institute community member who retaliates against someone who has reported a violation in good faith is subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment or expulsion from the College-Institute. This policy is intended to encourage and enable College-Institute community members to create a culture of responsible collaboration, which involves raising concerns within the College-Institute for adjudication prior to seeking resolution outside the College- Institute.
As College-Institute community members, we pledge ourselves to be scrupulous in our adherence to the foregoing Code of Ethics, and to hold others and ourselves to the highest standards.