PROFESSIONAL STATEMENT OF ETHICS

Professional Statement of Ethics

Edgar Naen

Department of Communication, Ottawa University Arizona

Seminar in Applied Communication

David Cook

March 20th, 2022

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Professional Statement of Ethics

In this essay, we are going to talk about the Professional Statement of Ethics. According to

Indeed “A professional code of ethics is designed to ensure employees are behaving in a manner

that is socially acceptable and respectful of one another. It establishes the rules for behavior and

sends a message to every employee that universal compliance is expected.” (Indeed Editorial

Team, 2021, “Professional Code of Ethics: Definition and Examples”). Is a few sentences that

basically set the values and the rules of the company that each member has to follow.

For this Statement of Professional Ethics, I choose the University of California Los Angeles. I

chose this school because I would like to be a coach in the future and I would find a lot of pride

in coaching a sports team at UCLA. The Professional Statement of Ethics of UCLA applies both

for the academic and athletic side of the school and is “Members of the University of California

community are committed to the highest ethical standards in furtherance of our mission of

teaching, research, and public service. We recognize that we hold the University in trust for the

people of the State of California. Our policies, procedures, and standards provide guidance for

application of the ethical values stated below in our daily life and work as members of this

community” (The Regents of the University of California, May 2005). They also mention four

important principles that the school really cares about and are Integrity, Excellence,

Accountability, and Respect.

I think that this statement could be resumed with two words which are Excellence and

Community. The goal of the school is to produce excellence which would result in having a good

impact on the community of California. By using excellence they also insure that the education
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that they provide is excellent and that it is going to help student greatness and the same applies to

the athletes and coaches.

My point of view on UCLA statement

My opinion and vision about this organization is pretty positive and that is why I chose it. I think

that excellence is a value that helps to always keep pushing. The students and athletes know what

the school is expecting from them. It is not just showing up to class and practice and doing the

minimum possible. It is about being excellent in everything they are doing. The statement also

applies to the staff of the school like the teachers and the coaches who play a big role in the

excellence of the school “There is no doubt that teachers can become powerful agents in raising

the academic performance of children to high levels” (Asa G, 2000). I think that excellence, as

part of the statement of the school, impacts every decision of every members to not settle down

but always look for the best.

What I like in UCLA statement

The two things that I like most, regarding the values that UCLA chose to use in the Professional

Statement of Ethics are accountability and integrity. First integrity because in the constant

research for excellence it is easy to get lost, “Promoting and experiencing academic integrity

within the university context has a twofold purpose: to achieve the necessary learnings and skills

to appropriately perform a specific profession and to develop an ethical perspective which leads

to correct decision making.” (Guerrero-Dib J., 2020). The necessity of promoting integrity as

explained in this article is important to have a positive influence on the members of the
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organization. It gives a structure to respect and ethical code that will impact their decisions

making positively.

The second value that I like is accountability. Accountability is about being responsible for what

we do or say. I think that for a school it’s a very good choice of values and ethical code. Students

are still very young and are learning in the classroom but also in life. Learning means mistakes at

some point and students must realize fast that their actions and words have consequences and

that they have to be accountable for them. On the athletic side, especially at this level, athletes

have to realize that everything they do can end their eventual future professional career.

What I would add

The university speaks about excellence but not about the future. I think that if I had to add

something I will add that the school is about preparing students for their future professional life.

I would mention that the school prepares for excellence with the goal to produce the future of the

country.

Right-based approach

I think that the university is applying the right-based approach in the Professional Statement of

Ethics. This approach is about focusing on the meaning of how things are done and not just

looking at the result. We can make this conclusion because the school promotes values that are

about being ethical like integrity, accountability, and respect. Many times, it is tempting to take

shortcuts or act in a way that is not ethical to get to a certain point. People and organizations

acting in unethical ways are very common and it happens very common in sport. It is well known

that Russia would drug their athletes for better performances and it’s the reason why they got
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banned from the Olympic Games multiple times. As a university, UCLA has to be able to avoid

those behaviors in order to show a good example to the students.

Conclusion

Overall, I think that UCLA shares good values and has an interesting and smart Professional

Statement of Ethics that applies perfectly to a big university like that. The fact that the university

relates to those values, the students are going appropriate those values making them more ready

for their professional life.

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References

Asa G. (2000). Excellence in Education Versus High-Skate Standardized Testing. Sage

Journal. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022487100051004005

Guerrero-Dib. (2020). Impact of academic integrity on workplace ethical behaviour.

International Journal for Educational Integrity.

https://edintegrity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s40979-020-0051-3

Indeed Editorial Team. (2021). Professional Code of Ethics: Definition and Example.

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/professional-code-of-

ethics#:~:text=A%20professional%20code%20of%20ethics%20is%20designed%20to%2

0ensure%20employees,that%20universal%20compliance%20is%20expected.

The Regents of the University of California. (2005). Statement of Ethical Values.

https://www.compliance.ucla.edu/statement-of-ethical-

values#:~:text=We%20are%20committed%20to%3A,for%20excellence%20in%20our%

20work