Talking Stick - January/February 2019 - 32

SPECIAL FOCUS

WHAT WOULD
YOU DO?
Other findings from the survey:

* 55% say it is okay to accept a
fast food lunch from a vendor, and
62% say the lunch's price would
have no influence on their answer.

* 73% believe if they win an
iPad or similar prize from a vendor
drawing at a conference, the prize
belongs to them, while 26% believe
the gift belongs to their institution.

* If a vendor offered to pay
all conference expenses for a staff
member and even their family,
62% would politely refuse the
offer, 10% would accept but only
for themselves, and 15% would accept the offer and bring the family
along.

afterward, receives a $100 gift card
from the student's parents. In this
case, 46 percent of respondents
said they would politely refuse the
gift card and mail it back to the
parent, while 23 percent said they
would accept the gift but would use
it as a prize for students or another
business-related matter. In addition,
33 percent stated they would perceive
the situation to be different if the gift
had been flowers or candy instead of
a gift card. And in another scenario,
common in a student affairs office,
a vendor sends a large gift basket to
the office, and it is addressed to only
one specific staff member. Among
the survey respondents, 60 percent

32

TALKING STICK

believed it to be unethical to re-gift
the basket while 11 percent admitted
to having participated in such
behavior. Eighty-seven percent said
that, in such a situation, they would
accept the gift and share it with the
rest of the office.
Other scenarios focused on the
ethics related to hiring personnel.
For example, a colleague at a
different university interviews a
candidate formerly supervised by the
respondent. The candidate had been
a disappointing hire and, in fact,
was fired for a multitude of issues.
Though not listed as a reference, the
respondent is considering reaching
out to warn their colleague. For this
scenario, the responses were split,
with 37 percent thinking that this is
the ethical thing to do and 37 percent
saying it is unethical.
Changing laws can create new
ethical dilemmas. For example,
would it be ethical for a professional
attending a conference in a state that
has legalized marijuana to partake
during their free time at the end
of the day? Forty-seven percent of
respondents believed it was ethical to
legally use marijuana recreationally,
assuming they were sober for all
conference events, and 62 percent
said there was no difference between
legally using marijuana and alcohol.
Many respondents cited remaining
beholden to university-specific drug
policies and noted that their institution
tests for drugs, and use - regardless
of where it occurred - would be a
violation of that policy.
Even though student affairs
professionals work to develop codes
of conduct, policies, and ethical
statements to help guide employees'
behavior, it is still not always easy
to make the right decision and they
may need to rely more on personal,

professional, and faith-based values.
Even if there are no hard and fast
rules governing specific day-to-day
decisions, ethical discussions can still
be a part of the workplace. Though the
right course of action may not always
be clearly visible, staff can benefit from
opportunities to examine their own
ethical choices, the process that leads
to those choices, and the consequences
that emanate from them. 

Larry Christenson is the executive
director of university housing at
Georgia College and State University in
Milledgeville.
 larry.christenson@gcsu.edu
Cindy McClanahan is the housing
marketing coordinator.
 cindy.mcclanahan@gcsu.edu

 RESOURCES
Gregory Blimling, Elizabeth
Whitt, and associates, Good
Practice in Student Affairs:
Principles to Foster Student
Learning (1999).

Larry Christenson, Ryan
Greene, and Cindy
McClanahan, Ethical Behavior:
More Than 50 Shades of Grey
(2018).
Talking Stick - January/February 2019

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