The Instructor’s Role
Compliance continues to be a crucial topic in the private school sector of higher education. In your role as a faculty member, what can you do to help ensure that your institution creates and sustains an ethical and compliance-based culture?
My school follows the three pronged Head, Heart,and Hands motto. By encouraging our students to apply the three H's to new situations helps with compliance. I also use role models to help ensure compliance. A student can see a graduate out in the world succeeding in their chosen profession, thus giving them a real sense of where their education will take them.
I think the whole key is being honest with our students. Creating a false sense of superiority is wrong and we all need to be honest - there are good and bad things with any school or situation. We must first understand the rules and then ensure that we follow them. This keeps a consistent class flow for all of our students.
As a faculty member, I feel that I set the standards in my classroom for what I expect out of the students. I can't nessasary control what happens in other classes, because each teacher teaches different. I try to be the example for students. In the way that I carry myself, dress code and attitude. Also by following our school handbook, policy and procedures.
Joyce,
Thanks Joyce! An institution's mission really is at the center of its culture!
Jay Hollowell
Joyce,
Thanks Joyce! An institution's mission really is at the center of its culture!
Jay Hollowell
Our instructors bring up compliance issues at meetings, and we talk out how to correctly answer the question or concern that a teacher may have encountered. We find that by doing this we are usually on the same page, and when all instructors have pretty much the same answer all students get the same answer.
Reading these responses had put clairified the meaning of a compliance culture. Now that it is a little clearer to me I realize that I need to reread the schools mission and rules. I feel that I've been on the right track but after 3 years I need to refresh my memory on the schools cultural beliefs. Thank you.
Jennifer,
Thanks for bringing into the discussion the importance of the school's mission. The mission and core values of an institution are at the heart of a compliance culture.
Jay Hollowell
Dawn,
You have noted the first step in developing a culture of compliance mindset - being aware of the standards and policies from the onset! Bravo! Additionally as you referenced, being individually part of a compliance culture is affected by our own personal beliefs and values.
Jay Hollowell
Justin,
Thanks for your comments. Transparency is key and so much of what we do in the classroom and lab, in concert with the professional relationship we have with our students, is a major foundation for the compliance culture.
Jay Hollowell
I myself must keep current on compliance. Communication with the men and women above me will also help keep me true to the school. I do my best to educate and train my staff on teaching each student and handling each need the most appropriately.
As an instructor, I allow myself to be transparent not only to my fellow coworkers, but also to my students. This creates trust, and trust allows for both parties to ensure that we're functioning with higher standards. And I believe that when high standards are met, then the school's mission is fullfilled.
Educating yourself and understanding the latest compliance issues and how they relate to students. Awareness helps in your ability to be transparent and to fully explain options to students that can best meet their needs.
As a faculty memeber, I can ensure my institution creates and sustains an ethical and compliance-based culture by first, checking in with myself on my ethical standards and, second, by educating myself on what it means to be compliant. If I am unaware of what the policies are, it would be difficult to know how to handle a situation and remain in compliance.
Showing trust is very important. Student have to be able to trust you in what you do and say. Being transparent is extremely important. This shows that you can be honest at all times for not just the student and yourself, but for the institution as well. I try to make sure that I lay these simple rules on the table the first day of class. I share my background, experience, and knowledge that I have accumulated through the years. Not only does this give the school integrity but shares the equal qualities in us all. To shoot for better goals and to be better people.
