Code of professional standards
IntroductionAUA is an open and accessible body for all those with administrative and managerial responsibilities in higher education. The Association is committed to raising the profile of the profession and to developing best practice and the highest standards of professionalism in higher education management and administration. AUA’s members have a wide range of professional interests, expertise and experience. All those who work in higher education share responsibility for the furtherance of lifelong learning: students, academics, administrators, managers and support staff, whatever their specialisms and particular interests, increasingly operate to a common national and international agenda. Administrators and managers are key members of the teams responsible for delivering high quality research, learning, teaching and knowledge transfer.
The work of the Nolan (now Neill) Committee on Standards in Public Life, emphasises the need for all those working in higher education to observe the highest standards of professionalism. The AUA code of professional standards is a welcome development in achieving and sustaining this goal.
The code
This code of values and principles establishes the framework within which AUA expects
its members to set the highest standards of professionalism. In order
to demonstrate this professionalism and their commitment and contribution
to higher education, AUA members are expected to:
- provide high quality professional services
- develop an appreciation of the academic culture, of the traditions and values of the organisations and institutions through which it is sustained, and of the roles of colleagues at all levels and in all branches of higher education
- be sensitive to the multiplicity of clients served by the higher education administrator and to the need to balance conflicting demands
- act with integrity, honesty, fairness, professional impartiality and diligence and without discrimination
- observe due care, objectivity and respect for confidentiality
- be explicit and straightforward in their dealings with colleagues and clients
- ensure that personal interest does not override the needs of clients
- accept responsibility for their actions
- challenge existing practices and ideas when necessary
- be committed to their own personal and professional development by seeking new knowledge and skills to enhance professional performance
- foster the development of others by sharing expertise and good practice and by encouraging employers to support professional development
View the Code in pdf flyer format here
Background
"No-one is in any doubt that universities and colleges are complex institutions to manage. University administrators must strike a balance between the needs of a number of stakeholders. They are responsible in many ways for the welfare of our institutions, for the interests of staff and students, for dealing with suppliers of goods and services, as well as having a regard to the broader public interest and the proper use of funds. A set of professional standards which an individual can turn to when there appears to be a tension between corporate and individual professional values is essential.
"I welcome AUA's code of professional standards, which provides the framework of core values and principles to underpin the profession of university administration." - Lord Nolan
"Your own Association's experience and that of the higher education sector generally provide a valuable case study on how the process for enhancing standards can and should work. The seven principles will not have an impact unless everyone from board level down understands the framework of behaviours that is expected of them.
"That is why I especially welcome the integration of the Code into the Association's
programme of Continuous Professional Development. I hope that this will
be used as a working tool to reinforce cultural change and then adherence to
the principles will become second nature in time. I will follow this
initiative with interest." - Sir
Nigel Wicks, Chair, Committee on Standards in Public Life
"University administrators have to strike a balance between the needs of a number of different stakeholders. We are responsible in many ways for the welfare of our institutions, for the interests of staff and students, for dealing with suppliers of goods and services, as well as having regard to the broader public interest and the proper use of public funds. The high degree of accountability required of university administrators is consistent with the notion of professionalism as requiring a high degree of accountability.
"The basis on which we deal with each other has ramifications for:
- the effective working of our institutions
- the improvement of trust and morale and encouraging a sense of belonging and ownership
- the improvement of service to our clients whether internal or external
- the development of a culture - up, down and across the organisation - whereby individuals are encouraged to behave in a professional manner.
"Both institutional and personal professional values are linked. If objectives of the kind set out above are to be achieved, then the management style must be open and participatory involving listening and consulting, and the communication strategy must be rooted in values appropriate to professional behaviour."Individual values can be put to the test as a result of a tension with the corporate values of the institution as a result, for example, of:
- pressure to cross the threshold between exploiting the rules of funding regimes and unacceptable misrepresentation of data
- the intensification of competition internationally not only for students but also for research achievement
- the development of extreme forms of managerialism
- the increased emphasis on PR, marketing and presentation, and the extent towhich this can lead topressures for inaccurate 'spin' and 'hype'
A set of professional values and an ethical code supported and buttressed by a professional organisation such as AUA, and subscribed to by AHUA, [is] an important safeguard for individuals coming under corporate pressure that conflicts with their professional ethical code." - David Allen & Eddie Newcomb, perspectives, Vol 3 II