Taylor Christian
WSU Student Conduct and Community Standards Office With an Emphasis on Faculty
The following research was conducted to find supporting evidence to evaluate the
relationship between the Wichita State University (WSU) Student Conduct and Community
Standards Office and the WSU faculty in order to improve the relations between the two.
Through the research, there were ten different academic and non-academic articles
reviewed. The articles each focus on different aspects of the topic but each is related to
collegiate faculty and student relations and or a variation of WSU’s code of conduct.
The articles all maintained the notion that there needs to be some variation of a set of
guidelines and an organization to maintain them for both faculty and students to follow in
regards to conduct. Through out the research process one could also note that students that
go on to work in professional settings strongly benefit from a learned code of conduct and
have an easier time adjusting to professional guidelines. With this it is important to note that
without a mutual understanding of professional conduct guidelines among all employees at
an organization, there may be greater variations of misconduct because of diverse opinions
of right or wrong. The non-academic research provided information on the background of
the Wichita State University Student Conduct and Community Standards Office and their
policies. The research also showed consistent trends in the necessity for a code of conduct
and regulations on rules at all levels in education.
These articles are relevant to the research because they provide insight into the need and
function for an organization such as the WSU Student Conduct and Community Standards
Office for faculty. The research also gives some insight into how faculty is responsible for
upholding the code of conduct as well as the challenges that come with said responsibility.
*McCabe, Donald L., Trevino, Linda K. and Butterfield, Kenneth D. (1996). The
Influence of Collegiate And Corporate Codes Of Conduct On Ethics-Related Behavior In
the Workplace. Business Ethics Quarterly, Vol. 6

Summary: This article discusses how ethical conduct is necessary in collegiate
and business settings through the use of surveys. The authors examine the positive
long-term benefits a collegiate code of conduct has on graduates entering the
work force. The purpose of the survey was to determine whether having a honor
code effects a working professional’s ethical view.

Methods: Working alumni from both honor and non-honor code school were
surveyed about the effects their collegiate honor code had in their professional
work places.

Findings:
o There was less un-ethical behavior was found among the alumni that
worked in organizations with a set code of conduct than in organizations
that did not have structured guidelines.
o Those alumni that worked in an organization that had a code of conduct
had an easier time following the set rules if they had attended a college
with a similarly structured honor code.
*Hoyt, Donald P. & Howard, George S. (1978). The Evaluation of Faculty
Development Programs. Research in Higher Education, Vol. 8 pg 25-38.

Summary: This article talks about the importance of code of conduct in the work
place. The purpose of the study was to determine whether employees felt a set of
rules was beneficial to their work or not.

Methods: Studies were conducted with faculty from two different collegiate
schools. The new data correlated with previous data from prior studies.

Findings:
o Employees feel more productive in their daily job duties with the codes to
follow.
o Employees desire to improve at their jobs with a structured system.
*McCabe, Donald L., Butterfielf, Kenneth D. and Trevino, Linka K. (2003).
Academic Dishonesty in Graduate Business Programs: Prevalence, Causes, and Proposed
Action. Academy of Management

Summary: This article focuses on the need for conduct in institutions. The
authors’ main focus was on cheating at the graduate level. The authors’ tested
series of hypotheses as to why students cheat.

Methods: 32 colleges in the United States and Canada were included in the trial.
There were more than 5,000 business (MBA) and non-business students were
included in the study.

Findings:
o Those caught cheating were turned in by peers or faculty that valued the
academic code in place.
o An academic code is necessary for graduate schools as well as
undergraduate to keep academic honesty in check.
*McCarthy, Irene N. (1997). Professional Ethics Code Conflict Situations: Ethical and
Value Orientation of Collegiate Accounting Students. Universities to the Marketplace:
The Business Ethics Journey, pg 257-263

Summary: This article talks about the professional code of conduct the American
Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) uses. The author discusses her
findings and ethical views of students who had taken a class in ethics and those
who had not.

Method: 306 beginning students and 294 advanced accounting students form both
public and private universities were involved in the survey. Three different tests
were administered. The students were given a demographic questionnaire, the
Rokeach Value Survey and a research-adapted questionnaire. Afterwards, T-tests
were used to analyze scores of the surveys given.

Findings:
o There was a consensus from both beginning level and advanced
accounting students that there was no difference in ethics.
o No big difference in scores from students who had taken an ethics course
and those who had not.
*Spiller, Shane &Crown, Deborah F. (1995). Changes Over Time In Academic
Dishonesty At The Collegiate Level. Psychological Reports, pg 763-768.

Summary: The authors conducted tests prior to this article to study the accusations
that there has been an increase in academic dishonesty among collegiate level
students. The purpose of the tests was to see if there was truth behind the
accusation that cheating in college settings had in fact increased over the years.

Methods: The authors studied different behaviors and opportunities to cheat. The
authors then analyzed the different behaviors in order to study said behaviors
from the early 1900s through today.

Findings:
o There was no correlation supporting the increase in academic dishonesty
found.
Siegrist, Gerald (1999). Education Leadership Must Move Beyond Management
Training to Visionary and Moral Transformational Leaders. Education, Vol. 120 No. 2.

Summary: This article discusses the notion that elementary and all higher-level
educators should be held accountable for instilling good morals as well as
education into their students. The author links structure in the classroom and code
of conduct to success in school and later in life. The article makes strong cases for
the benefits of having to abide by a code of conduct at an early age and the effects
in later life. The author argues that the loner one is subject to a set of regulations
on their actions the easier it is for them to adapt to other regulations in later
careers or life situations.
Pavela, Gary (2014). Memorandum to the Faculty. ASCA Law and Policy Report.

Summary: This article was written following the Virgin Tech shootings. The
author addressed common concerns many faculty may have in regards to their and
their students’ safety while in the class room. The article also serves as a guide to
faculty on how to respond to a troubled student in hopes of preventing any
violence. The plan is laid out point-by-point and gives advice and tips to spotting
an issue. There is also information on how to talk to the student if there is cause
for concern and how to proceed afterwards.
Pavela, Gary (2011). Advice from Students to Faculty Members on Protecting Academic
Integrity. ASCA Law and Policy Report.

Summary: This article talks about ways to maintain academic honest in the
classroom for faculty. The author gives notes on how to effectively set up a
learning environment from the start that will be the most beneficial to the
students. The article also touches on the importance of faculty making themselves
available and approachable to the students in order to maintain a free flow of
information between the two. The aspect most relevant was the section about
Responding to Incidents in which the author gave appropriate responses to follow
if an incident should occur in the classroom.
*Clark, Cynthia M. & Springer, Pamela J. (2007). Thoughts on Incivility: Student and
Faculty Perceptions of Uncivil Behavior in Nursing Education. Nursing Education
Perspectives, Vol. 28, pg 93-97.

Summary: This article talks about the current raise in complaints from students
and faculty to their institutions in regards to un-ethical behavior. The purpose of
the study was to determine what students and faculty alike thought of as ‘uncivil
behavior’ in order to increase awareness and possibly prevent future negligence of
the rules.

Method: The authors used interpretive qualative method for their research and
used various teachers and students from their school as subjects.

Findings:
o The most common issues that qualified for students and faculty as
‘uncivil’ behavior were in-class and out-of-class disruptions by students.
Crown, Deborah F. & Spiller, M. Shane. Learning From the Literature on Collegiate
Cheating: A Review of Empirical Research.

Summary: This article discussed the ethical decision making, specifically by
students cheating in the classroom. The article reviewed the last 25 years of
documented empirical research on the subject in order to gain a better insight into
students’ academic dishonesty and why the perception of cheating is on the rise.
The author used Ford and Richardson, 1994 as the main example throughout the
article and to relate the research back to. The author found that many factors play
into a person’s ethical view such as background, personality, or situational
factors.
Questions
1. Do the majority of the faculty have coinciding views with the WSU Student
Conduct and Community Standards Office on what proper student conduct should
consist of?
a. An effect way of measuring what the faculty considers grounds for filing a
report for misconduct would be to issue a mandatory survey consisting of
questions in the form of scenarios and having the faculty answer whether
or not the event is something that needs to be brought to the WSU Student
Conduct and Community Standards Office.
2. Does the faculty know effective ways to minimize and prevent student
misconduct in the classroom?
a. An effective way to ensure the faculty as a whole is doing their part to
prevent academic dishonesty or misconduct by students would be to
distribute the article by Gary Pavela, Advice from Students to Faculty
Members on Protecting Academic Integrity, before each semester so
faculty can use his advice and better prepare their students and selves.
3. Does there need to be more training offered by the WSU Student Conduct and
Community Standards Office to faculty?
a. A solution to this question could be to offer a mandatory seminar before
the beginning of each semester as a refresher to all faculties. At the very
least all materials the WSU Student Conduct and Community Standards
Office has relating to their policies could be sent to faculty that apply so
they have the information on hand.