of Ethics Online Collection: 2003
NAFSA: ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS
Preamble
Members of NAFSA: Association of International Educators are dedicated to providing high quality education and services to participants in international educational exchange. They represent a wide variety of institutions, disciplines, and services. A code of ethics which proposes to set standards for the professional preparation and conduct of all NAFSA members must accommodate this diversity. This document sets forth a number of general guidelines for ethical conduct applicable to all NAFSA members and then details principles pertaining to many of the various activities members undertake.
Members Have a Responsibility To:
Maintain high standards of professional conduct.
Balance the wants, needs, and requirements of program participants, institutional policies, laws, and sponsors, having as their ultimate concern the longterm well-being of international educational exchange programs and participants.
Resist pressures (personal, social, organizational, financial, and political) to use their influence inappropriately. Refuse to allow considerations of self-aggrandizement or personal gain to influence their professional judgments.
Seek appropriate guidance and direction when faced with ethical dilemmas. Make every effort to ensure that their services are offered only to individuals and organizations with a legitimate claim on those services.
In Their Professional Preparation and Development, Members Shall:
Accurately represent their areas of competence, education, training, and experience.
Recognize the limits of their expertise and confine themselves to the performance of duties for which they are properly trained and qualified, making referrals when situations are outside their area of competence.
Be informed of current developments in their fields, and ensure their continuing development and competence.
Stay abreast of developments in laws and regulations that affect their clients.
Actively uphold the Association's code of ethics when practices that contravene it become evident.
In Relationships with Students and Scholars, Members Shall:
Understand and protect the civil and human rights of all individuals. Not discriminate with regard to race, national origin, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, political opinion, immigration status, or disability.
Recognize their own cultural and value orientations and be aware of how those orientations affect their interactions with people from other cultures.
Demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity, treating differences between educational systems, value systems, and cultures nonjudgmentally.
Not exploit, threaten, coerce, or sexually harass students or scholars.
Refrain from invoking immigration regulations in order to intimidate students or scholars in matters not related to their immigration status.
Maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and security of student records and of all communications with students. Secure permission of the student or scholar before sharing information. with others inside or outside the organization, unless disclosure is authorized by law or institutional policy, or mandated by previous arrangement.
Refrain from becoming involved in personal relationships with particular students and scholars when such relationships might result in either the appearance or the fact of undue influence being exercised on the making of professional judgments.
Respond to inquiries fairly, equitably, and professionally.
Seek qualified assistance for students or scholars who appear to be experiencing unusual levels of emotional difficulty.
Accept only those gifts which are of nominal value and which do not seem intended to influence the manner in which professional responsibilities are exercised, while remaining sensitive to the varying significance and implications of gifts in various cultures.
In Professional Relationships, Members Shall:
Show respect for the diversity of viewpoints found among colleagues, just as they show respect for the diversity of viewpoints among their clients.
Refrain from unjustified or unseemly criticism of fellow members, other programs, and other organizations.
Use their office, title, and professional associations only for the conduct of official business.
in joint activities
Make certain when participating collaborators receive due credit for their contributions.
Carry out, in a timely and professional manner, any Association responsibilities they agree to accept.
When Administering Programs, Members Shall:
Clearly and accurately represent the goals, capabilities, and costs of the programs.
Recruit staff who are qualified to offer the instruction or services promised, train and supervise the staff responsibly, and assure by means of regular evaluation that the staff are performing acceptably and that the overall program is meeting its professed goals.
Strive to establish standards, activities, and fee structures which are appropriate and responsive to participant needs.
Encourage and support staff participation in professional development activities.
In Making Public Statements, Members Shall:
Clearly distinguish, in both written and oral public statements, between personal opinions and opinions representing the Association, their own institutions, or other organizations.
Provide accurate, complete, current, and unbiased information.
Consider the welfare of both potential and actual applicants as their primary responsibility.
Members with Admissions Responsibilities Shall:
Adhere to the Guidelines for the Ethical Recruitment of Foreign Students.*
Make certain they are well versed in the art of evaluating educational credentials from abroad, employing a thorough knowledge of foreign educational systems.
Provide complete, accurate, and current information about their institutions' admissions criteria, educational costs, financial support opportunities, academic programs, and student services, in order to give students who are unfamiliar with local educational practices the basis for an informed choice. Encourage prospective students to make realistic assessments of their prospects for achieving their educational objectives at the member's particular institution.
Employ only criteria relevant to a candidate's academic potential, level of language proficiency, educationally relevant special abilities and characteristics, and availability of financial support, in determining admissibility.
Resist pressure from institutional officers to admit unqualified applicants.
Members with Responsibility for Teaching English as a Second Language Shall:
Employ fair and accurate English proficiency tests in admissions and placement, and then use the test results in the student's best interest, evaluating students based on their individual merits and accomplishments.
Use up-to-date methods and materials appropriate to the needs of the specific populations and individuals being instructed.
Assure that the instruction they offer concerns not just the linguistic aspects of English, but also cultural aspects, the understanding of which will aid students in achieving their academic goals.
Members Who Advise Foreign Students and Scholars Shall:
Clarify the adviser's role to all parties and limit advice to matters within that mandate, making appropriate referrals when necessary.
Fully inform students, at appropriate times, of the types of information the institution is required to furnish to governmental agencies, and furnish those agencies with only that information required by law and regulation.
Decline to reveal confidential information about foreign students and scholars even if requests for such information come from law enforcement agencies or organizations appearing to have thoroughly benevolent motives.
Assist students and scholars in making prudent decisions, not withholding information that might widen their range of choices and not encouraging illegal actions.
Members with Responsibilities in Community Organizations Working with Foreign Students and Scholars Shall:
Make certain that organizations providing programs for foreign students and scholars have clear statements of purpose and responsibility, so that all parties can know what is expected of them.
Accurately portray their services and programs, making clear the nature of the sponsoring organization and of each particular event or service.
Provide adequate orientation for volunteers and participants in community programs so they may interact constructively. The orientation should make clear that proselytizing (that is, manipulating, applying pressure, or offering special inducements to effect a change in religious or philosophical beliefs) is unacceptable.
Members with Responsibilities In Students Abroad Shall:
Provide complete and accurate information to students they advise, in order for students to make informed choices. Seek to ensure that students select overseas opportunities that seem suitable in terms of academic content, location, language preparation, emotional maturity, and cultural variation.
Ensure that any promotional materials they make available concern well-documented programs with reputable sponsors.
Assure appropriate educational guidance of students bound abroad through appropriate orientation and reentry programs and materials.
The Code of Ethics was approved by the NAFSA Board of Directors on May 28, 1989.
