MSCHE Evaluation Report May 2021

Team Report (Self-Study Evaluation)

Page 6

Standard II: Ethics and Integrity Ethics and integrity are central, indispensable, and defining hallmarks of effective higher education institutions. In all activities, whether internal or external, an institution must be faithful to its mission, honor its contracts and commitments, adhere to its policies, and represent itself truthfully.

In the team’s judgment, the institution appears to meet this standard.

This judgment is based on a review of the self-study report, evidence, and interviews with institutional constituencies to clarify information and verify compliance during the self-study evaluation team visit. Summary of Findings An institution’s ethics and integrity must be pervasive, embedded throughout all its operations; here we highlight a few items from across the institution in support of our conclusion. Most of the policies regarding governance, academic and intellectual freedom, freedom of expression, and intellectual property rights are governed by State University of New York policies (including Board of Trustees Policies) and the Union of University Professionals (UUP) contract. The Faculty Handbook further spells out organization, structure, policies (educational, research, and administrative) relating to the faculty (https://www.sunyopt.edu/pdfs/academics/FacultyHandbook.pdf). It was noted that “It is the policy of the University to maintain and encourage full freedom, within the law, of inquiry, teaching, and research.” The State’s Public Officers Law includes a code of ethics for all employees. Most administrative personnel and faculty are required to complete an annual ethics disclosure form. Starting in 2019, the College required ethics education as part of its Annual Compliance Training Program for all personnel. Research personnel are governed by a variety of policies regarding research that are driven by federal, state, and local research regulations (https://sunyopt.edu/research/research-policies/). The College requires additional training for research personnel (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative – CITI) that includes research ethics as well as requirements for research involving human subjects. The College is subject to regular state audits and must submit reports regularly on implementation of policies and procedures; furthermore, these are assessed internally on a regular basis. In addition, SUNY has an Internal Audit unit that may review and assess the College’s operations. website: https://sunyopt.edu/library/resources/copyright-guidelines-and-resources/. Intellectual property policies are governed by the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (RF). Copyright guidelines are identified through the Library’s

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