OCTC Standards of Professional Conduct                                                                                         

Owensboro Community and Technical College strives to foster academic, professional, and personal excellence in our faculty, staff, and students.  Because we recognize it is through our interaction with others that our own potential can be realized, we seek to nurture actions and characteristics which promote our mutual growth as individuals and as an organization.  This development can be assisted by conscious encouragement of professionalism in all forms of interaction involving faculty, staff, and students.  For this reason, we are committed to developing professional attitudes toward academic activities and personal growth.     

Recognition as a professional is something to be earned – a reputation that is developed and maintained every day.  Professionalism is a way of being, knowing, and doing that sets one apart.  It gives direction to how a person looks, behaves, thinks, and acts.  It brings together one’s identity, what one values, how one treats other people, and what one contributes in the classroom and in the workplace.  Professionals view their work as a source of pride and as a reflection of the role they play in society. 

Growth as a professional is possible for employees at all levels of experience and education.  The development and refinement of a strong work ethic should be a personal goal throughout one’s life.  Since people develop as individuals in communion with others, the particular actions and characteristics will vary as greatly as the number of experiences that arise; certain traits, however, can be identified that further positive human interaction rather than hinder it.  The integration of these traits in each person is, then, the central goal of our effort.  Professional integrity results from a combination of positive character traits, a respect for self and others, and the assumption of responsibility as individuals and as a learning community.

To this end, all members of our academic community are committed to integrity as a standard of behavior. 

1.  We will establish and maintain high ethical standards in all interactions by:

• Communicating with honesty and integrity.

• Maintaining academic honesty.

• Acting in ways that do not endanger oneself or others.

• Treating the property of the college and of others with care and respect.

2.  We will respect the rights, ideas, and learning of others by:

• Acting with civility and respect toward people one encounters.

• Dealing with everyone fairly.

• Respecting others’ need for privacy.

• Striving to understand people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

• Practicing open-mindedness and tolerance toward the ideas, beliefs, and practices of others.

3.  We will take personal responsibility for individual growth and learning by:

• Avoiding unnecessary absences.

• Listening and being attentive.

• Being prepared and on time.

• Participating actively and taking work seriously.

4.       We will carry these values into interactions with others in the community and beyond by:

• Participating in activities on campus.

• Volunteering for community activities and organizations.

• Fostering global awareness.