Undergraduate faculty and student perceptions of the ethical climate and its importance in retention

College Student Journal, Dec, 2001 by Laura E. Schulte, Franklin Thompson, Karen Hayes, John Noble, Ellen Jacobs

This study examined faculty and student perceptions of the ethical climate of a College of Education within a midwestern metropolitan university and its perceived importance in the retention of students within undergraduate academic programs. The Undergraduate Ethical Climate Index was used to survey 281 undergraduate students and 37 faculty members within three academic programs in the College of Education. Faculty members rated faculty to student interactions and relationships significantly more positive than students. Both faculty members and students perceived the ethical climate to be an important to very important factor in the retention of students within undergraduate academic programs. Based on the results, recommendations were made for enhancing the ethical climate of undergraduate academic programs.

**********

A humane learning environment, which is characterized by a positive ethical climate, enhances undergraduate student retention (Heverly, 1999; Hyman, 1995; Volkwein & Carbone, 1994) and moral development (Jennings, Nelson, & Patens, 1996). Undergraduate students grow morally during their years at a university (Jennings et al., 1996). The direction of this growth is influenced by the intellectual and social environment of the institution: Yet, there is a lack of empirical data about a university's ethical climate and behavior (Counelis, 1993). The assessment of the ethical climate would enable university personnel to pinpoint areas that need improvement and focus activities in those areas to enhance the institution's ethical climate and undergraduate student development and retention. This study examined faculty and student perceptions of the ethical climate of a College of Education within a midwestern metropolitan university and its perceived importance in the retention of students within undergraduate academic programs.

Ultimately, faculty members and students are responsible for establishing a humane learning environment (Banning, 1997; Brown, 1985; Heverly, 1999: Hyman, 1995; Linksz, 1990; Wilcox & Ebbs, 1992). In Heverly's (1999) study, returning students gave significantly more positive responses than non-returning students to the following items: "college advisors are helpful, my instructors show respect for me as an individual, and my instructors seem concerned with my success" (p. 8). To assess the ethical climate of undergraduate academic programs, this study examined faculty to student, student to faculty, and student to student interactions and relationships through the application of five ethical principles (Brown & Krager, 1985). The ethical principles include respect for autonomy or respecting the right of an individual to act independently, nonmaleficence or doing no harm to others, beneficence or benefiting others, justice or treating others fairly, and fidelity or being loyal and trustworthy (Kitchener, 1984, 1985).

The research questions posed by this study included: 1. What are undergraduate faculty and student perceptions of the ethical climate in a College of Education within a midwestern metropolitan university? 2. Is there a difference between undergraduate faculty and student perceptions of the ethical climate within academic programs? 3. Is there a difference between undergraduate faculty and student perceptions of the importance of the ethical climate in the retention of students within academic programs?

Method

The methods used in this study represent a replication of the methods used in a previous study conducted with graduate students and faculty members at the same university (Schulte, in press). Thus, some of the information contained in the method section of this study is also found in the previous article by Schulte (in press).

Design and Subjects

The study used a survey procedure to collect information from undergraduate students and faculty members at a midwestern metropolitan university. The Undergraduate Ethical Climate Index (UECI) survey was distributed to 303 out of 1,195 students enrolled in undergraduate classes within the College of Education during the fall 2000 semester and 46 faculty members who teach undergraduate students in the College of Education.

Out of the 303 student surveys distributed, 22 were not used because the students did not have an education major (i.e., nursing, social work, psychology). Thus, 281 (93%) of the surveys that were distributed to undergraduate students were used in the study. Twenty-nine percent of the undergraduate student respondents were males, and 71% were females. Their mean age was 23.33 (SD=6.14) years, ranging from 18 to 50 years. The majority (88%) were enrolled as full-time students. The number of years the respondents were enrolled as undergraduate students in their major area included 1 year or less (48%), more than 1 year, but less than or equal to 2 years (33%), more than 2 years, but less than or equal to 3 years (11%), more than 3 years, but less than or equal to 4 years (4%), and more than 4 years (3%) (percentages do not add to 100 because of rounding). Twenty-seven percent of the student respondents were employed full-time, 56% were employed part-time, and 17% were not employed.