Transcript Ethics in the Financial Aid Profession

Ethics in the Financial Aid
Profession
Sherri Avery, Brandeis University
Tony Erwin, Northeastern University
Gail Holt, Mt. Holyoke College
Agenda
• Ethics: What are they and what do they
mean to us?
• NASFAA’s Statement of Ethical Principles
• NASFAA’s new Code of Conduct
• MASFAA’s response to recent ethical
challenges
• Steps for making ethical decisions
• Case studies
What are ethics?
1) The discipline dealing with what is good and bad
and with moral duty and obligation.
2) a) a set of moral principles: a theory or system of
moral values; b: the principles of conduct
governing an individual group; c: a guiding
philosophy (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
What do “ethics” mean to you?
Ethics in the Financial
Aid Profession
• How do ethics affect our profession?
• What are some of the ethical dilemmas we
face in our daily work?
NASFAA Statement of
Ethical Principles
(Adopted April 1999)
The primary goal of the financial aid professional is
to help students achieve their educational potential
by providing appropriate financial resources. To
this end, this Statement provides the Financial Aid
Professional with a set of principles that serves as a
common foundation for accepted standards of
conduct.
Statement of Ethical
Principles, Cont‘d
The Financial Aid Professional shall:
1. Be committed to removing financial barriers for
those who wish to pursue postsecondary learning.
2. Make every effort to assist students with financial
need.
3. Be aware of the issues affecting students and
advocate their interests at the institutional, state,
and federal levels.
4. Support efforts to encourage students, as early as
the elementary grades, to aspire to and plan for
education beyond high school.
Statement of Ethical
Principles, Cont’d
5. Educate students and families through quality
consumer information.
6. Respect the dignity and protect the privacy of
students, and ensure the confidentiality of student
records and personal circumstances.
7. Ensure equity by applying all need analysis
formulas consistently across the institution's full
population of student financial aid applicants.
8. Provide services that do not discriminate on the
basis of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation,
religion, disability, age, or economic status.
Statement of Ethical
Principles, Cont’d
9. Recognize the need for professional
development and continuing education
opportunities.
10. Promote the free expression of ideas and opinions,
and foster respect for diverse viewpoints within the
profession.
11. Commit to the highest level of ethical behavior and
refrain from conflict of interest or the perception
thereof.
12. Maintain the highest level of professionalism,
reflecting a commitment to the goals of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators.
Code of Conduct for Institutional
Financial Aid Professionals
Adopted by the NASFAA Board of Directors, May 2007
Code of Conduct for Institutional
Financial Aid Professionals
An institutional financial aid professional is expected
to always maintain exemplary standards of professional
conduct in all aspects of carrying out his or her
responsibilities, specifically including all dealings with
any entities involved in any manner in student financial
aid, regardless of whether such entities are involved in
a government sponsored, subsidized, or regulated
activity.
In doing so, a financial
aid professional should:
• Refrain from taking any action for his or her
personal benefit.
• Refrain from taking any action he or she
believes is contrary to law, regulation, or the
best interests of the students and parents he
or she serves.
In doing so, a financial
aid professional should:
• Ensure that the information he or she provides is
accurate, unbiased, and does not reflect any
preference arising from actual or potential personal
gain
• Be objective in making decisions and advising his
or her institution regarding relationships with any
entity involved in any aspect of student financial
aid.
In doing so, a financial
aid professional should:
• Refrain from soliciting or accepting anything of
other than nominal value from any entity (other
than an institution of higher education or a
governmental entity such as the U.S. Department
of Education) involved in the making, holding,
consolidating or processing of any student loans,
including anything of value (including
reimbursement of expenses) for serving on an
advisory body or as part of a training activity of or
sponsored by any such entity.
In doing so, a financial
aid professional should:
• Disclose to his or her institution, in such
manner as his or her institution may
prescribe, any involvement with or interest in
any entity involved in any aspect of student
financial aid.
In doing so, a financial
aid professional should:
• Disclose to his or her institution, in such
manner as his or her institution may
prescribe, any involvement with or interest in
any entity involved in any aspect of student
financial aid.
MASFAA’s Response
Adoption of NASFAA’s Statement of Ethical Principals
and Code of Conduct
Programming:
Public Relations Events
Conference planning
MEFA Ambassador/College Goal Sunday
Communications:
White Paper regarding budget
Newsletter article
Future letters
MASFAA’s Response
Changes to Sponsorship:
Silver, Gold and Diamond levels eliminated
One fee to exhibit at the Conference and to support training
Exhibitor replaces Sponsor
Banner advertisements discontinued
Newsletter advertisements discontinued
MASFAA’s Response
Adoption of NASFAA’s exhibitor policies:
Require exhibitors' gifts or giveaways to be of nominal value (i.e., less than $10
fair market value).
Prohibit all prize drawings, including scholarships.
Prohibit exhibitors and sponsors from organizing, sponsoring or conducting any
social activities directed towards Annual Conference attendees.
Allow exhibitors or sponsors to organize, sponsor, or conduct non-social events,
such as focus, advisory, or user groups, where only non-alcoholic
beverages and light snacks may be served.
“The softest pillow is a
clear conscience”
--N. R. Narayana Murthy Chairman of the
Board, Infosys, Inc.
Good Practices
• Examine
• Disclose
• Don’t Wait for Attention
• Seek Personal Certifications
• Look for Other Benefits On Campus
• Collect and Evaluate Existing Policies
• Set a Comprehensive Conflict of Interest Policy
• Use Professional Associations as Part of the Solution
Ethical Considerations
• Perception Is Not Always Reality
• Promote High Standards of Practice
• Define Acceptable/Unacceptable Behavior
• Benchmark for Self-Evaluation
• Framework for Professional Behavior and
Responsibilities
Ethical Considerations
1. As a leader your role is to work through
others
2. Identify your own cultural values and those
that define the culture of the organization.
3. Research the cultural patterns of your work
force and how those culture based values
affect individual employees performance.
4. Accept the fact that we all have perceptions
(which we confuse with knowledge) and ours
is not the only reality; others see things
differently.
Ethical Considerations
5. Control your assumptions – both about
individuals and about job requirements.
6. Periodically assess your own agenda(s).
7. Pay attention to process: stop and ask,
“What’s going on here?’
8. Hold people accountable for valuing ethics.
Reward appropriately.
Workplace Ethics
• What does your organization stand for?
• What is your responsibility in representing
those values as an employee?
• Are there discussions within your reporting
lines?
• Are there discussions Institution wide?
Steps for Making
Ethical Decisions
• Identify the Issue
• List the Facts
• Identify Affected Parties and Anyone with a Stake in
the Outcome
• Explain the Outcome Desired by Affected Parties
• List Alternative Actions
– Best and Worst Case Scenario for Each
• Determine Course of Action
• Reflect on Decision
Case Studies
• Overawards
– Mary’s financial aid package was completed in April and
met her financial need. In September you were notified that
she received a $1000 scholarship from a local organization.
The scholarship has created an overaward.
• Outside Requests
– John is a good student, but not a top performer and does
not receive federal grants. A state senator contacts you with
a request to “do what you can for this student”.
Case Studies
• Professional Judgment
– You have two students who submitted similar requests
for reconsideration. One is the president of the student
government association with a 3.67 GPA. The other has
made it clear she doesn’t like your office and has a 2.1
GPA.
• Non-Custodial Parent
– Sally is a high school senior and needs help completing
the FAFSA for the first time. Her parents are divorced
and she lives with her mother and younger brother. Her
father is a wealthy lawyer who makes regular child
support payments. The support combined with the
mother’s income is only about $30,000 annually.
Resources
• NASFAA Statement of Ethical Principles
(1999)
• NASFAA Code of Conduct (2007)
• NASFAA Webinar on Code of Conduct
(2007)
• Questions? – email - [email protected]