Certified Financial Literacy Instructor (CFLI™) Certification for Community College Instruction

Academic Code of Ethics

The CFLI Academic Board has established as policy its affirmation and endorsement of the American Association of University Professors’ Statement on Professional Ethics. An adaptation of which follows:

1. Instructors, guided by a deep conviction of the worth and dignity of the advancement of knowledge, recognize the special responsibilities placed upon them. Their primary responsibility to their subject is to seek and to state the truth as they see it. To this end instructors devote their energies to developing and improving their scholarly competence. They accept the obligation to exercise critical self-discipline and judgment in using, extending, and transmitting knowledge. They practice intellectual honesty.
   
   
2. As teachers, instructors encourage the free pursuit of learning in their students. They hold before them the best scholarly and ethical standards of their discipline. Instructors demonstrate respect for students as individuals and adhere to their proper roles as intellectual guides and counselors. Instructors make every reasonable effort to foster honest academic conduct and to ensure that their evaluations of students reflect each student’s true merit. They respect the confidential nature of the relationship between professor and student. They avoid any exploitation, harassment, or discriminatory treatment of students.
   
   
3. As colleagues, instructors have obligations that derive from common membership in the community of scholars. Instructors do not discriminate against or harass colleagues. They respect and defend the free inquiry of associates. In the exchange of criticism and ideas instructors show due respect for the opinions of others.  Instructors acknowledge academic debt and strive to be objective in their professional judgment of colleagues.
   
   
4. As members of an academic institution, instructors seek above all to be effective teachers and scholars. Although instructors observe the stated regulations of the institution, provided the regulations do not contravene academic freedom, they maintain their right to criticize and seek revision. When considering the interruption or termination of their service, instructors recognize the effect of their decision upon the program of the institution and give due notice of their intentions.
   
   
5. As members of their community, instructors have the rights and obligations of other citizens. Instructors measure the urgency of these obligations in the light of their responsibilities to their subject, to their students, to their profession, and to their institution. When they speak or act as private persons, they avoid creating the impression of speaking or acting for their college or university.