Campus Survey to Assess Ethical Climate

The Georgia Tech administration is seeking to better understand and improve the Institute’s ethical climate and culture and is requesting your assistance as part of the process.

At last month’s Institute Address, President G.P. “Bud” Peterson announced that Georgia Tech had contracted with the University of North Georgia’s BB&T Center for Ethical Leadership to administer a campus-wide ethics survey, to solicit feedback on the Institute’s culture of ethics and compliance, in an effort to understand how familiar the members of our community are with the governing policies, expectations, methods available for obtaining answers to their questions, and processes for reporting.

“Through organizational realignment and policy revisions, we’ve taken several steps toward improving our internal controls,” Peterson said. “In addition, we need to develop a better understanding of our culture, what the expectations are, and how these shape the quality and integrity of our work.”

The survey, which should take about 20 minutes to complete, will help us gauge perceptions within categories such as familiarity with ethical standards, leadership confidence, and ethical reporting, among others. Responses will be anonymous and confidential and neither Georgia Tech nor the BB&T Center will be able to identify individual responses. Staff, faculty, and Institute-employed graduate students will receive the assessment beginning Monday, Sept. 17.

“Participation is voluntary, but a high participation rate will ensure that we have the information we need to better understand where the gaps are in our culture and training processes and how to best address them.  I strongly encourage you to complete the survey,” Peterson said.