Campus Leadership Reviewing Ethical Culture Indicator Results

Georgia Tech’s leadership came together earlier this week to discuss preliminary information from the Ethical Culture Indicator (ECI), a survey distributed last fall to measure the state of the Institute’s ethical climate and culture.

President G.P. “Bud” Peterson hosts two senior leadership meetings each year. The focus of Monday’s meeting was to share preliminary information from the ECI, offer opportunities for discussion and to gain insights. While the final report will not be available until later this semester, the goal of the meeting was to share the preliminary feedback from the survey with Institute leadership so that they could in turn further share it directly with their units.

In September, Tech employees, including graduate students employed by the Institute, were asked to provide feedback through a survey about the Institute’s ethical climate. Initial findings indicated that engagement was strong. Of the 12,200 employees who received the survey in September 2018, almost 6,300, or about 51 percent, responded.

“We are very pleased with the high response rate and are grateful to the many employees who took the time to provide valuable feedback,” Peterson said. “This strong response is an indication that our community is interested in continued growth and improvement and will help inform our efforts to strengthen the ethical culture here at Georgia Tech going forward.”

The assessment, which was facilitated by the University of North Georgia’s BB&T Center for Ethical Leadership, was one of several measures Peterson enacted to help build a more robust ethical climate. In recent months, the Institute has undertaken a number of initiatives and activities to ensure that ethics is a priority across the organization.

In addition to measuring the Institute’s ethical climate, the survey also sought to better understand how the current reporting structure and response processes were perceived by the Tech community.

Peterson said the next step in the process will be for the Institute leadership to meet with their respective units to share and discuss the data collected in an effort to further understand and enhance the ethical culture and expectations across the Institute.  

Peterson stressed that while Institute leadership has yet to receive the final report on the survey from the BB&T Center, it is important to begin communicating the early information collected with the entire campus. He added that challenges and opportunities identified by Georgia Tech employees will help Institute leaders shape future actions, decisions, and initiatives.

“The Ethical Culture Indicator represents an investment by the Institute and by our employees,” said Peterson. “We have an opportunity to use this information to continue to foster a better understanding of the expectations and continue our efforts to create an even more positive work environment.”