Values on the forefront of Ethics Awareness Week

Integrity, excellence, accountability, and respect are the shared values of schools in the University System of Georgia (USG). As a member, the University of North Georgia (UNG) is committed to those values and an ethical culture.

"UNG seeks to bring awareness to the importance of an ethical culture as well as recognize and promote our institutional values," UNG President Bonita Jacobs said. "We promote service to our communities, fostering engagement throughout the region. We strive for excellence while remaining student-focused. We lead with integrity."

UNG will promote those sentiments with events during Ethics Awareness Week, Nov. 8-14. The theme is "SPIRIT of USG." Activities planned will emphasize stewardship, prevention, integrity, responsibility, inspiration, and trust.

"It is important to promote ethical behavior positively," Jill Holman, director of internal audit at UNG and leader of the university's Ethics Awareness Week initiatives, said. "And if we, as the UNG leadership, create a culture of ethical behavior and highlight those actions, then our employees will strive to mimic it and our students to follow."

The ethics campaign will launch with a recorded video message from former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harold Melton. His presentation, titled "The Higher Calling of Public Service," can be watched online.

Melton served for 16 years on the state's highest court, with almost three years as chief justice. He retired from the bench in July 2021 and joined the national law firm of Troutman Pepper in Atlanta.

UNG's Department of Human Resources also will begin its annual ethics training. All UNG employees, including student workers, are required to complete the online, 30-minute training. Visit the Human Resources website for more information.

Experts from different higher education institutions will discuss accountability in a virtual panel focused on ethics and compliance best practices. The panel will be held on Nov. 12, from 10 to 11 a.m., via Zoom. Registration is online.

Panelists include Dr. John Fuchko, USG vice chancellor for organizational effectiveness; Kara Tucker, director of ethics and compliance at Georgia Institute of Technology;  Mike Higley, former vice president of Sub-Sahara Africa for FedEx Express; and, Dr. Bryan Dawson, a professor of psychological science at UNG. Rose Procter, director of the BB&T Center for Ethical Leadership at UNG and associate director of Ethics and Compliance for USG, will moderate.

To close out Ethics Awareness Week, UNG will host the Mid-Atlantic Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl competition Nov. 13.

"We are proud that our BB&T Center for Ethical Leadership has become a catalyst for ethical practices throughout the system, and this further strengthens our standing as a State Leadership Institution," Jacobs said.