Psychologist as university administrator: Visible standard-bearer.

Abstract

The psychologist-administrator serves as a highly visible role model for graduate students in psychology with respect to adherence to the standards of ethical conduct taught in the classroom. Furthermore, the psychologist-administrator is positioned to help shape the ethical quality of the larger academic community, to develop a community of colleagues that asserts critical ethical expectations, and to model ethical conduct for fellow administrators. The implications of these roles for the training of graduate students in psychology are identified. HARRY J. CANON received his PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1963. He served as the counseling center director at Virginia Tech and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before becoming vice president of student affairs at Northern Illinois University. He retired as professor of counseling and senior member of the graduate faculty at the latter institution in 1991 and is now a senior associate with Aspen Professional Development Associates.

Ethical Sensitivity: State of Knowledge and Needs for Further Research

“…For instance, the DEST does not assess beliefs that are important to the ethical issue, 59 and its underlying framework 3 does not include institutional and environmental factors. 58,60 Validity in qualitative inquiry has been assessed through authors' descriptions of purposive sampling, saturation, negative cases and analytic questions asked of the data. Validity in all the qualitative studies was to some extent preserved because participants were asked to describe their own experience of making decisions when they worked with vulnerable clients, data were examined for themes, and findings were compared with previous studies, and similarities and differences identified.…”

A model for ethical management of faculty—Student dual relationships.

“…She has argued that "even when graduate programs have excellent course work in ethics, if faculty model unethical behavior it is very possible that the most influential ethical attitudes that students learn will not come from explicit ethics education but from the experiences that they have in other areas of the curriculum" (p. 190). And Canon (1992) has addressed this phenomenon for the psychologist who also serves an administrative role:…”

“…She has argued that “even when graduate programs have excellent course work in ethics, if faculty model unethical behavior it is very possible that the most influential ethical attitudes that students learn will not come from explicit ethics education but from the experiences that they have in other areas of the curriculum” (p. 190). And Canon (1992) has addressed this phenomenon for the psychologist who also serves an administrative role: The actions of psychologist–administrators (and the highly visible consequences of those actions) model, for better or worse, wittingly and unwittingly, just how psychologists conduct themselves in ethical matters in a world that is only a step or two removed from the graduate seminar or the consulting room. (p. 211) Thus, it is extremely important that faculty and administrators accept the responsibility of modeling appropriate and ethical relationships with other professionals, students, and clients.…”

Psychologist as clinical supervisor: Promoting ethical practice.

“…Kitchener (1992, this issue) also describes the importance of faculty modeling on the moral development of students. Canon (1992, this issue) likewise describes the responsibilities of psychologists as administrators as “standard bearers” in affecting the moral and ethical development of students.…”