Project 01

For our code of ethics, Danny, Alex, and I focused on three main ethical topics: integrity, responsibility, and passion. We began our code by discussing integrity because as students, we are bombarded with Honor Code statements addressing academic dishonesty. As a prestigious university, we value our work and hold ourselves to the highest of standards. By establishing this culture at our university, we challenge ourselves and those around us, ultimately bettering ourselves as students and community members. By enforcing seemingly strict rules of integrity we build a community based on honesty and communication. Students are encouraged to reach out to professors when they are stuck on assignments resulting in an atmosphere of trust. By violating our standards for integrity, we not only dishonestly represent ourselves but also the entire Notre Dame community.

The second section of our code is based upon responsibility and what actions Notre Dame CSE students should and should not take. We state that students are, in fact, encouraged to and responsible for helping other students who may be struggling, as long as the aide that they provide does not violate any of the integrity policies. Also, students are to be held responsible for their work and to do their fair share in group projects and assignments. In addition to doing their share of the work, students are responsible for holding their groupmates accountable for completing their work. Group assignments are great learning opportunities and are very applicable to real word problem solving jobs.

The final section of our code of ethics addresses students and their passions. We warn against taking a job only for monetary purposes, as it is more important to do what you enjoy. We instruct individuals to use their talents to their fullest potential and encourage the exploration of how to apply their skills in other areas. Lastly, we mention the importance of feedback to professors. Without honest feedback, it is impossible for instructors to improve their courses for future semesters. Being dishonest in course feedback surveys impedes upon the potential of future classes.

Like most codes of ethics, ours is seemingly vague. This is a necessity in order for it to be applied in multiple areas. One downside if this, however, is that we did not go into much depth on what is categorized as academic dishonesty. While this topic is covered in all classes, there is seemingly a different definition of it for each department or class. Often times, professors are okay with more student to student collaboration or consulting of outside resources than others. To try to address all of these scenarios in our code of ethics would not be feasible.

I do believe that reading through a code of ethics can be useful. While a code of ethics is not typically used as a source of law, I find it interesting to see how others value ethical issues; for example, integrity, responsibility, and passion, and how these issues impact the laws that govern our societies. I did enjoy this exercise as it made us think about how our skills can be used ethically and for the betterment of our community.