Statement of Integrity and Code of Conduct

Preamble

Purdue University has a tradition of ethical conduct spanning its history. As a land-grant institution, we demonstrate our responsiveness to our constituencies and extend to them access to our knowledge resources. We nurture relationships with other partners in education who support our vision or join us to foster common interests. We integrate our mission with our responsibilities. We contribute our knowledge resources impartially in serving our public purposes. As faculty, students, staff, and administrators, we are a community of dedicated learners, scholars, professionals, and practitioners — all contributing our talents to uphold our standards, and improve ourselves and the broader community in which we live and work. Our responsibilities and obligations toward the advancement of learning, discovery, and engagement in the University and in Indiana extend to our nation and the world. This statement of integrity is meant to provide an overarching declaration that informs specific policies and procedures regarding conduct, enforcement, and accountability. Such policies and procedures either exist in official University documents or will be developed as necessary.

Statement

At Purdue, integrity is indispensable to our mission. We act with honesty and adhere to the highest standards of moral and ethical values and principles through our personal and professional behavior. We demonstrate our understanding of these values and principles and uphold them in every action and decision. Trust and trustworthiness go hand in hand with how we conduct ourselves, as we sustain a culture that is based upon ethical conduct. We expect our actions to be consistent with our words, and our words to be consistent with our intentions. We accept our responsibilities, share leadership in a democratic spirit, and subject ourselves to the highest standards of public trust. We hold ourselves accountable for our words and our actions.

We champion freedom of expression. To ensure our integrity, we safeguard academic freedom, open inquiry, and debate in the best interests of education, enrichment, and our personal and professional development. We embrace human and intellectual diversity and inclusiveness. We uphold the highest standards of fairness, act as responsible citizens, respect equality and the rights of others, and treat all individuals with dignity.

To fulfill our goals as a learning community, we insist that the objectives of student learning are not compromised. We treat all students equitably, and our evaluations of learning achievements are impartial based on demonstrated academic performance. As students, we understand that learning is the most important goal and we embrace ethical values and principles, and reject academic dishonesty in all our learning endeavors. In the realm of new discoveries, we place the highest value upon truth and accuracy. We acknowledge the contributions of others. We place a higher value on expanding and sharing knowledge than on recognition or ownership.

We work diligently drawing from the strong work ethic of our state of Indiana and are committed to always acting in the best interests of the University. We pledge to make wise use of our resources and to be good stewards of financial, capital, and human resources. We operate within the letter and spirit of the law and prescribed policies, and strive to avoid impropriety or conflict of interest.

As members of the Purdue community, we demonstrate unyielding and uncompromised integrity in support of the highest standards of excellence for the University. As individuals, we all contribute to this Purdue standard of integrity as an exemplary model for all universities.