In your position as a higher education professional, you will encounter numerous difficult decisions that require ethical consideration. Consider what you have learned about ethics this week as you review the following scenario:
As the director of student services, you supervise a number of departments, three of which currently run special student support initiatives started within the last five years: an early-alert system to identify students in danger of dropping out, special advising for high school students to take advantage of dual-enrollment programs at your college, and an initiative that provides small start-up grants to faculty members wanting to try new approaches to teaching developmental education courses. Due to budget cuts, you have been asked to eliminate one of these special initiatives.
Each special initiative is run by one full-time staff member but employs no other full-time staff. The manager of the early-alert system is a below-average employee, but you suspect with the proper leadership this initiative would be extremely successful. The manager of the high school advising program is an exemplary employee but was recently found to have committed a policy infraction; the program does bring in enrollments that the college might not otherwise obtain. The manager of the developmental education mini-grant program is a single mother and is well liked on campus; she works well with the faculty and has been able to support a few faculty in significantly improving their teaching.
