OR10/2014-1.1
Annex 1
Employee Code of Ethics at ITB
Preamble
The Czech Republic Act No. 111/1998 on Higher Education Institutions states in the
introductory provision on the roles of higher education institutions:
As the highest link in the education system, higher education institutions are the highest
centres of education, independent knowledge and creative activity and play a key role in
the scientific, cultural, social and economic development of society.
ITB has included this Employee Code of Ethics in its academic standards for the purpose of
providing an essential orientation for the choice of possible personal conduct, identification
of unacceptable behaviour or the determination of appropriate solution in case of difficulties.
It declares that it is necessary to preserve and develop ethical standards.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1.
An ITB employee maintains a high standard of respect for human moral and ethical
principles in their work, fully respecting the principles of this Code. He/she requires the
same from his/ her co-workers and students, actively impacts especially students in this
respect and is always an example for them.
2.
An ITB employee does not advocate or cover unethical behaviour and conduct, even if such
behaviour or conduct would be justified by utility, obedience, or loyalty.
3.
An ITB employee regards educational, research, artistic and other creative activities as an
integral contribution to the development of human knowledge, culture, innovation and
general utility and defends it against unfair doubting or abuse. He/ she carefully adheres to
and spreads the principles of reliable and trustworthy educational, research, artistic and
other creative activities to the public, among his/ her co-workers and especially among
students.
4.
An ITB employee continuously develops his / her skills, expanding and deepening his / her
knowledge and skills both in his / her professional focus and in general pedagogical work
or study.
5.
An ITB employee remains critical to the results of his / her work, knowledge and
conclusions, objectively, critically, but collectively, he / she approaches the results of his /
her colleagues and students, and is open to discussions and arguments.
OR10/2014-1.1
6.
An ITB employee treats all people at the ITB premises honestly and politely. He/she
respects their views and does not interfere or restrict them in the performance of their
work and activities at ITB. On the ITB premises, during internships, study visits and other
professional and study activities outside the ITB premises, he/ she conducts his/her
behaviour to the rules of social behaviour.
7.
An ITB employee uses the school's equipment carefully and in accordance with his/her
mission and protects them from misuse or damage as far as possible. When working with
computer technology he/she does not use illegal software and adheres to the rules for
working in the school computer network.
8.
An ITB employee is committed to strengthening the reputation of ITB's goodwill and is
trying to contribute to it through his/her actions and behaviour.
PRINCIPLES IN EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES
1.
An ITB academic employee always treats students on the basis of an objective, fair,
demanding but sensitive assessment of their professional knowledge and skills, general
competence, diligence and other characteristics, always applying collegial behaviour to
students.
2.
An ITB academic employee communicates with students in an open and fair manner, never
resorting to their underestimation, humiliation and any disrespect.
3.
An ITB academic employee always treats students fairly, does not require them to do
activities that are part of his/her duties, and does not appropriate their work and the
results they achieve. He/she does not allow students to gain unauthorized benefits while
studying and verifying their learning outcomes; in his/her classification he/she acts
impartially and objectively.
An ITB academic employee strives not only to provide quality teaching, but also a personal
example at all times, carefully following the established rules of organization of teaching.
OR10/2014-1.1
5.
An ITB academic employee fully and proactively cares about the collective teaching and
education of students, facilitates the development of their independent and critical
thinking, broadens their support for their qualifications and career development, creative
and publishing activities, and helps them establish external contacts, including
international contacts.
6.
An ITB academic employee draws reasonable consequences from potential failures and
unethical students´ behaviour.
PRINCIPLES IN SCIENTIFIC, ART AND OTHER CREATIVE WORK
1.
An ITB academic employee focuses his research, artistic or other creative activities
especially on expanding the boundaries of human knowledge, developing artistic and
cultural values, education, technical innovations. He always makes sure that his results
serve the good.
2.
An ITB academic employee is aware of his/her responsibility for the objectivity, reliability
and accuracy of his research and respects the limits of the methods used. He/ she does not
duplicate research conducted elsewhere unless it is necessary to verify, supplement or
compare the results.
3.
When publishing his / her findings and results, the ITB academic employee shall ensure
their completeness, verifiability and objective interpretation. Upon publication of the
results, he/ she shall keep the primary data and documentation for a period appropriate to
the industry, unless other legitimate obligations or regulations prevent this. If he/she
discovers a mistake in his/her publications, he/she will take all necessary steps to correct
it and does not try to hide or conceal it.
4.
An ITB academic employee shall transmit his / her results to a scientific, professional or
artistic public subject to legitimate confidentiality. He/she reasonably informs the general
public about the acquired scientific knowledge after it has been verified and published in
professional media.
OR10/2014-1.1
5.
An ITB academic employee presents himself / herself as an author or co-author of the
results only if he / she has achieved them or contributed to them in a significant creative
way. He consistently renounces any form of plagiarism. In the publications he/she
objectively acknowledges the contribution of others. When citing, he/she always gives a
clear and precise reference to the source. He/she also cites essential works that are not
consistent with his results and opinions.
6.
An ITB academic employee performs his / her assessment, review or other assessment
activities personally, independently and carefully.
7.
The ITB academic employee respects and protects the intellectual property of the authors
of the manuscripts under consideration, the project or report proposals, the works of art,
does not use the data contained in the evaluated materials for any purpose other than the
relevant review and does not disclose them to third parties. He/she does not intentionally
extend the evaluation period in order to achieve its own or third party benefits.
8.
An ITB academic employee refuses to draw scientific, professional or artistic opinions if
their conclusions could be influenced by his / her personal interest, or clearly draws
attention to this fact. He/she renounces any conscious conflicts of interest.
9.
An ITB academic employee ensures the efficient and effective use of the provided financial
and material resources.
10.
An ITB academic employee publishes the results of his / her research and creative work on
field-relevant and serious publication platforms. He/she avoids publishing within
platforms registered in lists of so-called "predatory" publishing houses and magazines.
PRINCIPLES IN THE FIELD OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT ITB PREMISES
1.
Sexual harassment is generally understood to be uninvited, inappropriate behaviour with a
sexual subtext. Often it does not have to include physical contact, such as compulsion for
sexual activity for reward or under threat, unwanted bodily contact and physical assault;
also various forms of psychological blackmail can be included under the term sexual har-
OR10/2014-1.1
assment. Specifically, it also includes unwelcome attention, ie inappropriate or offending
behaviour of a verbal and non-verbal nature directed towards a specific individual, attention
in the form of harassing e-mails and unwanted sexual suggestions, and gender harassment
involving gender-based treatment, insults, body and appearance comments, embarrassing
comments, inappropriate gestures, use of erotic materials, and more.
All of the above may result in an uncomfortable learning environment and atmosphere between
the persons concerned, ie the student and the teacher, or between the students. Sexual
harassment can take place not only during teaching time but also during tutorials, professional
practice or various field trips outside the school premises. In most cases
abuse by power unequal status (ie teacher-student) is expected, but the opposite situation
may also occur. In all cases, the situation needs to be addressed, although it is often a very
sensitive issue.
2.
The individual concerned has the opportunity to initiate an investigation to investigate whether
unethical conduct has taken place. The complaint is submitted through the IS system -> Document
office -> Rector's Office -> Initiative to be discussed. An employee of the Rector's office will register
the complaint and then hand it over to the Ethics Committee of ITB.
ETHICAL COMMITTEE OF ITB
1.
In order to deal with complaints concerning unethical conduct, the Ethical Committee of
ITB (hereinafter referred to as “the Committee”) is established. The Committee supervises
the observance of ethical standards set by the Code of Ethics of the ITB employee and the
Code of Ethics of the ITB student. As part of its work, the Committee addresses complaints
from ITB employees and students concerning alleged violations of ethical standards at ITB.
OR10/2014-1.1
2.
The Committee consists of a total of four permanent members, namely the President of the
Committee and three full members. The Rector appoints the President of the Committee
from among ITB employees. The term of office of the President of the Committee shall be
four years. Full members are appointed by the Rector after approval by the Academic Senate
of ITB. The term of office of a Member of the Committee shall be four years. An employee
or student of ITB may become a member of the Committee. Apart from the office of the
President of the Committee, the membership in the Committee is incompatible with the
membership in the management of ITB and in the management of its sections. Members
shall attend meetings of the Committee to which they have been invited. A Member of the
Committee shall, on taking up his duties, sign a declaration of confidentiality of the facts
which he becomes aware of when dealing with the Committee's issues. A member of the
Committee may resign at any time.
Membership of the Committee expires upon the expiry of the term of office. Membership in
the Committee is also terminated if the member ceases to be an employee or student of
ITB. The Rector shall remove a Member of the Committee from his office if he is reasonably
suspected of unlawful or unethical conduct.
Administrative matters relating to the proceedings of the Committee shall be provided by
the Secretary.
Once a year, the Committee will draw up an activity report, which it will submit for discussion
to the Academic Senate of ITB and for information to the Rector.
3.
The complaint is submitted through the IS system -> Document office -> Rector's Office ->
Initiative to be discussed. An employee of the Rector's office will register the complaint and
then hand it over to the Committee.
4.
The Committee will discuss and investigate a complaint regarding alleged unethical behaviour.
When discussing and investigating alleged unethical behaviour, the Committee shall
proceed without delay; the President of the Committee shall convene a meeting. The proceedings
of the Committee shall be conducted in such a way that the Committee adopts a
proposal within 1 month of its first meeting. The Committee shall deal with all the complaints
submitted and shall deal with the matter in such a way as to make it clear, without
reasonable doubt, whether the academic employee or another employee has breached the
Code of Ethics.
The meetings of the Committee shall be chaired by the President. The Committee has a
quorum if all members are present. The resolution is adopted if the majority of the members
present speak for it. The President shall make minutes of the meeting of the Committee;
a protocol shall be drawn up on the voting of the Committee.
OR10/2014-1.1
5.
.If the Committee finds out that unethical behaviour has occurred on the part of the academic
employee or another employee, The Committee shall hand over the report on the
identified unethical behaviour to the Rector to initiate further steps according to the severity
of the unethical conduct in accordance with the internal standard - Directive No.
10/2013 ITB Working Regulations. If the Committee finds that unethical conduct has not
occurred, this fact shall be recorded in the protocol and notify the complainant.