The University System of Georgia (USG) is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards of conduct in pursuit of its mission to create knowledge. Accomplishing this mission demands integrity, good judgment and dedication to public service from all members of the USG community. Annually, the USG highlights this commitment through an Ethics Awareness Week which is scheduled this year for November 11–17, 2019. The purpose of this week is to remind employees of our commitment to an ethical culture and our shared ethical values and expectations.

Chancellor Steve Wrigley has emphasized the importance of an ethical culture and how it is critical to the success of not only our institutions, but our employees, students, communities and ultimately how Georgia is educated.

Ethics Awareness Week is part of a comprehensive Ethics and Compliance Program.  This Program includes a system-level Ethics Policy and Code of Conduct, on-board ethics training, periodic ethics refresher training, compliance audits, special reviews and an Ethics and Compliance Reporting Hotline.

In support of this effort, Georgia Highlands College (GHC) will be hosting activities to build upon our ethical culture by promoting activities related to our system-wide shared core values of integrity, excellence, accountability and respect. We will emphasize that, in addition to our ethical values, our Code of Conduct is the foundation of the USG’s priorities of degree attainment, affordability and efficiency.

Activities during this week will bring awareness to ethics, reinforce the principles of recognizing the hard work of employees, and promote our shared values.  Our theme for this week is the “SPIRIT of USG.”  Activities planned will emphasize:

Stewardship. Prevention. Integrity. Responsibility. Inspiration. Trust.

As a part of GHC’s “Ethics Week” the week of November 11^th, Georgia Highlands College’s Paulding site will be hosting a “Ethics in Business” panel discussion with community leaders.

The panel will be on November 12 from 12:30PM to 1:45PM in the historic courtroom at GHC’s Paulding site. The event is free and open to the public.

The panelists are:

• Terrence Coursey – Corporate Relations Manager at United Way of Greater Atlanta, Former Army, Public Speaker, and active Paulding Community volunteer
• Sgt. Ashley Henson – Public Information Officer for the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office, and member of the SWAT Team where he directs sniper operations
• Dr. Richard La Fleur – Psychology Professor at University of West Georgia and active volunteer in his church community
• Marores Perry – Director of the Paulding College & Career Academy, Director of CTAE: Career Pathways with Paulding County School District, and originally from Toledo, Spain

GHC will also have a “President’s Message and Ethics Policy Review” on Monday (Nov 11), an “Ethics Quiz” on Wednesday (Nov 13), another “Ethics Presentation” in Cartersville from 10am to 11am on Thursday (Nov 14) and a video called “Water” and a “Wellness Walk” on Friday (Nov 15).

For more information regarding the SPIRIT of USG activities, visit the highlands.edu