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NSF IGERT

FAQ

In recent years, companies, universities, funding agencies, and accreditation boards have all shown an increased interest in students acquiring training in professional ethics. This is certainly a relevant issue for digital media, which can influence so many people so quickly, where security and privacy are of the utmost importance, and where the fine line between editing and doctoring can all too easily be blurred with the advancement of technology. Students will benefit significantly from a common grounding in, and discussions of, ethical issues in engineering, business, and media.

In concert with the current UCSB Materials IGERT program, we are developing a new course on professional ethics, to be taught in the College of Engineering, which will meet this need. The course is a requirement for IGERT scholars, and can be taken anytime during the first two years. Topics may include:

• Existing engineering and professional ethics statements and codes of conduct (e.g., IEEE, ACM, NASA)
  

• Publication ethics (appropriate credit, referencing and citations)
  

• Conflicts of interest (with respect to funding, reviewing, etc.)
  

• Student / professor rights and responsibilities
  

• Employer / employee rights and responsibilities
  

• Patents and intellectual property
  

• Financial accountability
  

• Safety and responsibilities to society (e.g., whistle-blowing)

Ethical issues will also be discussed in the Seminar Series, in the context of what is expected of IGERT scholars and specific dissertation and job-related issues.

An additional resource for the IGERT community is the UCSB Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS), a multidisciplinary research center dedicated to the societal dimensions of information technology. Two of the participating faculty (Almeroth, Turk) are on the CITS steering committee. CITS sponsors research and various events, including a regular Brown Bag Symposium of presentations, centered on how information technology affects organizations, learning environments, society and democracy, and culture. Because of its direct relevance to digital media issues, IGERT scholars are encouraged to actively participate in the CITS activities.