Principles
Ethical principles are a guide to behaviour. To be ethical, the student counsellor will knowingly choose correct rather than incorrect actions.
Character
Character (i.e., personal ethics) is the visible side of ethics. It demostrates whether people use their skills for good or bad. Good character involves the appropriate use of ethical skills, and poor character means the opposite.
Honesty
Honesty entails not only saying that which is true, but ensuring that other people are fully and frankly informed. People should not be misled by omission or incomplete information. Information should be given to them in meaningful terms.
Fairness
Fairness involves listening with an open mind and assuming people are truthful unless proven otherwise by facts. It is enhanced by a co-operative rather than an adversarial approach. Fairness also entails dealing with problems promptly, which is helped by a process of preventing problems before they occur whenever possible.
Empathy
Empathy relates to the ability to understand the perceptions and feelings of another person. It leads to thoughtfulness, co-operation, and respect for others, and enhances effectiveness by improving relationships with others.
Consistency
Consistency involves the fair and strict application of rules, impartiality, and fairness in decisions. Reliability is a function of consistency. Reasonable consistency in behaviour results from basing actions on thoughtful and logical consideration of all the facts.
Business Ethics
Principles of business ethics include:
Be honest and trustworthy: Provide clear and accurate information, and handle money and documents with probity. Prospective students want to do business with people they can trust.
Be diligent and meet obligations: Complete work on time and to a good standard, and honour commitments and obligations.
Keep an open mind: In a changing world, the student counsellor must be open to new ideas, and seek out opinions and feedback from students, staff, and education institutions.
Have clear documents: All print materials including advertising, brochures, and other documents should be clear, precise, and professional. Most importantly, they must be accurate and not misrepresented or misinterpreted.
Maintain financial control: A hands-on approach to accounting and record-keeping ensures financial integrity.
Be respectful: Regardless of differences, positions, titles, ages, or other types of distinctions, always treat others with professional respect and courtesy.
Be community-minded: Involvement in community-related issues and activities demonstrates a commitment to the community and can enhance the student counsellor’s reputation and local identity.
Extension Questions: For the student counsellor:
- What kind of traits are essential to demonstrating good character?
- What key business principles must the the student counsellor practise while at work?
Reputation
Students and their parents or guardians spend a lot of time and money to make the best educational choices they can. They need to trust the student counsellor since most of them probably:
- Have not travelled overseas before
- Know little about the destination country
- Have limited information about the educational institution
- Have only a general understanding of what living in the destination country involves.
Therefore, an agency’s reputation is vital and can be its strongest marketing tool. The student counsellor should remember this when tempted to “cut corners” or to do something for commercial advantage though it is ethically wrong. Any short-term gain will be negated by the loss of business and falling profits caused by damage to the agency’s reputation over time. To put it simply, honesty might lose the sale, but dishonesty will lose the business.
Rogue Operators
The large majority of student counsellors who recruit students for educational institutions are hard-working, fair in their dealings, and have a good reputation among their clients. Unfortunately, some of them act in an incompetent or dishonourable way. This has the potential to seriously damage not only their reputation and that of their agency but also the education institutions they represent and the destination country’s education system.
Consequences
Large amounts of recruitment come from word-of-mouth recommendations or repeat business. So, even if only a few student counsellors act with poor standards or ethics, the news can spread quickly and be exaggerated. Therefore, the improper actions of a small number of agencies can lead to serious consequences. Students may:
- Think the actions are more common than they actually are
- Not trust other agencies even though they act correctly at all times
- Choose to study in another country or decide to stay at home.
Professional Standards
The student counsellor represents the agency. As such, he/she should act so as to enhance the reputation of the agency and the industry.
When dealing with students, the student counsellor should:
- Provide sufficient and accurate information
- Keep adequate records
- Maintain contact after a course has begun
- Have clear cost structures
- Respond to questions in a timely manner.
When dealing with educational institutions, the student counsellor should:
- Submit applications to institutions only from students who have a genuine interest
- Communicate appropriately with organisations
- Represent the institution and its courses accurately
- Advertise with approval.
When dealing with other agents, the student counsellor should:
- Not discount fees without an institution being aware.
Contractual and Legal Obligations
The student counsellor must be sure to meet all contractual obligations with educational institutions, particularly in relation to marketing, recruitment, and information given to students.
Legal obligations concerning marketing and information handling are discussed in A4.1 Legal Requirements of Education Providers and A4.2 Agent Contracts and Accountability.
Perspective
The student counsellor is responsible for developing a reputation for excellence to ensure sustainable long-term business. A good reputation is not built in the short term (though it can be destroyed in the short term). It comes from a long-term practice of ethical behaviour and excellent service.
Integrity and ethical conduct can be seen as a matter of perspective: i.e., long-term versus short-term gain. Unethical conduct results in a long-term loss greater than any short-term gain.
Extension Questions: For the student counsellor:
- What kind of reputation does the student counsellor’s agency have?
- How are professional standards maintained?
- How can the student counsellor improve the agency’s reputation?
Quality and Consistency
An education agency’s reputation also depends on quality and consistency of service. Quality and consistency rarely develop by chance; they require careful cultivation and maintenance of professional and industry standards.
Code of Practice
A code of practice should state the organisation’s position on the issues that customers generally consider to be important, such as equality, ethics, contracts, conflict of interest, and duty of care. An effective and fair code of practice is important to establish a clear common understanding of expectations and deliverables between the agency and customers. It should set out the organisation’s business philosophy, reflect as far as possible its way of doing business, and cover any issues of potential misunderstanding over trading style.
Quality Assurance
Quality assurance is based on compliance with quality standards. Quality standards may be generated by industry bodies, governments, or independent standards organisations, and are usually translated into regular operations by means of a policy and procedure manual.
Quality control is discussed in C1.2 Customer Service.
Extension Questions: For the student counsellor:
- What kind of quality assurance does the student counsellor operate under?
- What code of practice applies to him/her?
- How does it affect him/her?