ETHICAL DECISION #1
You are the treasurer of a student organization, the MTSU Dodge Ball Club. The club has just sponsored a garage sale to raise funds for the national tournament in Colorado. The group has planned the entire year to assure the success of this sale wi th virtually all of the club's annual income derived from this one event.
The written financial policy of the organization states that all cash funds collected must be deposited in the club's bank account within 24 hours of receipt to guarantee security and enhance interest earnings.
The sale has been completed and the cash from the sale totals $3,450.00. It is Saturday about dinnertime and you take the cash back to your room in the residence hall with intention to deposit it in the weekend deposit slot at the local bank.
About 9:00 p.m. your roommate has a phone call and learns that his significant other has been injured in an auto crash and has been hospitalized in St. Louis. He checks and finds that the plane fare to Missouri is $590.00 for a round trip ticket. He ha s only $10.00 in his checking account. The roommate tries to borrow the money for the ticket from several friends with no luck. He then asks you for an unofficial loan from the garage sale cash you are holding in your desk. He promises to pay it back as soon as possible. You know that you are the only one that knows the amount of cash you are holding since the other officers left the sale before the income was counted. You could loan him the money and no one would know. Later when he pays you back you could deposit the funds in the account.
What would you do?
ETHICAL SITUATION #2
You are attending a National Convention in Dallas, Texas. This is a convention annually attended by MTSU students and staff. The convention registration fees and other expenses are paid by the university. After one day of attending the convention, your only staff advisor in attendance drives to Wichita Falls (about 3 hours away) to visit their significant other. The advisor uses the university van for this purpose. On the way back to Dallas two days later, the advisor is involved in an auto accident (not their fault). The van cannot be driven. It is necessary to rent two cars in order to get the delegation home. When everyone arrives back to campus, you learn that the advisor has told university administrators that the accident occurred when you went to get gas for the trip home. No explanation is offered to explain why the van is three hours from where the delegation was staying.
The students on the trip know the real story.
What would you do?
ETHICAL SITUATION #3
You are attending a regional conference in Orlando, Florida along with five other students from your institution. The night before the group is scheduled to return to campus, one of the students is arrested for public intoxication and is jailed. He nor the other students have enough cash for bail, and his parents cannot be reached to wire him money. He begs you, the advisor, to lend him the organization's emergency cash so that he doesn't have to spend the night in jail; he'll repay you as soon as his parents send money. The group is scheduled to leave at 8:00 a.m., one hour before the Western Union office opens.
What do you do?
ETHICAL SITUATION #4
You are a resident assistant in a co-ed residence hall. One evening, a first year female resident named Rebecca comes to your apartment. She tells you that she had been grabbed on campus by an unidentified male who released her when she screamed. Rebecca explains that she tells you only because her best friend convinced her to approach you. She did not want to report the incident to the campus police, and, in fact, states she wants the information to stop at your level.
After speaking with Rebecca for about an hour, you convince her to inform the police. She reluctantly details the same story to the police. Over the next several days, you see Rebecca a number of times. The police investigation has intensified and the information has been released to the student newspaper as a public safety announcement. Rebecca becomes more distraught and withdrawn. You convince her to visit a counselor. She agrees, only if you accompany her.
One day during an emotional and vague conversation, you and Rebecca are discussing the assault. You feel there is more to the story then you are being told. You assure Rebecca that anything she reveals to you will remain confidential. She offers nothing more. Over the next few days, Rebecca begins to respond to your continued prodding and becomes more comfortable with you.
A week later, Rebecca comes to you with the "whole story." She had been drugged, detained and raped by another student (also a resident of your building) at a campus party. Rebecca is clearly traumatized by sharing her story with you. She repeatedly emphasizes her desire for confidentiality. You convince Rebecca to tell campus police the whole story, but she refuses to reveal to them the assailant. The police finally had the details of the assault, but they had no clues to aid in their investigation. Rebecca is the only person who knows the identity of the rapist, and only you know that the individual resides in your building.
What do you do?