Code of Ethics

This Code of Ethics guides the conduct of House of Montrose (HOM) and the New Zealand Curriculum Design Institute (NZCDI) faculty,  education and business consultants.

1.      NZCDI faculty and consultants provide the highest standards of service in all dealings with their clients:  

NZCDI faculty and consultants will:

a.      Deal with each person fairly, equitably, without prejudice and with due regard for his/her values, beliefs
         and life experiences;
b.      Accept the rights of the learner or client to make independent choices, to take responsibility for decisions reached, and to engage in self-direction and self-development;
c.      Preserve confidentiality;
d.      Be honest;
e.      Seek our learners and client's expressed consent before disclosure of client information;
f.       Acknowledge precedence of professional objectivity over institutional pressures and personal interests
         and the declaration of any factors which might limit the impartiality of advice offered to a learner or client;
g.      Conduct professional development services for which we are properly educated and qualified;
h.      Recognise the boundaries of our competency and arrange for appropriate learning and consultations and referrals based on the best interests of our learners and clients;
i.        Provide accurate, current and relevant information;
j.        Value high standards of professional competence and strive to offer high standards of
          professional knowledge, skills and expertise and  
k.       Are committed to the principle of life-long learning to maintain and improve both our professional
         growth and the development of our knowledge, skills and competence.
 
2.      In promoting learning and consulting services to new learners and clients, HoM will:

a.      Represent all experience, education, and services honestly and accurately;
b.      Describe accurately the services being offered;
c.      Honestly represent professional qualifications and affiliations;
d.      Provide comprehensive and clear quotes (costs are not hidden or staged);
e.      Provide learners and clients with a range of options and ways to achieve their aspirations;
f.       Support the development of holistic internal organisational knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
         with a view to supporting excellence and quality in education and
g.      Provide advice and work options in a responsible manner with the interests of the learner and client in mind.

3.      In conducting education or professional development, NZCDI faculty and consultants will:

a.      Provide education only in those areas in which the faculty or consultant is well qualified;
b.      Base education on the best and most recent research and informed opinion and
c.      Strive to meet the specific needs of both learners/clients and the learner/client organisation.

4.      In dealing with materials provided by learners and clients NZCDI faculty and consultants will:

a.      Consider all materials to be confidential and
b.      Request and receive written permission before using any participant materials outside the
         consulting situation, and then protect the anonymity of the learner or client unless given prior permission to disclose those names.

5.      In dealing with intellectual property in all forms, NZCDI faculty and consultants will:a.     

a.      Observe all relevant national and international laws, legal precedents, and best practices;
b.      Avoid illegal or uncredited use, in presentations and publications, of others’ materials and
c.      Support the protection of learner and clients’ intellectual property.
6.      In creating materials for a learner or client, NZCDI faculty and consultants will:
a.      Provide material which meets the needs of leaders and clients and intended readers;
b.      Write copy in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and professional standards;
c.      Be rigorously honest and accurate in representation of products or services when writing sales
         or promotional materials for any learner or client;
d.      Advise the learner or client when written materials and practices of the learner or client are not consistent with the ethical standards of the professional community.
e.      Undertake work that is specifically suited to a learner or client (HoM does not copy and re-use work undertaken for other Clients)
 
6.     In relating to other education faculty and consultants, NZCDI faculty and consultants will:

a.      Encourage a spirit of cooperation and collegiality within the education community;
b.      Maintain the highest integrity in obtaining prospective learner/client information and in contacting them;
c.      Give only honest and accurate references for other faculty/consultants, or none at all and
d.      Compete openly and fairly for consulting work and learners/clients.

7.      If affiliated with an educational institution, NZCDI faculty and consultants will:

a.      Meet all obligations to the educational institution and to the learners in the institution;
b.      Meet the terms of any contract signed with the educational institution as they apply to consulting work;
c.      Use facilities and supplies of the educational institution for consulting work only if the institution    
         approves of such use and is adequately recompensed for it and
d.      Avoid conflicts of interest and advise the learner/client and the institution of any potential conflict.


It is here acknowledged that this Code of Ethics draws upon the Monash University Career Consultants Code of Ethics (http://www.careers.monash.edu.au/Students/code-of-ethics.html)