UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Following a quiet release of the final Penn State Values in late 2015, the Office of Ethics and Compliance is preparing for a larger rollout to begin promoting the Values across the University community. The Penn State Values represent the shared ideals of the community and come from a multi-year process of feedback, including a survey and town hall meetings, across the University.
The final Values are:
INTEGRITY: We act with integrity and honesty in accordance with the highest academic, professional, and ethical standards.
RESPECT: We respect and honor the dignity of each person, embrace civil discourse and foster a diverse and inclusive community.
RESPONSIBILITY: We act responsibly, and we are accountable for our decisions, actions and their consequences.
DISCOVERY: We seek and create new knowledge and understanding, and foster creativity and innovation, for the benefit of our communities, society and the environment.
EXCELLENCE: We strive for excellence in all our endeavors as individuals, an institution and a leader in higher education.
COMMUNITY: We work together for the betterment of our University, the communities we serve, and the world.
To kick off the launch, a video message from President Barron was emailed to all faculty, staff and students on Jan. 18. This included a link to the new Values website, which features a toolkit with posters and fliers, conversation starters and real-life examples of how the Values are lived, garnered from the town hall meetings held last spring.
Beginning in February, a new Value will be highlighted every few weeks throughout the spring 2016 semester. This will include video from Penn State faculty, staff and students discussing how they live the Values, as well as calls for “We Are!” nominations focusing on each Value. The "We Are!" awards that run in Penn State Today recognize faculty, staff and students who have gone the extra mile in their work and studies at the University.
For more information on the Penn State Values, please visit http://values.psu.edu or contact values@psu.edu.