leadership team identified the
Baldrige Quality System as the evaluation model we would use. Grounded in industry expectations, based on
organizational excellence, and a data driven format were qualities of an
evaluation model, which appealed to us and we thought would help us become a
successful organization, develop reporting data that was meaningful and
reflective of our impact on our stakeholders, and provide a model that our
industry partners would know and appreciate. We struggled for a couple of years
and were eventually brought back on track by the guidance of Phil Centonze, who
now serves as our external evaluator. Many of our Florida based stakeholders
know Phil and the impact he has had on manufacturing in our state. However, he
has also had a similar impact on our FLATE staff and leadership team, and on
our educational partners. One of the pieces of our organizational profile that
Phil brought to us is our Guiding Principles, which serve as a basis for
reasoning, action and organizational decision-making. They help us decide if
opportunities we encounter align with our own mission and goals. These seven principles have been extremely
useful to us over the years, helping us keep our eyes tightly focused on our
defining and achieving our goals. Today,
I’d like to focus a bit on the first of FLATE’s Guiding Principles:
Does this (activity/involvement/event) meet
FLATE’s ethical expectations? FLATE
expects professionalism in all FLATE related actions and activities; an honest
commitment to FLATE’s principles; and declaration of apparent and avoidance of
direct conflicts of interest.
Our Ethical Expectations (http://www.fl-ate.org/about_us/expectations.html) expects individuals directly or
indirectly involved with FLATE to:
- Demonstrate professionalism in all FLATE related actions and activities.
- Demonstrate an honest commitment to FLATE’s principles.
- Declare any apparent conflicts of interest and avoid direct conflicts of Interest as related to all FLATE related actions and activities.
Many
organizations have defined Ethical Expectations as they are considered a vital
part of any business environment. These
guidelines about what is right and wrong from an organizational perspective
provide clear articulation of the organization’s values. Organizational personnel acting ethically
when dealing with stakeholders endorses the organization’s social contributions
which can secure public and stakeholder trust.
In addition to our own FLATE Ethical Expectations, FLATE’s staff and
leadership are all bound by those of our host institutions, HCC, SPC and
USF. All three institutions have
published platforms for conduct and behavior that focus on personal and
profession integrity, academic honesty, and equity.
Operationally,
FLATE expects individuals directly or indirectly involved with FLATE to follow
best accounting practices, exhibit ethical behavior, and demonstrate the
highest respect for and support of a diverse workforce. (http://fl-ate.org/about_us/guiding-principles.html).
The start of a new school year is a good time to review the foundations our
organizations are built on. Values and principles for organizational behavior
evolve over time and organizations must change with them. We welcome your
comments on this topic and indeed hope that our performance meets your ethical
expectations.
I would
also like to welcome Sasha Cameron to our FLATE team. Sasha is USF Public Relations and
International Studies senior who is working with us while Janice Mukhia is on
an extended leave visiting family in India. You can expect to hear from Janice
in the next two months in her foreign correspondent role. She will be researching and reporting on
technical education in India. And, welcome back to school to all educators and
students. We hope every one of you had a wonderful and restful summer and are
charged up for the challenges of the new academic year. I am positive there will be many challenges
for all of us.
Please
take a moment to read our September edition of the FLATE Focus. This edition
highlights STEM challenges in the educational system, and congratulating St.
Petersburg College on their opening of the area’s first collaborative Center
for Emerging Technologies. You can also
read more on where FLATE took 67 George S. Middleton High School students on
their multi-facility tour. Don’t miss out on this month’s FLATE Focus.
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