Guidelines for Ethical Practice

The following guidelines represent a consensus of what constitutes ethical practice in the way a school conducts its affairs, both within its organisation and in dealings with other member schools. If it is drawn to the attention of ACFICSCU that the guidelines have been breached, ACFICSCU could take investigative action.

A. Integrity of the school

• A school should meticulously carry out the promises and contracts made with any person, school, organisation, or the general public.
• A school should carefully avoid misleading or ambiguous statements about its work, situation or status.
• A school should respect normally accepted conventions regarding confidentiality.

B. Recruitment practices

• The right of a person to visit and to consider employment in a school other than that in which they are currently employed without notifying the current employer should be respected.
• The right of a school to hold preliminary discussions about possible employment with a faculty member/school leader employed in another school without notifying such other school should also be respected.
• Contracts with faculty members/school leader should include a clause in which prospective employees certify that they are legally able to sign the contract and are not bound by any other employment contract.
• No schools should attempt to influence a person to break a contract already signed with another school.

C. Employment practices

• The performance of professional personnel should be subject to regular evaluation, formal or informal, by the head of the school or their designated representatives.
• The performance of the head of the school should be subject to regular evaluation, formal, or informal, by the Board, a designated committee of the Board, or the owner of the school.
• Each school should have an established procedure for dealing with claims by a faculty member/school leader of unjust treatment or violation of their individual rights.
• In any instance in which a school has taken the decision to dismiss a faculty member/school leader or not to renew their contract, the faculty member/school leader should be given a fair period of notice and the reasons for the school's decision. If the faculty member/school leader requests it, a hearing should be provided in accordance with established school policy.
• All faculty members/school leader staff shall be employed under written contracts, which provide for adequate salaries, fringe benefits, and working conditions.

D. Transfer and enrolment of students

• The right of a student and their parents to visit and consider schools other than that which the student is presently attending is recognised, as is the right of such other schools to hold preliminary discussions about possible admission without notifying the school of current attendance. However, a school should not itself knowingly initiate an attempt to enrol a student currently enrolled elsewhere.
• When a student is transferring from one member school to another, and the first school notifies the receiving school that some financial obligation due to the former remains outstanding, the receiving school should delay admission of the student until a satisfactory arrangement to settle the account has been worked out.

A school's most important consideration in enrolling a new student should be the welfare of that student. Financial aid or any other advantage not regularly accorded to all students should not be offered in such a way as to influence the enrolment decision improperly.

Accreditation requires the school to evaluate its educational process objectively. For this reason, ACFICSCU encourages its member schools to undergo the accreditation process.