ABSTRACT
Despite the usefulness of these recommendations, they oer an incomplete solution for explaining and understanding how unethical misconduct can originate, proliferate, and sustain itself throughout the governance structures of colleges and universities. To echo an assertion articulated in chapter 3, these types of recommendations mischaracterize ethical misconduct as solely representing individual failings that can be xed by adopting more stringent ethical regulations. Although rules are important, they are only one facet of the solution to establishing ethical governance practices. Instead, in this chapter, we conceptualize and examine ethical misconduct in institutional governance as a systems phenomenon, and espouse a greater appreciation for the environmental context that creates potential ethical hazards for trustees, administrators, and faculty. We rst emphasize the salience of leadership and relationships in understanding ethical misconduct in institutional governance, highlighting themes presented throughout this volume and in organizational research. We then illustrate these themes in a case study of a recent admissions scandal at the University of Illinois, and oer recommendations to colleges and universities for establishing ethical governance practices.
