President hopes Guelph's policy will encourage other Canadian universities to create a climate for change
BY LORI BONA HUNT
A new code of ethical conduct for suppliers was approved by Board of Governors during its last meeting of 2004. It's intended to raise awareness among purchasers within the University community and suppliers.
The new code builds on a previous administrative policy and now includes all apparel and merchandise with U of G logos or trademarks, as well as products monitored by a third-party agency that verifies policy compliance.
The code can be viewed online at http://www.uoguelph.ca/governors/policies.html.
The new policy includes provisions about supplier practices surrounding fair wages and benefits, child labour, working hours, workplace health and safety standards, discrimination and harassment. It also covers steps the University may take to verify that suppliers and subcontractors are in compliance.
The code includes University purchases, as well as those of other university groups such as elected student governments. Books, research materials and research equipment purchases are excluded.
President Alastair Summerlee is currently writing to various campus units and organizations to establish a new advisory committee that will provide support and advice on implementing the policy. It will include representatives from student and employee groups. A complete list of the organizations that will make up the committee is listed in the code of conduct's procedures and is also available online.
The new code reflects a shared desire to increase the University's commitment to applying standards of ethical conduct to its purchasing practices, says Summerlee.
“The first priority for the advisory committee will be to provide information on the code and its procedures, and to develop an education and awareness program for university purchasers. Guelph has already obtained membership in a third-party monitoring agency. We hope our policy and its implementation encourage other universities to create a climate for change.”
U of G was the first Canadian university to have a code of conduct when it adopted its first policy in 1999. Since then, several Canadian universities have adopted similar measures.
The new code includes numerous revisions and incorporates improvements identified during a three-year University-wide consultation process. Because the new policy covers items not included previously and was expanded to apply University-wide, it will take some time to fully apply it to all purchasing practices.
“This code is an expression of Guelph's values and a projection of those values beyond the University's borders,” says Patrick Case, director of the Human Rights and Equity Office, who served on the committee that revised the policy.
Students Against Sweatshops, a working group of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group, has endorsed the new code. At the B of G meeting, Ryan White, a student representative on the board and member of Students Against Sweatshops, said that although the group would like to see even more forceful language and prohibitions, the policy was “a significant positive step.”
The code, which was the topic of a special meeting of Senate in December, was also supported by various employee groups on campus.
Summerlee says there was considerable internal debate within the community about the new code. He told B of G that, like many issues that relate to moral and ethical behaviour, the new policy represents a compromise.
“But it sets a course for the institution, accompanied by a set of procedures that can, over time, migrate to help change international practices to support human rights.”
