Professional and Ethical responsibilities Gustavo Gomez Todd Grober Michael Irani Ruslan Kadtlyak Junhyung KimBrian King Michael Leighton

What is a "Professional" Gustavo Gomez

A Professional A person who has received education and training in a specialized area.

How does One Become a Professional Attended a higher level of education after college Learn a Trade in a specialized field and join a guild

Different attribute of a Professional Character and Integrity Honesty and Forthrightness Trustworthiness Continual improvement Pressing for excellence Being responsible and accountable Projecting a professional image Professional maturity and conduct Confidences and confidentiality Following instructions Being a team player Manners Doing What is Right Reinforce having a professional culture Encourage adopting desirable values Inspire excellence and teamwork Boost confidence and pride

Benefits of becoming a Professional

Various Forms of Professional Credentialing Todd Grober

Some Forms of Credentialing Vendor certifications Professional licensing

Certifications definition Voluntary process. Administrated by a professional society or manufacturer.

Computing Certifications General –  Certified Software Development Program (CSDP) administrated by the IEEE. Manufacturer specific –  Microsoft Certified Application Developer (MCAD) administrated by Microsoft

Perceptions of the Value of Certification by Computing Professionals

Primary Achievements Resulting From Certification

Licenses definition Mandatory, legal process. Administrated by the state or federal government.

Licensing Current Status? - Texas Issues For and Against ACM’s position - No agreed upon Body of Knowledge

Ethical Dissent and Whistleblowing Michael Irani

Ethics What makes something wrong? Stockholder vs. stakeholder

When to blow the whistle? That the act of whistleblowing stem from appropriate moral motive of preventing unnecessary harm to others; That the whistleblower use all available internal procedures for rectifying the problematic behavior before public disclosure, although special circumstances may preclude this; That the whistleblower have ‘evidence that would persuade a reasonable person’; That the whistleblower perceive serious danger that can result from the violation; That the whistleblower act in accordance with his or her responsibilities for ‘avoiding and/or exposing moral violations’; That the whistleblower’s action have some reasonable chance for success.

NASA and Slideshows Information limited to software setup Only so many points can be shown on screen, anymore and data is unmanageable Ethical concern with importance of information

Whistleblowing’s effectiveness Source:

Protection for Whistleblowers Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 Sarbanes-Oxley Act 2002

Acceptable Use Policies in the Workplace Ruslan Kadylyak

Abstract Acceptable use policy defines an employer’s expectations from employees. It is called to reduce number of unpleasant conflicts between management and workers by declaring a set of rules that brings clearness to the question of allowable usage of company’s property. This policy, also, can give a legal protection to an employer in some cases of employee’s fraud. Acceptable use policy is an important regulation paper that every business with one and more employees should have.

The Internet and Acceptable Use Policy More than half of all US workers use computer on a workplace Most of the worker’s computer time belongs to the Internet related activities The Internet is not a safe place Ways of protection

Internet- and computer-use rates by occupation, September 2001

Legal Disclaimer as a Part of Acceptable Use Policy Primary reason for the policy is economical Legal reason is very important too Take the legal responsibilities off your head

Big Brother and employee’s privacy Arguments “for”  Non-work-related activities during work time  Employees download illegal stuff  Inside hacking Arguments “against”  Employer’s snooping leaves an employee unprotected

Dealing with harassment and discrimination Junhyung Kim

Harassment and Discrimination issue Race Discrimination  Freeman case in University of Pittsburg Sexual harassment The Public Service Employee Survey

Once or Twice Not Applicable How many times have you experienced harassment on the job?

ACM Code of Ethics Avoid harm to others. Be fair and take action not to discriminate. Respect the privacy of others.

The Role Of The Professional In Public Policy What does the Professional mean What does Public Policy mean Brian King

History Who forms our Public Policy Why is this no longer good enough

Current Issues Many problems the professional should be concerned with The internet The DMCA

Ways To Help Many forums to help fix the problems What else can be done

The Future Helping bring change in the long term Why it is so important to do so

Programmer Licensing Michael Leighton

Licensing Legal requirement Most software engineers are not currently licensed. Big debate going on whether or not it is ethical to require licenses. ACM’s position

Licenses cont. Reasons for licensing: -There is a lot of poorly programmed software being produced -Engineers are immune from liability

Engineering Licenses

Pros/Cons Pros Will “weed” out poor programmers, leading to higher salaries Possibly better written code Cons Engineers will be held liable Licenses may only be good in one state

Texas Board of Professional Engineers Texas is the first state to issue licenses in the field of software engineering -Requires degree or degree combination -No license means severely limited growth potential

Future of Licensing Very broad definition of programmer and software engineer Licensing will probably be mandatory one day in all states Might depend on importance of end product