Comm111-1.6

Core Foundations of Professionalism at Edwards

  • Professionalism at the Edwards School of Business is defined not as a stiff, performative corporate costume (such as wearing an itchy suit or carrying a briefcase), but as daily classroom muscle memory.

  • Professional habits do not begin at graduation, during job searches, or in internship interviews; they begin immediately in daily academic interactions, group work, and classroom engagement.

  • The Edwards Student Professionalism Expectations represent an intentional community culture developed collaboratively with direct input from three key stakeholder groups:

    • Students

    • Faculty

    • Staff

  • Professionalism is grounded in eight core values:

    • Respect

    • Reconciliation

    • Collaboration

    • Support

    • Integrity

    • Critical thinking

    • Open inquiry

    • Critique

  • The primary objective of these standards is not merely identifying misconduct after the fact, but actively cultivating a positive learning environment where all students can succeed, contribute meaningfully, and build long-term professional habits.

Five Value Areas and Applied Scenarios

Respect card illustrating classroom interaction and key behavioral expectations

  • Value Area 1: Respect

    • Arriving on time and fully prepared for class.

    • Avoiding disruptive behaviors, such as talking over instructors/classmates or scrolling through unrelated videos during instruction.

    • Communicating respectfully with instructors, staff, and peers.

    • Cleaning up physical spaces after use and treating shared facilities with care.

  • Scenario 1: Late Arrival and Classroom Disruptions

    • Situation: A student arrives late to class every week, enters noisily, and disrupts the surrounding learning environment.

    • Relevant Professionalism Area: Respect.

    • Rationale: Respect requires attending scheduled classes prepared to engage without creating distractions, remaining mindful of how individual actions impact the learning of others.

  • Scenario 2: Unprofessional Email Communication

    • Situation: A student emails an instructor from a non-USask personal email account, omits their full name and course information, and writes the message in an informal text-message style.

    • Relevant Professionalism Area: Respect (and secondarily, professionalism in communication).

    • Rationale: Professional communication entails identifying oneself clearly, utilizing an appropriate tone, and respecting the recipient's time by eliminating the unnecessary effort required to decode who sent the email and what is required.

  • Scenario 3: Group Work Breakdown

    • Situation: A student ignores group communication messages and fails to contribute an equitable share to a team assignment.

    • Relevant Professionalism Area: Collaboration and Support.

    • Rationale: Professionalism requires taking personal responsibility for learning while participating actively in group efforts so that team members can depend on one another.

  • Scenario 4: Classroom Distraction and Off-Task Behavior

    • Situation: A student streams unrelated videos during active class time and is unprepared to participate in exercises.

    • Relevant Professionalism Area: Respect.

    • Rationale: Expectations emphasize attending classes prepared to engage without distractions; watching unrelated media during class is explicitly categorized as a disruptive behavior that harms the learning environment.

  • Scenario 5: Neglect of Shared Physical Spaces

    • Situation: A student leaves garbage behind, shifts classroom furniture, and fails to return the room to its original usable condition.

    • Relevant Professionalism Area: Respect (and shared community responsibility).

    • Rationale: Professionalism includes preserving physical facilities in good condition, disposing of waste properly, and leaving shared spaces in a functional state for subsequent users.

Communication Standards, Trust, and Integrity

  • Minor Behaviors as Reliability Proxies:

    • Seemingly small actions—such as email etiquette and physical workspace upkeep—act as direct indicators of overall professional reliability in business environments.

    • Unprofessional emails (e.g., sent from personal accounts, missing course details, or written like text messages) force professors or future clients to spend extra time decoding the sender's identity and request.

    • Sloppy communication directly drains professional trust. In a business context, clients unconsciously infer that an individual who is careless with routine communication will be equally careless with critical responsibilities, such as managing a financial portfolio.

  • Trust as Core Business Currency:

    • The entirety of business operations relies on trust. If stakeholders cannot depend on an individual's data, communication, or fundamental honesty, operational systems stall.

  • Academic Integrity:

    • Strict adherence to academic honesty guidelines, including the complete avoidance of plagiarism.

    • Transparent, honest navigation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) guidelines in coursework and assignments.

Reconciliation and Societal Context

  • Broader Community Impact:

    • Professionalism requires understanding that business professionals operate within a broad civic and societal context, rather than in an isolated vacuum.

  • Integration of Reconciliation:

    • Professional standards explicitly require active participation in reconciliation.

    • Students are expected to foster environments that incorporate Indigenous perspectives.

    • Students are required to reflect on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action regarding Indigenous rights and history.

    • Fostering reconciliation demonstrates that a student is not merely trying to extract a grade, but is acting as a responsible participant in the broader community.

Open Inquiry, Critique, and Handling Friction

  • Distinction Between Agreement and Professionalism:

    • Professionalism does not mean passive agreement, uniform compliance, or avoiding critical discussion.

    • Open inquiry and critique are core values of the business institution.

  • Constructive Friction:

    • Students are expected to thoughtfully and constructively dismantle flawed arguments.

    • Students must develop the intellectual capacity and resilience to absorb direct, constructive feedback when their own ideas are challenged.

    • Learning to navigate intellectual and interpersonal friction without damaging professional relationships is an essential classroom training exercise for future workplace dynamics.

Support Systems, Health, and Accountability

  • Institutional Support Resources:

    • Accessibility Concerns: Students facing accessibility challenges are directed to Access and Equity Services.

    • Physical and Mental Health: Comprehensive support services are available through broader Edwards and USask institutional health resources.

  • Accountability Guardrails and Consequences:

    • Consequences for failing to meet professionalism standards are designed as protective guardrails for the learning environment, ensuring open and respectful debate can take place safely.

    • Enforced on a case-by-case basis, potential consequences include:

    • Being asked to leave a class or activity.

    • Being withdrawn from a group project.

    • Mandatory participation in formal interventions or mediations.

    • Grade-related penalties where explicitly defined in course syllabi and materials.

    • Formal non-academic misconduct complaints.

Questions & Discussion

  • Question: Why does a business school need to explicitly state basic habits like throwing away garbage or not watching videos in class?

    • Response: In professional settings, minor daily actions serve as a direct proxy for an individual's overall reliability. Careless behavior in minor areas indicates to clients and colleagues that high-stakes assets or responsibilities may be handled with equal carelessness.

  • Question: Does maintaining a supportive and collaborative environment mean students should avoid conflict and agree with everyone?

    • Response: No. Core values explicitly include open inquiry and critique. True professionalism involves learning how to constructively challenge flawed arguments and absorb feedback when challenged, building the muscle to manage conflict without destroying workplace relationships.

  • Question: Are formal consequences meant to create a culture of fear among students?

    • Response: No. Consequences function as guardrails that protect the shared learning environment so that robust, honest, and respectful debate can occur safely.

  • Question: How should students evaluate their day-to-day habits relative to their future careers?

    • Response: Students should reflect on what assumptions a future colleague or client would make about their professional capabilities if they observed how they currently handle minor conflicts, emails, and daily obligations.