Committee on Professional Ethics

General Description

• Committee is standing
• Number of members is six
• Term is three years
• Members are appointed by the President.

Principal Activities

The Committee is charged with

• Advising AMS governance and staff on ethics policy and concerns;
• Fostering awareness of ethical issues and promoting ethical behavior amongst individuals and institutions working within the field of mathematics by recommending policies and/or educational programs;
• Maintaining the AMS Ethical Guidelines¹, including reviewing the guidelines, recommending updates to Council and offering high level interpretations.

Neither COPE nor any of its members shall solicit or otherwise invite complaints, nor shall they provide advice on individual cases. COPE does not have the authority to investigate, disclose, make public, act on, rule on, mediate or arbitrate ethical complaints, alleged violations, or other ethical matters.

Miscellaneous Information

The business of this committee can be done by email or videoconference.

Note to the Chair

For the purpose of archiving the committee activities, the Secretary maintains a central file system for archiving committee records. Committee Chairs are asked to submit committee records on yearly basis. Chairs can submit material at their discretion, and some materials that they may wish to provide are meeting minutes, agenda, and emails. Confidential material should be noted, so that it can be handled in a confidential manner.

Authorization

• August 7, 1983 Council Minutes, Item 4.1; See also May 13–15, 1983 ECBT Minutes, Item 5.2 and Attachment 16 Council approved the creation of the Committee on Professional Ethics.
• August 14, 1993 Council Minutes, Item 4.2, Council approved guidelines and procedures for the committee.
• January 11, 1994 Council Minutes, Item 3.10, Council rescinded guidelines and procedures for the committee.
• January 09, 1996 Council Minutes, Item 4.2, and Attachment B Council adopted procedures for the committee
• January 9, 2015 Council Minutes, Item 4.6.6, Council approved updated charge.
• April 29, 2017 Council Minutes, Item 3.1, Council approved updated charge.
• January 15, 2019 Council Minutes, Item 4.7.5, Council restricted the scope and authority of the committee.

Past Members

A list of current and past members is available here:
http://www.ams.org/about-us/governance/committees/profethics-past.html

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1. http://www.ams.org/about-us/governance/policy-statements/sec-ethics