 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
  |
|||||
 |
 |
Question: Confidentiality Problems
As I am stepping up from an RA to a RD for my senior year, one of the biggest problems I will face is rumors. Our small campus of 1,600 loves to spread them and we can't stop them.
Our staff manages to keep confidentiality for major incidents, but for most things it seems to be lost. Many rumors circulate about whom the supervisors like and dislike, personally. Rumors about our staff are sometimes spread by other staff (one RA was accused by another RA of wearing her housing staff shirt to a local bar on college night and getting drunk, when in reality she went to pick up a friend, that got stranded there).
I know RA’s like to share their odd and bizarre stories, but on a campus where everybody knows everybody you can't do it and keep confidentiality.
Many people get insulted or hurt over it. Rumors are even a problem within our professional staff. I myself was actually stopped by one of my supervisors as an RA in the middle of the school cafeteria where he expressed his concern that I was out using illegal drugs with my fraternity brothers (obviously not true and a hurtful statement). The result was someone overhearing and starting a rumor.
Because of all this we have a very high fallout rate and lose student respect. Sometimes it seems like I live in a real bad soap opera. I simply don't know what to do to stop the Reslife Rumor mill. It is killing my staffs’ team atmosphere (because of grudges that form), our experience level (many don't return for a second year), and we lose respect on campus.
What should I do?
I have a training session in the fall (1 hour) to spend on the topic. How do we go about increasing confidentiality amongst our staff team?
Read what expert Kay Rich had to say…
It seems
that where there are more than two people....there are rumors and they
certainly can be disruptive and destructive. I don't believe there is
one sure way to address this
problem so I consulted with some of my staff for their suggestions and
I'd like to suggest a variety of approaches that you might explore and
try out in your new role:
- Review with your new supervisor what the expectations are for student affairs professionals regarding rumor control and ask your supervisor for some guidance on addressing this problem.
- Review (or create) an ethical decision-making model that deals with the topic of professional confidentiality.
- This may be an issue of "team" as much as rumor control. As an RD you have the opportunity to establish expectations for your staff team regarding the exchange of information...the need for protecting student privacy, guidelines for release of information to other University personnel & release of info to the public or a third party. You can stress the value of putting these expectations in the job description and in whatever type of staff manual you have. You might also take this to your RD staff meeting and see if you can develop a norm within the staff of RDs so the issue can be addressed with all staff. It's imperative that at some point it is clearly articulated to staff that this is behavior that is not appropriate.
- Role modeling of appropriate behavior...when someone comes to you with a report of a behavior...you must check on the source of the info and not engage in any behavior that might be perceived as adding to the rumor mill. If you have problems with a staff person or a student always be sure that confidential information is handled in a manner that protects the individuals confidentiality. Probably most important is confront the rumor mill whenever possible...i.e. if at a staff meeting an RA relays a piece of information that appears to be a rumor, you model the behavior of asking: the source of the information, was the info checked out, and the appropriateness of it being shared in the meeting. Hopefully, your staff will learn that you are always going to ask those questions...and they will begin to ask themselves the questions right from the beginning.
- Though this sounds a bit harsh, you may want to prescribe consequences for individuals who repeatedly engage in such behavior...letter in their file etc. In some cases; breaking confidentiality is not only inappropriate from an ethical standpoint; it is also illegal.