Code of Ethics
Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts
in Brno
Preamble
Our times show instability of general ethical and aesthetic values, and therefore certain
ethical standards should be formulated in the university environment. The sense and aim of
this Code of Ethics is to express the principles of Janáček Academy of Music and Performing
Arts in its relation to the public and particularly in the internal relations within the academic
community, teachers, students and employees. Our common spiritual environment of an
arts university calls for respecting ethical principles and attitudes.
Part I
General Principles
A member of academic community or an employee
1. shall maintain a high standard of respect for moral and ethical principles, which
are generally accepted by society, in his/her work;
2. shall not defend or cover unethical conduct even if justified or motivated by
utilitarian profit, obedience and loyalty;
3. shall consider pedagogical, artistic, research, study and generally creative work an
integral contribution to the development of human knowledge, culture, creativity
and general benefit, and shall defend it from false questioning or misusing; shall
carefully observe and disseminate the principles of reliable and trustworthy artistic,
research and other creative activities to his/her collaborators and general public;
4. shall consistently develop his/her abilities, skills and knowledge in the area of
professional focus and pedagogical work, exercise and respect the right to fair
learning and true education;
5. shall maintain critical attitude to own results achieved, knowledge gained and
conclusions reached; objective, critical and respectful approach to the results of
colleagues, students and fellow students; shall be open to discussion and
argument;
6. shall defend the freedom of thought, expression and exchange of views and
information. Shall not advocate biased ideological or sectarian attitudes in
his/her artistic, research and other creative activities and pedagogical work;
shall reject anything that may offend human dignity or threaten democracy
and social development;
7. shall support the principles of academic freedom and protect it from violation
and misuse; shall reject inappropriate coercion based on superiority;
8. shall care for the elimination of discrimination, in particular shall not permit
any forms of sexism or harassment;
9. shall create communicative environment and necessary technical support in order
to provide equal opportunities to persons with sensory and physical disabilities;
10. shall observe the principles of assertive behavior toward academic community
members and other staff of the university and expect the same in return;
11. shall adopt a positive approach to teamwork based on
a) mutual trust and awareness in artistic and research work and the
subsequent publication of results;
b) respect for his/her own creative contribution and creative
contributions of others, especially when publishing team results;
12. shall be loyal to his/her alma mater, and shall not harm its reputation by his
actions and shall not act to its detriment;
13. shall not call into question the fundamental democratic and constitutional principles
of the Czech Republic;
14. shall adhere to the principles of this Code of Ethics.
Part II
Principles of Pedagogical Process
Student
as an active participant, recipient and target of the pedagogical process fully and
comprehensively uses all opportunities for the development of his/her artistic,
educational and general creative qualities, whereby respecting the internal regulations of
JAMU and its faculties, and the structure of study plans in the area of education and
related artistic presentation.
Academic employee
1. transfers his/her knowledge, skills and experience to students;
2. respects the personalities of students and always treats them on the basis of
objective, fair, demanding but sensitive evaluation of their abilities,
knowledge, diligence and other personality characteristics; he/she acts
impartially and objectively when assessing study results;
3. respects the principle of free access to education and the status of students as
valid and equal members of the academic community, but strictly requires
fulfillment of study obligations and carefully observes the established rules for
the organization of teaching;
4. treats students fairly, does not require from them tasks that fall into his/her own
sphere of responsibility, and does not misappropriate their work and outcomes;
5. fully and proactively engages in collective and individual teaching and education
of students, facilitates the development of their independent and critical thinking,
broadly supports their qualification and professional development, creative and
publishing activities, and helps them to establish external contacts, including
international contacts;
6. strives to impact through high-quality teaching and facilitating the
mastering of artistic skills, and to set a personal example under any
circumstances, in particular during public performances;
7. draws adequate consequences from failures and unethical conduct or actions
of students.
Part III
Principles of Artistic and Research Activities
A member of academic community or an employee
1. focuses his/her work, interpretation or research at pushing the boundaries of
human material and emotional learning, at enhancing artistic and cultural values
and the level of education. He/she takes care that the results and outcomes serve
society and acknowledges the inherent responsibility;
2. when publishing his/her results and findings, he/she ensures their completeness
and public accessibility, verifiability and objective interpretation, and keeps the
documentation for a period usual in the relevant discipline, unless prevented by
other legitimate obligations or regulations;
3. take care that funds he/she was provided toward artistic or research creative
activities are used efficiently and reasonably;
4. presents him-/herself as an author or co-author of works only provided that
he/she created them or contributed to them in a significantly creative manner;
5. consistently refrains from any form of plagiarism; objectively acknowledges the
asset of his/her colleagues and predecessors; when citing, always states a clear and
precise reference to the relevant source;
6. performs any review or another evaluation work in person, independently and
thoroughly. He/she protects the intellectual property of authors of artworks,
reviewed manuscripts and other works. He/she does not use information that is
part of the assessed works to another purpose than for preparation of the relevant
report and does not provide it to a third party;
7. refuses to prepare an expert opinion in case its conclusions may be connected with
his/her personal benefit, or warns of such a danger; refrains from any intentional
conflict of interest. He/she prepares expert opinions diligently and only in the area of
his/her expertise. Does not yield to any external coercion. During external
examinations, reviews etc. bases his/her considerations on objective criteria,
observes the principal’s rules and requires the same from the other participants to
the procedure.
Part IV
Other Activities
A member of academic community or an employee
1. as a project investigator, administrator of databases etc. respects the requirement
of personal data protection in accordance with other rules ensuing from
international standards (GDPR) and JAMU internal regulations and treats such data
in a manner minimizing the possibility of their misuse;
2. treats JAMU information systems being aware of the obligation to use them solely
for the enhancement of academic quality, not for own private purposes or other
persons’ private purposes.
Part V
JAMU Ethics Committee
1. is a permanent advisory body;
2. is established in order to assess cases of breach of general ethical principles or
rules hereof, which are outside of processes within the JAMU organizational
structure;
3. members of the Committee are appointed by the Rector upon a proposal by the
Deans; the faculties shall be represented proportionally; the Rector appoints the chair
of the Committee from among its members;
4. JAMU Ethics Committee proceedings may call for the appointment of additional ad
hoc members as required by the nature of a particular case for the sake of its
comprehensive and objective assessment;
5. JAMU Ethics Committee proceedings are governed by rules of procedure proposed by
its chair and approved by the Rector.
Part VI
Violations of the Code of Ethics
1. violations hereof are resolved in a way that reflects the organizational structure at
the level of departments, studios and faculties; individual cases may be referred to
the JAMU Ethics Committee for consideration at any stage of the proceedings. Each
member of the academic community is entitled to address the chair of the JAMU
Ethics Committee in writing with a motion to resolve a Code of Ethics violation;
2. in view of their nature as well as with respect to the additional circumstances of
an individual case, violations of the Code of Ethics may be assessed as a breach of
obligations arising from legislation relating to work performed by an employee or
as failure to fulfill the requirements of proper study performance. Relevant
employment-related or disciplinary consequences may be derived from the
outcome of such assessment;
3. if the JAMU Ethics Committee finds serious reasons, it may recommend the JAMU
management that the case of violation hereof be referred to prosecuting
authorities.
Part VII
Final Provisions
1. Respecting ethical standards of moral conduct in the workplace and outside, which
are formulated herein, represents a justified requirement for due performance of
professions of JAMU employees, and for the fulfillment of the JAMU student status;
2. the Code of Ethics shall be binding on all members of the JAMU academic
community while maintaining all academic freedoms embedded in laws.
In Brno on 2019 prof. Mgr. Petr Oslzlý
Rector of JAMU