Code of Conduct

ITAC students represent the university and the Center every time they walk into a client facility, sit in on a meeting, or send an email on behalf of the team. The standard for personal and professional conduct is the same in the office, in the lab, on the production floor, and in any communication tied to ITAC work.

Professional Behavior

Conduct yourself in the office and on-site as you would in any professional engineering environment. Arrive prepared, stay engaged during meetings and site visits, and leave shared spaces in better condition than you found them. Side conversations, phone scrolling, and disengagement during a walkthrough reflect on the entire team and on the host's willingness to invite ITAC back.

On-site, defer to the host's culture. Some plants are formal, others are casual. Match the tone of the people walking you through the facility, and never speak negatively about a host's equipment, processes, or staff while you are on their property.

Respectful Communication

Communicate with teammates, faculty, clients, and plant personnel respectfully and without condescension. The maintenance technician who has run a compressed air system for twenty years almost always knows something the calculation does not, and the value of an assessment depends on our ability to listen as much as to measure.

Disagreements about technical work are expected and welcome. Disagreements should focus on the analysis, not the analyst. Personal attacks, dismissive language, and public criticism of a colleague's work are not acceptable in any setting.

Representing ITAC and Your Credentials

Do not misrepresent your role, credentials, or affiliation with ITAC. Students are students, not licensed engineers, and should introduce themselves accordingly. Do not claim authority you do not have, sign off on work outside your scope, or imply that ITAC endorses a vendor, product, or service.

If a client or vendor asks a question that exceeds your authority to answer, say so and refer them to the Center Director or the lead assessor.

Academic Integrity

The work you produce at ITAC is subject to the same academic integrity standards as any other coursework at the university. Calculations, written analysis, code, and figures must be your own work or properly attributed when adapted from another source. Reusing prior reports, templates, or methodology pages is encouraged, but copying another student's analysis and presenting it as your own is not.

When in doubt about whether a source needs attribution, attribute it.