Ethics as the Basis of the Degree Process Analysis in the Nursing Programs at the Catholic University of Cuenca

Abstract

Ethics is understood as the set of moral norms that govern a person’s behavior in any area of life. It directly influences the processes of university education from admission to graduation. From this idea, the present work aims to demonstrate the direct influence of ethics on the results of the degree processes. The method used is deductive, and the research is descriptive, which makes it possible to explain through statistical indicators how ethical actions and the practice of institutional values by students, teachers, and administrative staff enable achieving satisfactory results in self-assessment—Academy Criterion—and its direct impact on the number of students graduating at the end of each academic term. These indicators are evidenced in the degree process developed in the Nursing careers (main campus, Azogues and Cañar campuses) of the Catholic University of Cuenca.

1. Introduction

Ethics is the science of duty that provides the guidelines to act honestly. In other words, ethics is a normative science [1]. In this sense, the degree processes, as a human and academic activity, are based on an ethical practice that conditions its behavior within the boundaries of an honest act [1]. Thus, this work shows that the satisfactory results in the degree indicator corresponding to the self-evaluation processes of the Catholic University of Cuenca (CU) nursing program are the product of an ethical academic-administrative process, whose protagonists are the student and the tutor. With this purpose, we propose to review a concept of ethics that exposes the study of human behavior and its application in the educational process at the higher level, which starts from the admission phase and concludes with the degree; to describe the degree process, highlighting the administrative and ethical responsibility of its actors. It is finally, based on this ethical condition, establishing the relationship of the degree results with those of the self-evaluation process in this program, in its different campuses and extensions.

2. Ethics as the basis of the degree process

The first step is to recall that ethics is a human value that promotes respectful behavior among members of society; thus, ethics is the basis of our human relationship with ourselves and the world around us [1]. Therefore, in higher education, ethics constitutes a transversal axis since academic and administrative processes are directed by and for people. In this sense, professionals are trained from the moment they enter the university until they graduate. However, it is necessary to think that the student’s preparation does not correspond only to tasks, classes, and research, among other purely academic actions, since these result from human acts in which values are manifested in each activity [2]. This is what Caramelo says:

Professional ethics in university education promotes the acquisition of professional values and reflexive and critical adaptation so that students acquire ethical values in general and of the profession they will perform in particular as their commitment to society [2].

The values referred to by Caramelo must be established by higher education institutions and internalized by the educational community members [2].

The CU establishes institutional values: honesty, a culture of peace and justice, freedom, responsibility, and tolerance, which require ethical and committed action by teachers, students, and administrative personnel to provide society with human professionals capable of contributing to the solution of its most urgent problems. Also, the contribution to ethical training is an institutional commitment based on what is indicated in the Organic Law of Higher Education (LOES, for its Spanish acronym) (2010), in its Art. 8, Aims of higher education, paragraph d: To train responsible academics and professionals, in all fields of knowledge, with ethical and solidarity awareness, able to contribute to the development of the institutions of the Republic, to the validity of the democratic order, and to stimulate social participation [3]. It can be verified that national and institutional regulations coincide in the need to incorporate values and ethical norms in higher education processes.

As already indicated, applying values and ethical norms must be a constant during the student’s training process. Within the CU, in the terms April–September 2021 and October 2021–March 2022, the degree processes were developed in a hybrid manner; that is, students, faculty, and administrative staff carried out the activities face-to-face and virtually. With this background, the steps students had to follow to complete the degree process are described—in its different options—as degree project or complex examination, which were related to institutional values in the following way [4]:

1. Choice of degree option associated with honesty and freedom. This occurs when the students choose the degree option responsibly and according to their abilities and interests [4].

2. Tutoring and development of the chosen degree option. It is based on responsibility. The student and the teacher must respect deadlines determined in the planning with a conscious work of direction by the tutor and compliance by the student. This applies to preparing for the complex exam and developing the degree project [4].

3. Verification of the scientific content. In the case of the degree project, the document with the validation of the tutor must be reviewed in the plagiarism prevention system, as indicated in the degree regulations. Honesty comes into play again when the ideas of others are duly respected and quoted [4].

4. Documentary review for suitability declaration. An administrative process that verifies compliance with the requirements before submitting the degree project or presenting the complex examination. This review is reflected in the value of justice and culture of peace since it ensures that the process is equally rigorous for all [4].

5. Defend a degree project or a complex examination. It is the final part of the academic process of the degree, which puts into play the student’s preparation and the teacher’s objective disposition for the reception of the presentation or development of the practical case. The five institutional values are activated: honesty, on the part of the student, when performing a trustworthy project or examination; justice and a culture of peace, inherent to teachers when grading the presentation or case study; students’ freedom to choose the best strategies for the culmination of their degree process; students and teachers’ responsibility concerning the process, which includes fulfillment of the defined deadlines; and, lastly, perhaps, the value that, although not mentioned above, should be in every performance. This corresponds to tolerance, understanding that each person, student or teacher, must be respected for their individuality and biopsychosocial characteristics [4].

Based on the institutional values, the CU degree regulations, in addition to explaining how the degree process should be carried out, also refer to ethical aspects, which are clearly described below:

Possessing any input or instrument that shows similarity with the evaluations before or during the application of such assessment is considered academic dishonesty on the student’s part. If this occurs, the exam will be denied or annulled and it will be considered failed [5].

The student will present the plagiarism prevention system certificate with a similarity of up to 10%, granted by the professor responsible for the degree or collaborators of the research area. When the student’s project exceeds this percentage, whoever oversees the process will immediately notify the student and the director, who must work on the matter to reach the required percentage [6].

This regulation seeks to ensure that the different actors involved in activities related to the degree program comply with the process ethically, making it possible to achieve the results established in the planning.

Another university process subject to ethical action corresponds to Institutional Evaluation, a requirement that must be fulfilled to operate a higher education institution in Ecuador. Raúl Comas R. et al. indicate that to evaluate (…) means to judge the relevance of its objectives, their fulfillment and how they are achieved, and the resources involved in the process. An institutional evaluation is participatory and collaborative and involves internal and external actors [7]. Thus, the institutional evaluation gives external information about the university’s activities and is subject to a continuous evaluation—in-house—called self-evaluation, which makes it possible to achieve the quality standards defined in the evaluation model [7]. This self-evaluation can be of the entire university, by campus or extension, or by career. Per Flores and Hoyos, institutional self-evaluation is understood as a regulatory strategy through which the State recognizes the capacity for autonomy and self-regulation of university institutions to improve the development of university functions [8]. Therefore, self-evaluation is based on ethics since regulation and autonomy are based on the values field.

It can be observed that the degree and the self-evaluation process—developed in higher education institutions—are carried out with a solid basis in moral and ethical principles. Therefore, this study shows the direct relationship between the results of the degree processes of the CU Nursing programs, in its different campuses and extensions, with those of the institutional self-evaluation process [4, 5, 6]. The Nursing program has been taken as a reference since it is currently (2022) undergoing accreditation processes. The model applied through the qualitative indicator: Self-evaluation process determines as a standard that, as part of the quality assurance processes, the degree program carries out its self-evaluation based on institutional regulations. Thus, it contemplates the participation of the actors involved in university activities and provides results that are used to continuously improve the quality of the education offered [9].

In this sense, the CU periodically complies with the self-evaluation processes either at a macro or micro. Concerning Nursing programs, the results were obtained at the beginning of the second semester of 2022.

In the self-evaluation model applied by the University, in the indicator Monitoring the Graduation Process, the standard measures that: The program plans and monitors the graduation process of its students, based on current regulations, ensuring compliance with the academic requirements of the graduation project [5, 10]. This requirement has been satisfactorily fulfilled, with the following results:

As seen in the table, the results of monitoring the graduation process are satisfactory in the three programs. Each one of them has complied with the presentation of the general and specific regulations—for both face-to-face and virtual processes—, the planning for the development of the degree options, the list of tutors with their assigned students, the adequate use of means of communication with the actors in the process, and the improvement actions based on the recommendations of the semesterly degree reports.

Academic efficiency is also assessed in the self-evaluation model through the retention and graduation rate. The latter indicator shows 16% as the expected result. It is calculated with a statistical formula in which 100% corresponds to the number of students who entered the cohort, and the variable corresponds to the number of students who graduated. The results are shown in the following table:

It is evident that the expected result is duplicated in the nursing program at the Azogues campus, while in the main campus and the Cañar extension, these percentages are almost triplicated. The foregoing allows us to understand that the degree process was carried out in the best way and exceeded expectations. These results allow us to conclude that adequate monitoring of the degree process generates graduation rates that exceed the model expectations.

However, if adequate monitoring of the graduation process results in graduation rates above the expected percentages in the self-evaluation process, the same should be observed inside the classrooms. The process is designed for all students enrolled in a degree program in the same term, regardless of the date of entry into their degree program. The results of this task are recorded in the Semiannual Report, which includes information on the degree program, reference to the regulations, data extraction documents, a list of students and degree options chosen, results of the degree process completed and approved (at the end of each study term), and a list of faculty tutors with the number of students assigned and the hourly load for their respective accompaniment. The results are shown in Table 3:

This table shows the results of the graduation process at the end of the last study term. These percentages demonstrate the effectiveness of the graduation process since more than 80% of the students graduated in most of the periods. This results from an ethical process based on the perseverance and responsibility of the students, permanent tutoring, and the availability of the academic and administrative actors. It should be noted that those students who did not graduate at the end of the senior year have two additional semesters for graduation. This corresponds to the first and second deferrals. Although the results of the self-evaluation process are indeed measured at different times and terms than the semester graduation results, it can be inferred that the process effectively carried out positively affects both the graduation rate and the percentage of students graduating at the end of the senior year of the degree program. Thus, from the data shown in Tables 1–3, the relationship between the indicators of the self-evaluation model of the nursing program and the degree processes developed can be inferred. The results are presented below in a single table:

Terms	Career Program	Results
2021–2021/2021–2022	Nursing Main Campus	Satisfactory
2021–2021/2021–2022	Nursing Campus-Azogues	Satisfactory
2021–2021/2021–2022	Nursing Extension-Cañar	Satisfactory

Table 1.

Results of the indicator monitoring the graduation process.

Note. Data were taken from the self-evaluation reports of the Nursing program, corresponding to the periods 2020–2020/2020–2021.

Location	Expected result	Obtained result
Main Campus	16%	41.51%
Azogues	16%	32%
Cañar	16%	42.86%

Table 2.

Graduation rates results of nursing programs at the Catholic University of Cuenca, 2021–2021/2021–2022 terms.

Note. Data were taken from the self-evaluation reports of the Nursing program, corresponding to the 2020–2020/2020–2021 terms.

Location	Enrolled students	Students who chose the Degree Project	Students who chose Complex Examination	Students graduating at the end of the senior year
Term 2021–2021
Main Campus	55	55	9	31 = 56.36%
Azogues	37	37	0	30 = 81.08%
Cañar	21	21	0	21 = 100%
Term 2021–2022
Main Campus	41	41	0	33 = 80.48%
Azogues	37	31	0	31 = 100%
Cañar	30	30	0	28 = 93.33%

Table 3.

Results of students graduating at the end of the senior year of the nursing program.

Note. Data were taken from the self-evaluation reports of the Nursing program, corresponding to the 2020–2020/2020–2021 terms.

Table 4 indicates that if the graduation process monitoring is satisfactory, the graduation rate will be as expected in the accreditation process. Consequently, the graduating students’ percentage at the end of the program will be significant. It is important to remember that the degree process is based on institutional values and, therefore, is associated with the ethical actions of each of its actors and their consequent results. These are not the product of an isolated ethical action that responds only to the degree department; they are the consequence of an ethical and professional process developed during university education, which according to Caramelo-Pérez, promotes the acquisition of professional values, their reflexive and critical adaptation so that students acquire ethical values in general and of the profession they are going to perform in particular, as well as their commitment to society [2]; and this is conceived from the career project to the culmination of studies through the degree.

Process	Self-evaluation		Classroom process
Location	Process monitoring	Graduation rate (16% expected)	% of Degree 2021–2021	% of Degree 2021–2022
Main Campus	Satisfactory	41.51%	56.36%	80.48%
Azogues	Satisfactory	32%	81.08%	100.00%
Cañar	Satisfactory	42.86%	100%	93.33%

Table 4.

Relationship between self-evaluation results and degree processes for the terms 2021–2021 and 2021–2022 in the nursing program.

Note. Data were taken from the Nursing program’s self-evaluation reports for the 2020–2020/2020–2021 terms and from the biannual reports of degree results for the 2021–2021/2021–2022 periods.

3. Conclusions

From this analysis, it can be concluded that, in the first place, ethics as a normative science constitutes a set of socially accepted guidelines that regulate the honest behavior of people and that, since higher education is a process directed by and for people, its actions must be governed by ethics. In this sense, the CU promotes within its community the practice of five values declared as institutional: honesty, the culture of peace and justice, freedom, responsibility, and tolerance.

Second, the degree process development at the CU is based on ethics; that is, students, professors, and administrators perform their functions based on institutional values, which allow them to obtain excellent results in the different evaluation processes. Thus, the self-evaluation report of the Nursing program shows a satisfactory evaluation criterion for the graduation process monitoring and that this, in turn, positively affects the graduation rate with a percentage three times higher than expected, which responds to the internal evaluation processes and the percentages obtained in each term, mostly higher than 80% of students graduating at the end of the senior year.

Third, at the CU, the degree process has two aspects relevant to ethical performance in its regulations. One corresponds to the mandatory use of the plagiarism prevention system, whose maximum similarity percentage is 10%. The second one corresponds to the sanction that should be applied to the student who acts with academic dishonesty in the complex examination development or the completion and submission of the degree project.

All these aspects show a strong institutional attitude toward the ethical actions of its community, which is expressed in the empowerment of the values of the CU in the planning of each of its processes and particularly in the respect for intellectual property that ensures the future of the graduate in their professional performance.