Member Code of Ethics

This code is established to promote and maintain the highest professional standards of service and conduct among the membership of the NGCSA.  Steadfastly maintaining these principles will accrue to the membership a level of justly deserved recognition and respect from those who come into contact with any member.  Through high regard for this Code, membership in this association will be deemed a significant indicator of individual responsibility, character and professionalism.

As a member of the Nebraska Golf Course Superintendent’s Association, I accept and fully agree to abide by this code and pledge to myself to:

1. Recognize and discharge all of my responsibilities and duties in such a fashion as to enhance this Association and my profession.
2. Practice and insist upon sound business and turf management principles in exercising the responsibilities of my position.
3. Utilize frequent opportunities to expand my professional knowledge, thereby improving myself and my profession.
4. Refrain from any unethical act tending to promote my own interest at the expense of the dignity and integrity of the profession.
5. Base endorsements, whether written, verbal, or through any other medium strictly upon satisfactory personal experiences with the product, item or service endorsed.
6. Refrain from encouraging or accepting considerations of any value without the express understanding of all parties that said consideration is available to all persons in similar circumstances, and no gift or consideration is for personal gain to the detriment of the course, my employer or the profession.
7. Recognize and observe the highest standards of integrity in my relationships with fellow golf course superintendents and others associated with this profession and industry.
8. Assist my fellow superintendents in all ways consistent with my abilities.
9. Abstain from making false or untrue statements concerning another superintendent that causes public embarrassment to another superintendent.
10. Lend my support to, and actively participate in, the efforts of the NGCSA to improve public understanding and recognition of the profession of golf course management.
11. Promptly report all known or suspected violations of the Code of Ethics and voluntarily participate as a witness and present information in all proceedings to determine the possibility of a violation of this Code.
12. Abstain from applying for or otherwise seeking employment in a dishonest manner if he or she does one or more of the following in connection with the prospective employment:
    1. provides false or misleading information to a prospective employer;
    2. makes false, slanderous or defamatory statements concerning a fellow superintendent;
    3. attempts to undermine or improperly influence the staff of a fellow superintendent;
    4. attempts to deceive, mislead or misinform a fellow superintendent’s employer, supervisor or fellow employees;
    5. makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about his or her professional qualifications, experience or performance; or
    6. makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about a member superintendent’s professional qualifications, experience or performance.
13. Refrain from accepting employment, as a consultant, in a dishonest manner.  For the purposes of this section, a consultant accepts employment in a dishonest manner if he or she does one or more of the following in connection  with such consulting:
    1. provides false or misleading information to a prospective employer;
    2. makes false, slanderous or defamatory statements concerning a fellow superintendent;
    3. attempts to undermine or improperly influence the staff of a fellow superintendent;
    4. attempts to deceive, mislead or misinform a fellow superintendent’s employer, supervisor or fellow employees;
    5. makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about his or her professional qualifications, experience or performance; or
    6. makes misleading, deceptive or false statements or claims about a fellow superintendent’s professional qualification, experience or performance.
14. Abstain from conduct constituting a crime under federal, state or local law, the penalty for which is, or may be, imprisonment, including but not limited to crimes of moral turpitude and dishonesty.
15. Express professional opinions on technical subjects publicly only when that opinion is founded upon adequate knowledge of the facts and competence in the subject matter.