ASG ethics officers complete training course with 100% virtural attendance

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — More than fifty-five ASG ethics officers received Certificates of Completion on Monday, March 28, 2022, after completing a course in Ethical Decision-Making for Governmental Employees from Graduate School USA — Pacific & Virgin Islands Training Initiatives.

American Samoa Field Representative for the Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) Lydia Faleafine-Nomura delivered the opening remarks. She congratulated the class members for being chosen as Ethics Officers, and encouraged them by sharing her own personal and professional guidelines, drawn from her 40 years of public service.

  “As Ethics Officers, your responsibility will not be easy. You will face adversity. My advice is this: Just do the right thing,” Nomura said.

The course was divided up into two four-hour sessions held from 8am to 12noon on March 21 and 28, virtually on Zoom. Instructors for the course were Drummond Kahn from the Graduate School USA and Governor’s Office Chief Legal Counsel Jason Mitchell. Both sessions had ethics officers in full attendance and with active participation.

The course covered seven modules with the goal to give the ethics officers a decision-making tool that focuses on shared core values, and provides an analytical approach to problems that may occur. Ethics officers learning outcomes included:

·           Anticipate and recognize ethical dilemmas, as well as distinguish right vs wrong temptations from the right vs right ethical hazards and dilemmas that employees face in their work;

·           Select, describe, and use the appropriate ethical decision-making process from a survey of widely accepted models;

·           Describe the causes of unethical behavior and methods of discouraging that behavior;

·           Mitigate the internal and external inhibitors to carrying out decisions when there are potential risks involved; and,

·           Help to establish an ethics control system in their workplace.

During the course, ethics officers engaged in discussions of different scenarios and activities; they incorporated a conversation around the Samoan culture and the workplace, and collectively provided ideas to resolve or improve an ethical conclusion on a case by case basis.

Chief of Staff (COS) Tuimavave Tauapa’i Laupola in closing remarks spoke of the three pillars of the Code of Ethics established by the Lemanu-Talauega Administration: Integrity, Leadership, and Commitment. Laupola explained the importance of each saying, “Integrity is doing the right thing whether anyone is looking or not; Leadership is wielding influence that maximizes the efforts of others towards the achievement of others, whereas in this case, achievement to do what is right; and Commitment is your ability to repeat this process because you know, it’s the right thing to do and will benefit all people.”

Laupola also shared his experience as a public servant to American Samoa and in the US military, which led to his final encouragement to the Ethics Officers: “We are all guardians of honesty, integrity, and ethical living in our Government. It is a responsibility and honor that should be handled with great care. You have been chosen for this mission, please take what you have learned and encourage others to do the same. Create an ethical environment in the workplace, go forth and do the right thing.”

The course was funded by the U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Insular Affairs and you can find a copy of the Code of Ethics online at www.americansamoa.gov.

(Source: Governor’s Office press release)