Code of Conduct
It is vital that all employees in the Luther Rice College & Seminary Financial Aid Office maintain the trust of current and future students as well as the public in general. To fulfill that obligation it is important that this office and the staff employed in it functions in a manner consistent with the highest ethical standards.
To ensure that staff members in the Financial Aid Office uphold the highest standards of conduct the following activities are prohibited. This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list and should be considered guidelines that reflect inappropriate activities which should not be undertaken. Activities that are not listed but are unethical or appear to be unethical are also prohibited.
- No staff member in the Financial Aid Office will accept personal gifts from a student, parent, vendor, lender, guarantor, or loan servicer of more than minimal value.
- No staff member in the Financial Aid Office will sign a contract or participate in any arrangement with any lender or affiliate of a lender in exchange for revenue sharing, other funds, or material benefits paid to themselves or Luther Rice. These prohibited contracts and arrangements include arrangements for preferred lender listing, guiding students to select particular lenders, or providing call center or financial aid office services.
- No staff member in the Financial Aid Office will accept, request, or offer funds for processing a private loan.
- No staff member of the Financial Aid Office, who serves on an advisory board for a lender, guarantor, loan servicer, or an affiliate of one of these, may receive funds or material gifts of more than minimal value from any of these organizations. The staff member may receive compensation for expenses incurred when the employee is serving in an official capacity for the above-mentioned organization. These payments must be provided directly from the organization and not from a vendor or sponsor.
- Staff members are prohibited from awarding financial aid funds to themselves or any immediate family members and are also prohibited from processing loans for themselves or an immediate family member. When these situations arise, it is each employee’s responsibility to request that another employee of the Financial Aid Office handle these awarding and processing duties.
- No staff member in the Financial Aid Office will refuse or delay loan certifications because of the lender selected by the student.