2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Revising the ASEE Code of Ethics: A Community Process

Presented at Engineering Ethics Division (ETHICS) Technical Session 5

This theory paper argues that the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Code of Ethics should apply to professionals in a broad rather than narrow sense. A code of ethics is a representation of a community's obligations within a particular context. A narrow sense of a code’s application connotes a narrow sense of professionalism: that technical membership in a profession exhausts the ethical reach of that profession. The field of engineering education, including research and practice, has grown and matured in the last few decades into an exemplar of a broad sense of professional membership, driving the need for a revision to the ASEE Code of Ethics. The explication of our process stands as a case study evidencing the importance of a broad sense of applicability for codes of ethics.

Earlier ASEE codes of ethics assumed that all society members would likely be “covered” under their individual disciplinary code of ethics. The first code recognized that the roles of engineering educators would include additional expectations as well as overlapping disciplinary obligations across the education and enculturation lifecycle. However, engineering educators are not just engineers but include librarians and scholars in the humanities, social sciences, math, sciences, and entrepreneurship, and others. Given the relational and complex reach of many professional fields and domains, an ASEE code should apply to all who support the development of engineers through formal education. As with many other professional societies, we argue that our ethics code should apply to all engineering educators, whether or not they are members of ASEE. As a community of educators, we have macro ethical obligations to society and the learners we serve. Addressing this need motivated additional changes to the code.

This paper describes the process leading to this central claim, including our review and revision process for the ASEE Code of Ethics, the Code of Conduct for Participants at Meetings and Events, and Code of Conduct for Volunteers, as well as our committee policies and procedures. Revisions were benchmarked with recent revisions to ethics codes for several other professional associations relevant to engineering education, informal review by expert colleagues, a special session to review and discuss proposed changes during the 2024 Annual Conference, and a period of public comment and feedback during 2025. We illustrate the motivation and reasoning behind some of the decisions about words, phrases, and focus that resulted in the updated version.

Because we want the Code to be effective and have value for the community, future work requires community education and interaction with the Code. Special sessions at conferences, webinars, and formal and informal conversations can motivate engagement for engineering educators. Specifically, an associated special conference session at the 2026 Annual Conference will continue the work of education and convergence around the updated Code of Ethics within our community.

Authors

Prof. Rebecca A Bates Minnesota State University, Mankato [biography]

Rebecca A. Bates received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington. She also received the M.T.S. degree from Harvard Divinity School. She is currently Professor of Integrated Engineering and Computer Science at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Dr. Sharon A. Jones P.E. University of Washington [biography]

Sharon Jones is the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Washington Bothell. She is a licensed civil engineer with degrees from Columbia University, the University of Florida, and Carnegie Mellon University. Her research interests foc
Dr. Jonathan Beever http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-1748-0202 University of Central Florida [biography]

Jonathan Beever is Associate Professor of Philosophy and faculty with the Texts & Technology Program at The University of Central Florida. He has held postdoctoral positions with Penn Stateâ€™s Rock Ethics Institute and with Purdue Universityâ€™s Weldon S
Dr. Joseph R. Herkert http://orcid.org/0009-0004-3295-2636 North Carolina State University [biography]

Joseph R. Herkert (Life Senior Member, IEEE) is an Emeritus Pssociate professor of Science, Technology, and Society (STS) at North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC, USA. Professor Herkert taught engineering ethics and STS courses for more than 35 years. He is editor of Social, Ethical and Policy Implications of Engineering: Selected Readings (Wiley/IEEE Press, 2000) and co-editor of The Growing Gap between Emerging Technologies and Legal-Ethical Oversight: The Pacing Problem (Springer, 2011), and has published numerous articles on engineering ethics and societal implications of technology in engineering, law, social science, and applied ethics journals and edited volumes. Herkert previously served as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine and an Associate Editor of Engineering Studies.
Professor Herkert has been a leader in many professional organizations including the Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the National Institute for Engineering Ethics (NIEE), and the Engineering Ethics and Liberal Education/Engineering and Society Divisions of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of ASEE, and a Distinguished Life Member of the NIEE Board. He recently served as chair of the SSIT Technical Committee on Ethics and Human Values and was Program Co-chair of IEEE ETHICS-2023 and IEEEE ETHICS-2025.
Herkert graduated with a D.Sc. Engineering and Policy, Washington University in St. Louis and B.S. Electrical Engineering, Southern Methodist University. Prior to his career in academia, he worked for more than 5 years as a consultant in the electric power industry, during which time he became a registered Professional Engineer.
Dr. Rosalyn W. Berne University of Virginia [biography]

Rosalyn W. Berne, Ph.D. is the Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Virginia, and Chair of the Department of Engineering and Society. She also co-directs the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science (OEC). As a scholar, Berne explores the intersecting realms of emerging technologies, science, fiction, and myth, and the links between the human and non-human worlds. Published under her name are three academic books; a science fiction novel; two award-winning books in the genre of body-mind-spirit, and numerous papers and articles. On leave from UVA from 2009 to 2011, she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Institute for Shipboard Education. On leave from 2018 to 2020, she served as Director of the Center for Engineering Ethics and Society at the National Academy of Engineering. Professor Berne serves on the ethics committee of the American Society for Engineering Education; on the Engineering Change Lab - USA Communication & Outreach Committee; and on the Board of the National Institute for Engineering Ethics. She is an emerita advisor to the “Engineering One Planet” project of the Lemelson Foundation and emerita advisor to the Kern Family Foundation KEEN project: “Educating the Whole Engineer.” She is currently PI of the Engineering Character Strength Initiative funded by Wake Forest's Educating Character Initiative.
Dr. Angela R Bielefeldt P.E. University of Colorado Boulder [biography]

Angela Bielefeldt is a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering (CEAE) and Director for the Engineering Plus program. She has served as the Associate Chair for Undergraduate
Dr. Andrew O. Brightman Purdue University – West Lafayette (College of Engineering) [biography]

Andrew O. Brightman is Professor of Engineering Practice in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. His research background is in cellular biochemistry, tissue engineering, engineering ethics, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in engineering education. Professor Brightman is an inaugural Fellow of the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science and is developing a Community of Practice around Ethics Education in Biomedical Engineering to develop and disseminate best practices for ethics training for the field of Biomedical Engineering.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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