Code of Conduct
The Purpose
No matter how hard we try to make our platform as sophisticated as possible, there are certain aspects of daily social transactions that cannot be properly regulated by local laws or technology. As an intermediary platform between the applicants and consultants, we believe that we have the obligation to set the guidelines for prevention of potentially arising conflicts or dissatisfactions. For this reason, we have created our own Code of Conduct that informs about expected behavior and attitude from both sides (applicant and consultants) on the website and during the study-abroad consultancy period.
Scope
All the mentioned participants are subjected to the clauses of Code of Conduct and are required to behave accordingly. In order to communicate the roles and responsibilities of each group, we have divided the rules to 3 categories:
- For all
- Specifically for consultants
- Specifically for applicants
Rules for All
The following are notions that must be followed by everyone on the platform:
- No discrimination of any type
- No potentially hurtful words
- Respect for each other
No discrimination of any type
At Stubie we believe in inclusive growth and we kindly welcome all people regardless of race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, religious belief, and political party. No type of discrimination is tolerated by anyone on our platform.
No potentially hurtful words
One of our main goals is the creation of a platform where people easily and freely express themselves. However, we draw the line when their freedom of expression might potentially be hurtful to another person. These include any type of insults, threats, ultimatums, aggressive talking, intentionally objected sarcastic comments, stating the superiority of one group over another and similar verbal abuses.
Respect for each other
Respecting fellow users comprise different realms, and is a crucial factor for a smooth and rewarding social interaction. We put a special emphasis on the respect for time and schedule of a person. Being late or not showing up to the online-meeting must always be warned in advance and have a reasonable explanation. Empathy is highly valued, as we know its importance in every point of our lives. We encourage members of our website to pay close attention to the emotional well-being of a fellow member and themselves. Understanding is another necessary notion in this clause. It also covers various realms, but the main two points to remember are:
- Understanding that no one has all definitive and clear answers all the time.
- Understanding that humans are prone to errors.
In this clause we describe all the guidelines of approved behavior for the applicants in possible scenarios that might arise during the consultancy procedures. Applicants should feel highly responsible, as their performance and attitude might have a direct impact on the future choices of the prospective students. Following are the essential 3 directives that we expect applicants on our platform adhere to:
- Providing accurate information to consultants
- Timely submission of necessary documents for consultancy
Providing accurate information to consultants
Fundamental responsibility of the applicant is to provide correct information about his/her background. Providing the right information directly affects the quality of the consulting service. For example, if you provide incorrect information about your GPA to a consultant in scholarship guidance service, you might apply to the scholarships which are not optimal for your results.
Timely submission of necessary documents for consultancy
It is the second obligation of the client to submit the documents requested by the consultant from the client on time. As there are strict deadlines in many programs and university admissions, it is very important to submit the documents on time. If the client does not provide documentation on time, the consultant will not be able to serve on time.
In this clause we describe all the guidelines of approved behavior for the consultants in possible scenarios that might arise during the consultancy procedures. Consultants should feel highly responsible, as their performance and attitude might have a direct impact on the future choices of the prospective students. Following are the essential 3 directives that we expect freelance-consultants on our platform adhere to:
- Always acting in the best interest of the applicant
- Never giving any guarantees in the absence of supporting data
- Improving the quality of their services and professional behaviour on permanent basis
Always acting in the best interest of the applicant
Primary responsibility of a consultant is to pursue the best interests of the applicant. This rule applies to each domain where there is a risk of misconduct by a consultant. For example, in recommending a university, the consultant should only consider the best fit universities for the applicant based on his knowledge. He or she must abstain from personal biases, affiliations or any kind of favoritism that might potentially influence the decision-making process.
Never giving any guarantees in the absence of supporting data
We have observed many times how consultants from different agencies state the 100% guarantee in the matter of placements and/or scholarships without having significant data. While in certain cases there might be high probabilities of acceptance to both of them depending on the results of the applicant and decision criteria set by the universities, life is not predictable to be fully sure about the outcome in advance. Freelance consultants on Stubie must be aware of this, and abstain from giving any guarantee on the mentioned situations.
Improving the quality of their services and professional behaviour on permanent basis
Constant determination to progress should be one of the priorities for consultants on the platform. While we assess the knowledge and experience of the consultants in advance to make sure that they can deliver the services, we expect them to further improve their domain acumen and social intelligence.