The Higher Education Institution Between Legal Norms and Ethical Rules

The activity within the higher education institutions has been and is the object of study and research for the specialists in the field of Academic Ethics. The key issues, which are being pursued, concern various aspects of the university environment. In this paper, we want to detail some aspects of the connection between the legal norms, which govern the field of university education, and those of an ethical nature, considering that there is an intrinsic link between the two categories of norms. Academic citizenship is defined as the service that academics provide for the benefit of the higher education institution they represent, including the moral obligation they have as a part of the academic system. The moral authority of the teacher is an authority based on fundamental principles or truths that exist independently of written laws, manifested with the purpose of modeling the moral behavior of the students, teaching them to abide by legal norms as well as other ethical norms. Furthermore, in this paper, the notions and principles regarding the ethical culture of the members of the academic community will be considered.