Acknowledgment Should Be Made

Hi HN! I have questions about university academic conduct polices in general, with specifics relating to the Universities of Wisconsin (UW) and Iowa (UI). The policies at UW and UI are just incidental examples here -- this is a broad question that is based upon these examples.

The UI policy [1] on faculty conduct has surprisingly weak language on an issue that I believed to be sacred in academia: credit. It states, "The faculty member must avoid exploitation of students for personal advantage. For example, in writings and oral presentations, due acknowledgment of their contributions to the work should be made." The problem with the first sentence is that the word "avoid" does not imply a prohibition -- it leaves open occasional instances of exploitation (consider: "avoid consuming sugar" versus "shall not consume sugar"). In the second sentence, the phrase, "acknowledgement...should be made" provides faculty the clear option of not sharing credit (consider: "I should exercise" versus "I shall exercise"). I expected a stronger statement: "The faculty member shall not exploit students for personal advantage. For example, in writings and oral presentations, due acknowledgment of their contributions to the work shall be made."

I don't mean to unfairly pick on UI: I was unable to find a similar kind of directive that applied to the UW system (see [2], [3]), and would welcome a link to a similar policy that applies to UW faculty.

My questions: Is there an obvious problem with the stronger language in the UI policy? Do any academic institutions have well-crafted policies on this? Is some level of student exploitation (i.e., unfair demands for personal gain), especially in research domains, unavoidable?

Meta: UW is my alma mater, I have no current affiliation (or gripes) with UW, UI or any other university. I do have friends and colleagues who work in academia, so this is a throwaway account. The catalyst for this question is the article in [4], which discusses recent problems at UW, and also links to [1], which is how I started down this rabbit hole.

[1] https://opsmanual.uiowa.edu/human-resources/professional-ethics-and-academic-responsibility

[2] https://www.wisconsin.edu/compliance/landing-page/ethics/code-of-ethics-for-faculty-academic-staff-and-limited-appointees/

[3] https://www.wisconsin.edu/compliance/landing-page/ethics/code-of-conduct-for-university-staff/?preview_id=3466

[4] https://madison.com/news/local/education/university/threats-abuse-retaliation-uw-madison-confronts-persistent-problem-of-academic-bullying/article_237a1ff9-6d28-531c-af39-7d72bf0c249a.html