We as members, contributors, and leaders pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community. The goal of our program is to foster supportive mentorship, personal development, and lasting connection between peers.
Diversity is one of our huge strengths, but it can also lead to communication issues and unhappiness. To that end, we have a few ground rules that we ask people to adhere to.
We expect all community participants (mentors, contributors, paid or otherwise; sponsors; and other guests) to abide by this Code of Conduct in all community venues–online and in-person–as well as in all one-on-one communications pertaining to community business.
This code of conduct and its related procedures also applies to unacceptable behavior occuring outside the scope of community activities when such behavior has the potential to adversely affect the safety and well-being of community members.
We strive to create a positive learning and working environment through inclusive and supportive behavior.
Examples of behavior that contributes to a positive environment for our community include:
- Be friendly and patient
- Demonstrating empathy and kindness toward other people
- Being respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences
- Giving and gracefully accepting constructive feedback
- Accepting responsibility and apologizing to those affected by our mistakes, and learning from the experience
- Focusing on what is best not just for us as individuals, but for the overall community
The following behaviors are considered harassment and are unacceptable within our community:
- Violence, threats of violence or violent language directed against another person.
- Sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language.
- Posting or displaying sexually explicit or violent material.
- Posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information ("doxing").
- Personal insults, particularly those related to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, political orientation, or disability.
- Trolling or otherwise unconstructive community behavior.
- Inappropriate photography or recording.
- Inappropriate physical contact. You should have someone’s consent before touching them.
- Unwelcome sexual attention. This includes, sexualized comments or jokes; inappropriate touching, groping, and unwelcomed sexual advances.
- Deliberate intimidation, harassment of any kind, stalking or following.
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
- Sustained disruption of community events, including talks and presentations.
- Disruption of conversation in the form of interrupting others that are currently speaking.
- Other conduct which could reasonably be considered inappropriate in a professional setting
By choosing to engage with our community, you commit to aligning with our values and expectations for behavior.
Safety is of high priotity, and as such we will take as much possible actions to ensure everyone feels safe in the event of a potential violations of our code of conduct.
If you believe anyone is in immediate physical danger, please notify appropriate law enforcement first. (In Santa Cruz, dialing 911 is the best way to do this, on- or off-campus. If you are unable to call, you can also text 911 as outlined here. For non-emergency situations, please submit a report as outlined below and community organizers will notify law enforcement if necessary.
Additionally, community organizers are available to help community members engage with local law enforcement or to otherwise help those experiencing unacceptable behavior feel safe. For in-person, after-hours support, you can contact UCSC's Safety Dispatch Office Line: (831) 459-2100. Community Safety Officersties (CSOs) are visible in campus residential communities from 7pm to 3am nightly, and may also be approached for help.
If you are subject to or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please notify a community organizer as soon as possible:
- Emily Lovell (she/her) : emme@soe.ucsc.edu
- Stephanie Lieggi (she/her) : slieggi@ucsc.edu
If you believe someone is violating the code of conduct we ask that you report it to the community organizers listed above. If a report involved a community organizer - or you would feel more comfortable reporting to someone else at UC Santa Cruz - you may also reach out to:
- Lorato Anderson (she/her), Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Graduate Studies (lodander@ucsc.edu)
- Jarett Haley (he/him), Retention Specialist, Office for African, Black, Caribbean Student Success (jdhaley@ucsc.edu)
- Ariana Yancey, Graduate Student Intern, Office for African, Black, Caribbean Student Success (ayancey@ucsc.edu)
The identity of any individuals involved in a report will remain confidential, unless consent is given or required by campus procedures or by law.
In your report please include:
- Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up).
- Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
- When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
- Your account of what occurred. If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger) please include a link.
- Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
- If you believe this incident is ongoing.
- Any other information you believe we should have.
If you are unsure whether the incident is a violation, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct, we encourage you to still report it. We would much rather have a few extra reports where we decide to take no action, rather than miss a report of an actual violation. We do not look negatively on you if we find the incident is not a violation. And knowing about incidents that are not violations, or happen outside our spaces, can also help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.
Please keep in mind that this reporting process is meant to be constructive. Therefore, we would like to dissuade abusing the reporting procedures with malicious intent.
If you feel you have been falsely or unfairly accused of violating this Code of Conduct, you should report it to community organizers or any other parties listed under the Reporting Guidelines section above, with a concise description of your grievance. Your grievance will be handled in accordance with our existing governing policies.
Additionally, we would like to encourage a cooperative environment so we ask that you settle any prior personal disputes with community members before joining the group. As for personal disputes that occur during the in-person portion of the program, please contact the community organizers. We strive to have a friendly community, and as such, our community organizers are more than willing to help participants reach a common ground.
This Code of Conduct is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license.
Portions of this code of conduct are derived from the Citizen Code of Conduct, Contributor Covenant, Django.