Community participation guidelines

The POSE Training Program is taking place in the Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement (CSCCE) training space. As such, all participants are expected to adhere to CSCCE’s community participation guidelines, which are reproduced here with permission.

Rationale

The Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement (CSCCE) serves to professionalize and institutionalize the role of the community engagement manager in science. Empowering people to work collaboratively and in a way that is safe and healthy is at the core of what we do. We require all those who participate in the CSCCE community – online and in-person – to adhere to these Community Participation Guidelines in order to help us all in creating an inclusive, supportive, and engaging environment where we can learn and grow together.

These guidelines are underpinned by the CSCCE core values, which include further examples of expected behaviours. The community participation guidelines are not intended to be an exhaustive list of parameters but rather to give a snapshot of how we strive to interact in our shared spaces. Guidelines may be updated periodically and we welcome suggestions of additional items that you would like to see represented here. Email info@cscce.org with any comments.

Welcoming all who want to contribute

The CSCCE is an international community that continues to grow. We welcome contributions from everyone who shares our goals and wants to contribute in a healthy and constructive manner within our community. 

Every member of our community has the right to have their identity respected. We are dedicated to providing a positive experience for everyone, regardless of age, sex, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion (or lack thereof), education, career stage or socio-economic status. As our values state, we strive to notice power imbalances and to work to minimize their harmful effects.

Where and when these guidelines apply

These guidelines apply to CSCCE staff, members of our community of practice, and participants in our trainings and events – whether they are learners, participants, sponsors, speakers, trainers, or other invited guests. They apply both offline and online. Your participation is contingent upon following these guidelines in all CSCCE activities, including but not limited to:

• Participating in CSCCE spaces including the CSCCE Slack group
• Working with other CSCCE members virtually or co-located including community calls, coworking sessions, working groups, and special interest groups
• Representing CSCCE on social media
• Participating in CSCCE trainings 

To report any concerns about conduct for the POSE Training Program, please contact one of the program PIs; Lou Woodley (louwoodley@cscce.org), Karthik Ram (karthik.ram@berkeley.edu), or Camille Santistevan (camille.santistevan@cscce.org). 

While these guidelines are specifically aimed at CSCCE’s work and community, we also acknowledge that we are a community of communities. We recognize that it is possible for actions taken outside of CSCCE’s online or in-person spaces to have a deep impact on community health. This is an active topic in the diversity and inclusion realm. We anticipate wide-ranging discussions among our communities about appropriate boundaries.

Expected behaviors – and unwelcome behaviors

We expect behaviour that is in alignment with our core values, which we have outlined below. We have also given examples of unacceptable behaviors. These examples are not intended to be exhaustive.

Course and workshop participants will receive a logistics sheet with information about the training, including the tools we use and expected behaviors. Typically, your first point of contact to report concerns about conduct is one or both of the instructors or a designated independent third party if that is not appropriate.

We continuously strive to be inclusive

Members of the CSCCE community recognize that we can all contribute in making our shared spaces welcoming, accessible, and inclusive, and will not discriminate against others based on their social or cultural backgrounds or identities. We will work towards minimizing the effects of power imbalances and offering diverse ways to participate as the default, rather than the exception.

This looks like:

• Regularly asking whose perspectives we may be missing in our conversations
• Providing different channels of communication (synchronous and asynchronous) to allow members to contribute in a way that works for them
• Hosting accessible events, including being mindful of time zones when scheduling meetings, both virtually and in-person
• Using pronouns correctly, and allowing people to volunteer pronouns rather than requesting
• Being aware of cultural and linguistic differences and seeking to communicate in a culturally responsive and inclusive manner
• Proactively seeking diverse input and feedback on projects and diverse participation in events

Unwelcome behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Using derogatory, hurtful, or harmful language related to people’s backgrounds or identities – including inappropriate jokes
• Deliberately referring to someone by a gender that they do not identify with, and/or questioning the legitimacy of an individual’s gender identity 
• Pushing people to drink, making derogatory comments about those who abstain from alcohol 
• Using resources that are not accessible/inclusive in their underpinnings
• Deliberately excluding people from channels of communication or activities
• Influencing crowd actions that cause hostility in a shared space
• Attempting to assert dominance in a conversation based on experience

We empower one another

We believe in a culture of fluid collaboration and participation through which we empower one another to explore and exchange knowledge, resources, and opportunities as a community. Members make space for others and take space for themselves to ensure we all benefit from diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas.

This looks like:

• Providing positive feedback and encouragement and advocating for others
• Actively seeking diverse perspectives by intentionally inviting people to participate
• Trusting that our expertise and things that we learn are valuable to others
• Regularly asking ourselves what power imbalances might exist and taking action to address any negative impacts on others
• Spontaneous acts of community such as welcoming new members and celebrating the successes of all members, including those we may not know well
• Standing up for our shared values

Unwelcome behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Talking over others, dismissing others’ ideas
• Taking knowledge and resources, but not sharing them in return
• Not acknowledging the source of information gained from the community when used elsewhere 
• Being unconstructively negative in discussions 
• Not acknowledging and encouraging everyone in a discussion to participate
• Taking up a significant part of the time talking

We learn and share

The CSCCE is a community of learning and sharing. To cultivate a space where we can learn from and grow with each other, we value diverse opinions and make room for not knowing. We recognize that we are all students and teachers at the same time and we all bring skills and resources that we can share.

This looks like:

• Facilitating connections to enhance the learning experience by bringing people into conversations
• Working out loud in order to make learning and expertise visible to others
• Being prepared to switch from “expert” to “learner” in discussions rather than trying to “win”
• Listening actively to all of what is being communicated, both explicit and implied
• Being responsive to constructive feedback
• Acknowledging and apologizing for mistakes made

Unwelcome behaviors include, but are not limited to:might include:

• Only taking, not giving back
• Not listening to understand
• Frequent self-promotion 

We trust – and hold space for – one another 

We make an individual and shared commitment to cultivating safer community spaces founded on trust, open communication, and personal accountability. This commitment will support the safer expression of a range of emotional states including joy, vulnerability, and uncertainty, without fear of incurring harm.

This looks like:

• Assuming good intent and asking for clarification where there is doubt
• Asking permission before sharing personal information, and reaching out/speaking up when we see acts that could breach trust, especially if we suspect others might feel intimidated or unable to do so
• Practicing empathy and making room for one another’s fluctuating needs and emotions
• Doing the personal work required to speak candidly and compassionately, without tone-policing
• Forgiving mistakes once resolutions have been agreed upon
• Making frameworks and processes for decision-making transparent (CSCCE Staff)

Unwelcome behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Personal attacks including insulting, demeaning or belittling others
• Violence and threats of violence
• Posting or threatening to post other people’s personally identifying information (“doxxing”) online.
• Unwelcome sexual attention or physical contact
• Shaming someone for their statement or response
• Not offering a sincere) apology when someone expresses that they feel hurt
• Developing or implementing a group “agreement” without the group’s engagement
• Withholding communication

We express gratitude and recognition

Giving thanks and acknowledgement for contributions, whether they be knowledge, experience, or other forms of support, is an important part of how we interact with each other. We strive to give credit and attribution in an ethical and representative way.

This looks like:

• Correctly attributing the sources of any information, ideas, or materials that we share
• Getting permission, then publicly acknowledging, an idea that came out of a private/back channel conversation, e.g., by @mentioning someone on Slack or Twitter
• Indicating the scope of contribution, including intellectual, editorial, and methodological
• Acknowledging where contributors are offering insight on their lived experience
• Coming back to people who offer advice or share resources and explaining how those assets impacted our work
• Making expressions of gratitude a regular and visible part of how we communicate

Unwelcome behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• Giving/taking undue credit; not acknowledging the source of information gained from the community when used elsewhere 
• Not showing gratitude for the help you receive
• Silencing, dismissing, or diminishing contributions of others
• Misrepresenting the amount of work done by members of a team (e.g., giving more credit to someone who actually did less of the work)
• Microaggressions or condescension

Reporting

To report any concerns about conduct for the POSE Training Program please contact one of the program PIs; Lou Woodley (louwoodley@cscce.org), Karthik Ram (karthik.ram@berkeley.edu), or Camille Santistevan (camille.santistevan@cscce.org). 

License and attribution

This set of guidelines is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

These guidelines include language that has been adapted with modifications from Mozilla’s original Community Participation Guidelines, Django, and Dryad Code of Conduct. While they are licensed CC BY which allows for reuse, we strongly encourage you to determine your own core value in collaboration with your community and offer this template as a guide.