IS&T Code of Conduct / Anti-Harassment Policy
The Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T; imaging.org) is dedicated to ensuring a harassment-free environment for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity/expression, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, age, language spoken, national origin, and/or religion. As an international, professional organization with community members from across the globe, IS&T is committed to providing a respectful environment where discussions take place and ideas are shared without threat of belittlement, condescension, or harassment in any form. This applies to all interactions with the Society and its programs/events, whether in a formal conference session, in a social setting, or on-line.
The IS&T community is defined as both members and non-members who participate in IS&T activities in person or online. The IS&T community comes from across the globe, bringing with them a wide variety of professional, personal, and social backgrounds; whatever these may be, we treat colleagues with dignity and respect, being diligent to communicate clearly and conduct ourselves in ways that are unlikely to cause offence. While the official language of IS&T is English, this is not the native tongue for most of our community. As such, we take this into consideration in our communications. Likewise we recognize that cultural norms vary and what may be acceptable or obscene for one group of people may not hold true for another. As such, we ask that community members strive to create a friendly, considerate, and respectful environment in which all feel comfortable.
Harassment and/or other exclusionary behavior isn’t acceptable. Harassment includes, but is not limited to verbal comments that reinforce social structures of domination related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, religion, culture, language spoken, etc.; posting sexually explicit or violent images in public spaces; discriminatory jokes; deliberate intimidation; violent threats or language directed against another person; stalking; following; harassing photography, recording, and/or online posting; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact; unwelcome sexual attention. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Please note that this policy applies to anyone associating with IS&T in person or online. This includes sponsors, IS&T vendors, exhibit booth personnel, and any permanent or temporary IS&T staff, including contractors (security, registration help, room monitors, etc.).
Those participating in IS&T activities who violate IS&T’s Code of Conduct / Anti-Harassment or Publications Policy may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference and/or membership without a refund at the discretion of IS&T.
Reporting Harassment
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact IS&T Executive Director Suzanne Grinnan via incident.report[at]imaging.org immediately. Alternatively, you may contact any member of IS&T staff or the president of the IS&T Board of Directors. IS&T takes all reports of harassment seriously and will follow up on them as appropriate. Please note that all reports are kept confidential and only shared with those who “need to know”; retaliation in any form against anyone reporting an incident of harassment, independent of the outcome, will not be tolerated.
If the offense occurs at a conference, IS&T staff will be happy to help participants contact hotel/venue security or local law enforcement, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the conference. We value your attendance. We expect participants to follow these rules at all conferences-related activities, no matter where they are held.
If the offense occurs in some other forum, IS&T will address the issue as appropriate. We take all reports of harassment seriously.
—Based on examples created by Ada Initiative, Guide to Creating a Code of Conduct; the Djano Project; Code{4}Lib; Open Repositories; and Access.