A primary goal of the International HPC Summer School (IHPCSS) is to be inclusive to the largest number of contributors, with the most varied and diverse backgrounds possible. As such, we are committed to providing a friendly, safe, and welcoming environment for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and religion (or lack thereof).
This Code of Conduct (COC) outlines our expectations for all IHPCSS personnel (including attendees, mentors, speakers, instructors, staff, guests, etc.), as well as the consequences for unacceptable behavior. Agreeing to this code of conduct does not and cannot supersede any law, nor would it constitute a waiver of rights of any kind.
We invite all those who participate in the summer school to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone
1. Expected Behavior
The following behaviors are expected and requested of all IHPCSS personnel:
- Treat others with respect and dignity, valuing a diversity of views and opinions.
- Be considerate and collaborative, critiquing ideas rather than individuals.
- Communicate openly with respect for others, regardless of race ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, scientific field, or research topic.
- Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert a member of the IHPCSS COC Committee (detailed below in Section 4) if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential.
- Respect the rules and policies of any online platforms and services that are used during the summer school.
- Adhere to the Health and Safety Policy, which will be updated as required. The final version will be made available during the event.
- Attend all scheduled sessions. If you are unable to attend a session for any reason, please notify any staff member. We understand that the summer school is an intense experience and that some students may not be able to attend every session.
Be careful in the words that you choose. We are a community of professionals and we conduct ourselves professionally.
2. Unacceptable Behavior
The following behaviors are considered harassment and are unacceptable during the summer school.
- Physical or verbal abuse of any IHPCSS personnel, third party service provider, or other meeting guest.
- Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to, harassment, intimidation, discrimination, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations, or threatening or stalking any IHPCSS personnel, third party service provider, or other meeting guest.
- Disruption of talks at oral or poster sessions, or at other events organized by IHPCSS at a meeting venue.
3. Consequences
Unacceptable behavior from any IHPCSS personnel, including staff and those with decision-making authority, will not be tolerated. Upon report of a COC violation, the resolution process outlined in Section 5 will be followed. A finding that a violation occurred may result in the consequences outlined below:
- Anyone requested to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
- IHPCSS staff may take any reasonable action to ensure a safe and welcoming environment.
- IHPCSS staff reserves the right to temporarily ban or permanently expel anyone from attending IHPCSS scheduled events and activities at short notice.
- IHPCSS staff reserves the right to recoup financial costs from expelled participants.
- IHPCSS staff reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future summer schools.
- Reports of unacceptable behavior, and consequent actions taken by IHPCSS staff, will be documented and communicated in writing to the offending party.
4. Reporting Unacceptable Behavior
Anyone experiencing or witnessing behavior that constitutes an immediate or serious threat to public safety is advised to alert the host or co-host of the meeting.
If you are the subject of unacceptable behavior or have witnessed any such behavior, please notify a COC committee member when you can. Reports that are made promptly are more straightforward to address, but reports of unacceptable behavior will be taken seriously regardless of when they are made. If you are concerned about reporting to a member of the organizing committee, you can report to an impartial member of the evaluation team or do it anonymously (details below).
- Please contact any Code of Conduct committee member on Slack, by email, via anonymous online form or in person (contact details below). State clearly that you are reporting a Code of Conduct violation.
- Be prepared to report:
- Time and place of the incident
- The individuals involved
- Circumstances surrounding the incident
- Whether you would prefer to include your name in the report or not
- Your preferred outcome of this report
The code of conduct committee includes:
- Mentoring committee
- Evaluation Team
- An appointed representative from each of the partners
A detailed list of individuals on the COC committee will be made available during the event.
In addition to reporting to a member of the COC committee, you may also file a report anonymously using the following form https://form.jotform.com/231736315458156.
5. Resolution Process
When taking a personal report, the COC member will try to ensure that you can communicate with us in confidence. We may involve other event staff to ensure your report is managed properly. Once a safe environment has been established, we’ll ask you to tell us about what happened. This can be upsetting, but we’ll handle it as respectfully as possible, and you can bring someone to support you. You won’t be asked to confront anyone and we will make every effort to preserve confidentiality.
The issue will then be brought to the attention of the COC committee as a whole (unless there is an issue with a COC member, in which case it will be brought to a subset).
Once a report is taken, the COC committee will meet to discuss appropriate actions, taking into account the preferred outcome of the initial reporter. This may include information-gathering from additional IHPCSS attendees.
The COC committee will determine appropriate next steps, determine if a public statement is warranted, and mete out possible consequences.
A verbal report which details the number of reported COC incidents and, if appropriate, their resolutions will be made at the end of the summer school.
6. License and Attribution
This code of conduct is based on:
- The example anti-harassment policy from the Geek Feminism wiki, created by the Ada Initiative and other volunteers.
- The example from Citizen Code of Conduct, a project of Stumptown Syndicate.
If you have any questions about the code of conduct, or would like to discuss these issues further, please feel free to contact Elsa Gonsiorowski (gonsie@me.com).
IHPCSS Code of Conduct, Version 2024.1