The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is committed to convening events and meetings that are welcoming, respectful, inclusive, and collaborative. The National Science Foundation, which is funding the summit, requires participants to adhere to a code of conduct.  The code of conduct shown below, which was adapted from that used by the American Geophysical Union, applies to all events associated with the summit, whether in public or private facilities.

Expected Behavior

1. Treat everyone with respect
2. Respect your fellow participants by using good practices for intercultural collaborations.
3. Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants.
4. Provide your true professional identity, affiliation, and where appropriate, contact information, at registration, and during attendance and participatory sessions, as required.
5. Respect copying and use of presented materials and ideas, including knowing when you may need to obtain permission regarding copying materials.
6. Respect the rules and policies of the meeting venue, hotels, UIUC contracted facilities, online platforms, or any other venue.
7. Be accountable: When we as organizers or participants fail to meet these guidelines, work together to identify problems and adjust policy and practice together.

Anyone not meeting expected collaborative, respectful behavior can immediately be removed from the current online or physical meeting and may be banned from future UIUC meetings or receive other sanctions, depending on the specifics of the unwelcomed disruptive behavior.

Examples of Unacceptable Behavior

• Promoting or participating in harassment, bullying, discrimination, or intimidation on-site, online, and/or on social media.
• Physical, verbal, written, or other forms of abuse of any attendee, speaker, volunteer, exhibitor, staff member, service provider, or other guest.
  • Examples of abuse include, but are not limited to, verbal comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, religion, national origin, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images in public spaces or in presentations.
• Threatening or stalking in-person or online.
• Disruption or disallowing participation by others.
• Criminal offenses.
• Failure to follow meeting protocol.
• Physical or verbal abuse, including attacks on ideas vs. respectful, disagreeing dialogue.
• Use of social or mainstream media to target individual actions of participants in a way that could harm their privacy or professional status or open them to slander or libel.
• Knowingly violating copyright, or copying presenter information without obtaining permission, if necessary.

Consequences and Reporting Unacceptable Behavior

• Anyone requested to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
• UIUC staff (or their designee) may take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including, but not limited to, immediate removal from the meeting without warning or refund.
• When UIUC staff finds that a summit code of conduct violation has occurred, they have the responsibility and authority to take all necessary actions to ensure the continued safety of meeting participants, to avoid further disruptions, and to prevent further harm.
• UIUC reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting.

Summit attendees should be aware that UIUC staff and designates monitor and moderate attendee posts mentioning UIUC and using hashtags associated with the meeting. Failure to follow the above guidelines may result in posts being blocked or other consequences. 

If you experience or witness behavior that constitutes an immediate or serious threat to public safety at an on-site meeting, contact 911 or if in a convention center, locate a house phone and ask for security. Please report other incidents or suspected incidents to Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier at kkd@illinois.edu or 405-413-7847.