CodeOfConduct Committee

Note: this committee is currently in formation and this page is a work in progress. When materials are finalized, updates will be posted to the OSGeo-Discuss list. -k.bott 6/24/15

The Code Of Conduct Committee is responsible for defining internal workflows and sharing organization knowledge related to the maintenance, enforcement, and continued improvement of the OSGeo Code of Conduct ( background-wiki, Official OSGeo Code of Conduct) which was approved by the OSGeo Board in 2015.

Membership

The committee will consist of [number to be determined] members. In order to capture the diverse nature of the OSGeo community, members will come from [would like to capture geographic diversity -- how to divide?]. The committee should also represent a mix of OSGeo community members and those who have experience organizing FOSS4G events. While we realize that gender parity may be difficult in a community that does not tend to have equal representation of men and women, ideally the CoC Committee would be a mix of men and women. [rewrite; awkward language]

Scope

The committee will be responsible for developing and receiving board approval for Code of Conduct enforcement policy. Once approved, this policy (and associated documentation) will be circulate amongst the community, with a strong focus on those who moderate OSGeo IRC channels, organize OSGeo gatherings, as well as those who steer existing OSGeo projects and/or incubate potential new ones.
The committee will maintain the list of individuals restricted from OSGeo activities and retain a copy of all incident reports.
The committee will review and respond to online incident reports.
The committee will serve as a resource to LOCs and other groups leading OSGeo activities.

Communication

The group maintains a mailing list at codeofconduct@osgeo.org. Because the CoC Committee deals with confidential and sensitive information, this mailing list will be private to members of the committee. The CoC Committee will also meet in the IRC channel monthly [proposed].

Documents/Resources

Code of Conduct Workflow Discussions

SOTM - OSGeo CoC Implementation BoF Session - 5 June 2015

Some notes from our discussion - Consider adding CoC to RFP for all upcoming OSGeo events?

-- not sure how to deal w/ this retroactively / for ongoing projects

- Would it be possibly to codify/package CoC implementation ideas/methods?

- Need to make sure that we engage a variety of people in these discussions; different cultural contexts/backgrounds

- Remember that moderators (for listservs, of etc) need support and resources for dealing w/ difficult situations

- OSM/F as an example of a place where support might be needed; consider joining, perhaps...

- Not going to come up with the full process today but going to organize “To-Dos”

- Focus on OSGEO

- Different groups deal with enforcement in different ways.

- OSM has a mailing list policy buried in the wiki somewhere (so buried I couldn’t find it)

- open forum enforces the status quo

to do's - Form a code of conduct committee in OSGEO; purpose is (1) Knowledge transfer year to year (2) Deal with enforcement

- Checklists to create: (1) reporting guidelines (2) incident reports

-The code of conduct should be part of the RFP template for the FOSS4G conference process; (1) have suggestions/guidelines (2) part of the application will state how the organizers will implement the code of conduct (part of RFP scoring)

- Split up the pieces -- figure out how to trickle CoC into all aspects of the organization (Conferences, mailing lists, IRC, etc.)

- Process of projects joining OSGEO be comply with CoC

Proposed MAJOR next step:

Consider creating a formal Code of Conduct committee to formally handle creating reporting guidelines, responding to incidents, enforcing the CoC (including creating language and identifying actions for dealing with the perpetrators of incidents, tracking warned or suspended individuals over time (institutional knowledge), deciding when to allow suspended individuals back to OSGeo spaces (events, listservs, etc).

Resources

Reporting Guidelines

Source: https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/reporting/

Source: https://www.drupal.org/governance/community-working-group/incident-report

Responding/Enforcement 'Source: https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/enforcement-manual/

Source: http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Responding_to_reports

Source: http://docs.puppetlabs.com/community/community_guidelines.html

Source: https://github.com/python/pycon-code-of-conduct?files=1

Language/Actions for Dealing with Banned Person

Sample Language When Banned Person Attempts to Register Dear Name

Thank you for your interest in attending This Event. Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate your attendance at this event. We apologize for the inconvenience, and have issued a full refund to your credit card.

Many thanks

Event Organizer

Keeping Track of Banned Individuals Source: https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/86 (note: value in tracking, but concerns about having history be public-facing)

When/How to Let Banned People Come Back Source: https://adainitiative.org/2014/07/guest-post-harassment-isnt-an-interpersonal-issue-its-a-health-and-safety-issue/

Source: https://adainitiative.org/2014/07/guest-post-deciding-if-or-when-a-harasser-may-return-to-an-event/