SEPM Code of Conduct

The Society takes any form of harassment seriously and there may be significant consequences for any unacceptable behavior including but not limited to membership revocation, prohibition from future Society activities, and notification to other concerned parties.

Purpose

SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) is an international Society dedicated to the dissemination of scientific information on sedimentology geology.

SEPM encourages open and respectful dialogue at all of the Society’s activities, including but not limited to:  conferences, field trips, short courses, online presence, social media platforms and its numerous publications.  SEPM promotes, provides, expects and endorses a professional and respectful atmosphere and values a diversity of views and opinions.
 The Society is dedicated to providing a harassment, intimidation, and discrimination-free experience for everyone, regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual or gender orientation, national origin, age, disability, appearance or genetic information. The Society does not tolerate harassment of individuals attending or participating in the Society’s activities in any form. Language, images, or harmful stereotypes invoking any, but not limited to, the categories listed above are not appropriate for any venue or media. 

At all SEPM activities, participants, guests, volunteers, exhibitors, SEPM staff, service providers, and others in attendance are expected to abide by this SEPM Code of Conduct, which may include participating or cooperating in an investigation of a violation or suspected violation of this Code of Conduct. 

Participants violating this policy may be sanctioned by the Society, including but not limited to, being expelled from an activity without reimbursement of any fees paid and/or barred from participating in future activities of the Society.  

Expected Behavior

All participants, guests, volunteers, exhibitors, SEPM staff, service providers, and others in involved in any SEPM activity are to:

• Treat others with respect and consideration with the diversity of views and opinions valued;
• Be considerate, collegial, and collaborative.
• Communicate openly, with civil attitudes, critiquing ideas rather than individuals.
• Avoid personal attacks directed toward other participants, guests, volunteers, exhibitors, SEPM staff, service providers, and anyone else in attendance.
• Obey the rules and policies of any meeting venue, hotels, SEPM contracted facility, online activity or any other associated venue.
• Be mindful of your physical or virtual environment and of your fellow participants and alert meeting security personnel, SEPM staff, or SEPM leadership if you notice someone in distress, or perceive a potentially dangerous situation, or witness a dangerous situation.

Unacceptable Behavior 

Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to:

• Harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in any form.
• Physical or verbal abuse of any participant, guest, volunteer, exhibitor, SEPM staff, service provider, or other persons.
• Disruption of presentations at oral, poster sessions, in an exhibit hall, in short courses, on field trips, or at other events, whether in a physical facility or an online virtual facility organized by SEPM.
• Audio and video recording or taking images of an individual’s oral presentation is expressly forbidden without prior consent of the Society and the individual or images of posters taken without permission are not allowed. Images of posters may be taken with the explicit consent of the presenter, and images may be acquired only in the presence of the presenter.
• Verbal conduct – oral, written or electronic communications that contain offensive comments related to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, appearance or genetic information.
• Inappropriate use of demeaning images or representations related to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, appearance or genetic information in public spaces or in presentations.
• Intentional, uninvited physical contact of any form.
• Threats (implied or real) of physical, professional or financial harm.
• Retaliation, including verbal or physical threats, intimidation or ridicule, of someone who has made a good faith complaint or participates in a review or investigation of a violation or suspected violation of this Code of Conduct.
• Stalking registrants, guests, volunteers, exhibitors, SEPM staff, service providers, or other persons present.
• Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior. Sponsors, vendors, presenters and exhibitors should not use discriminatory images, activities, or other material. All exhibitor staff and volunteers should dress in a professional manner.  

Alcohol consumption or use of other intoxicating substances is neither an excuse nor an invitation for violation of this Code of Conduct.

Consequences of Unacceptable Behavior

• Anyone requested to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately.
• SEPM staff, SEPM authorized organizers or conveners, SEPM Council members, security, or law enforcement personnel may take any action(s) deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from a physical facility or dismissal from any virtual situation for example, a meeting, short course or field trip without warning or refund.
• SEPM reserves the right to revoke membership in the Society.
• SEPM reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future SEPM activity.
• SEPM reserves the right to report incidents of unacceptable behavior to other organizations, including the offending person’s employer, sponsor, university, etc.

Reporting Unacceptable Behavior

Anyone experiencing or witnessing behavior that constitutes an immediate or serious threat to public safety or a criminal act is expected to contact the appropriate local authorities. Those witnessing a potential criminal act should also take actions necessary to maintain their own personal safety. 

If you are the subject of unacceptable behavior or have witnessed any such behavior, please immediately notify SEPM leadership (i.e., a SEPM Council member or SEPM staff) who is  on-site in person or by e-mail or by phone.  Contact information can be found in the following links – SEPM Council https://www.sepm.org/Council and SEPM Staff https://www.sepm.org/Staff . 

If you believe an incident is ongoing, you should notify local SEPM leadership as soon as possible.  SEPM onsite leadership may take immediate action depending on the nature of the incident to ensure the safety or continuity of any SEPM activity.  

You may also email SEPM at conduct@sepm.org.

If you are unsure whether the incident is a violation of this Code of Conduct, or whether the space where it happened is covered by this Code of Conduct, the Society encourages you to still report it to SEPM. The Society would much rather have a few extra reports than miss a report of an actual violation. The Society does not consider it a negative action when someone reports an incident even if SEPM finds the incident is not a violation of this Code of Conduct. Knowing about incidents that are not violations, or incidents that happen outside our spaces, can help us to improve the Code of Conduct or the processes surrounding it.

All reports will be kept as confidential as possible, subject to the need to disclose information in the investigation and the Society’s response process or as otherwise required by applicable law.  In your report please include:

• Your contact information, if you are comfortable sharing that with us.
• Names or descriptions of any individuals involved and if there were other witnesses besides yourself, please include their names as well.
• When and where the incident occurred, please be as specific as possible.
• Your account of what occurred.
• Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
• Any other information you believe we should have.

 

What happens after you file a report?

If you have provided your contact information or the Society knows your contact information, you will receive an email from the SEPM acknowledging receipt of your report. 

To the extent possible, SEPM will review the report and any incident to which it has information even if a report has not been made to determine:

• What happened.
• Whether the incident constitutes a Code of Conduct violation.
• Who perpetrated the unacceptable behavior.
• Whether the incident is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone's physical safety – this should be handled onsite if reported onsite to SEPM leadership or local security or law enforcement.

The Society appreciates your assistance in helping the Society provide a professional and respectful atmosphere at all activities associated with the Society.  If you have any questions about this Code of Conduct, please feel free to contact Dr. Howard Harper, SEPM Executive Director at hharper@sepm.org or +1 918-808-6985

A PDF version of this Code is available for download here SEPM-CodeofConduct-Final-4-4-2019.pdf