Code of Conduct

Welcome to CSCW 2021! We believe in respect, compassion, understanding, and inclusion. We expect all community members to act in accordance with these values to create spaces where everyone can participate fully without fear of judgment or harassment.

The ACM CSCW Code of Conduct guides the expected professional behavior of conference participants, including:

  • Treating everyone with respect and consideration; under the umbrella of respect, we expect all participants to be mindful of their speech and behaviors.
  • Communicating openly and thoughtfully with others and being considerate of the multitude of views and opinions that may be different than your own.
  • Being respectful and mindful in your critique of ideas.
  • Respecting others’ identities in full, e.g., using their specified pronouns.
  • Respecting others’ right to engage or disengage in conversation.
  • Accepting responsibility to take action, as bystanders and advocates, to call out and report misbehavior and to hold each other accountable to the Code.

We are dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone. We do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Participants violating these rules may be removed from the conference at the discretion of the organizers, and may also be banned from all future ACM events, among other consequences, per the ACM Policy Against Harassment.

We adhere to the ACM policy referenced above, but have additional policies listed below. Harassment includes, but is not limited to:

  • Comments that target other participants based on characteristics such as gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, ability, status, physical appearance, body size, or religion.
  • Unwelcome personal attention, particularly when one individual has authority over the other.
  • Persistent, unwanted attempts to contact another group member, particularly when one individual has authority over the other.
    Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or threats of violence.
  • Sustained disruption of presentations, events, or online discussion.
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.

We expect everyone to participate in enforcing these policies. Any community member can report violations of the CSCW Code of Conduct. Reports can be named or anonymous. We encourage peers and especially senior community members to make reports on behalf of colleagues who are not in a position to do so themselves, preferably with their consent. Options for reporting include:

  • Contact anyone on the CSCW 2021 reporting response team: Sarita Yardi Schoenebeck, Jean Hardy, Andrea Forte:
  • If the violation occurs in the Midspace Chat, you can use the “Flag” button which will notifies all CSCW moderators that an issue needs immediate attention.
  • Contact the CSCW 2021 Equity & Accessibility Chairs: equity2021@cscw.acm.org
  • Contact a SIGCHI CARES committee member. CARES supports individuals who experience discrimination and/or harassment by listening and helping individuals navigate the SIGCHI and ACM reporting and accountability process. The CARES representative for CSCW is Karrie Karahalios (kkarahal@illinois.edu).
  • Contact the CSCW 2021 General Chairs: chairs2021@cscw.acm.org
  • Contact ACM about violations of the policy against harassment: advocate@acm.org

Once we have received notification of a complaint, the organizers will follow up and determine appropriate action.

We also note that due to the virtual conference environment, many interactions will be automatically recorded and some recordings may be persistent. It is currently infeasible to offer individual-level opt-out.

We thank the Queer in HCI SIG for sharing recommendations on harassment policies and SIGCHI CARES for additional support.