Version 1
November 2019
Introduction
By signing up to attend one of our training courses, the invitation to sign-up will have included a link to this Code of Conduct and warned you that signing up signifies your agreement to abide by these terms.
This Code of Conduct (hereafter "the Code") is specific to courses run or co-ordinated (hereafter "offered") by Advanced Research Computing (ARC). It supplements, not replaces, any other code of conduct that courses may be subject to - for example the Carpentries Code of Conduct for Carpentries courses.
This document
It is very important to note this is a living document. It is actively developed and will change over time. Changes to this document are managed via Contensis so that we can refer back to previous versions.
You are agreeing to abide by the Code as published here at the time you sign-up for a course. The entirety of this document constitutes the "Code of Conduct" ("the Code") and everything, including in the introduction section, is part of the Code. It is therefore critical you re-read this before signing up to each one of our courses. To aid you, the revision and the date this text was last changed are shown at the top of this page.
This document is well curated and we will be able to verify which version of the Code was active at the time of your sign-up, even if it has changed in the meantime. Changes will not apply retrospectively, so if the document changes after you sign-up, signalling your agreement to abide by the Code, the version that was here when you signed up applies to you.
If you want to keep a copy of the current version of the Code for your reference, please save or print this page now. Otherwise, ARC will supply to you a copy of the version that was current when you signed up to a course on request.
Rationale
All of our courses are offered, usually free of charge, however they are optional and extra-curricular (although intended to help develop useful skills for research at the University). Almost all of our courses are delivered and supported by volunteers from within ARC and (sometimes exclusively from) across the University, not by staff whose core job is to provide teaching and/or training.
The courses are offered optionally, there is no requirement for you to attend our courses during your time at the University. You may exercise your right to not agree to the Code by not signing up any courses offered by ARC. We will refuse entry to anyone who turns up to a course but has not signed-up for that course.
Disruptive, disrespectful and inconsiderate behaviour by attendees is hurtful to our instructors and helpers (whose goodwill we rely on to be able to provide these courses), problematic during the organisation and detrimental to learning of others in the classroom environment.
Your Conduct
You agree to abide by these rules from the moment of signing up for a course offered by ARC until the end of the course in question. Actively signing up to our course signals your acceptance of this.
Before attending the session
You will cancel your sign-up as soon as you are able to after becoming aware you cannot attend a course you have signed up for.
- Courses have a limited number of spaces, usually the capacity of the room. By not cancelling you are blocking a physical seat, which is being reserved for you, that could be occupied by someone on the event's waiting list.
- Not cancelling is disrespectful to our instructors. You may think that one person may not be noticed, but we have had courses where over half of those signed up have simply not shown up on the day. This is very demoralising for our instructors.
- There is a significant cost in staff time to provide training and there are generally people on a waiting list looking to attend, so we would like to offer your place to someone else. If you don’t turn up to a course and don’t let us know, you will be unable to book the next 2 dates of that particular course.
During the session
You will not speak over the instructor/presenter or helper while they are instructing or helping.
- The instructors, presenters and helpers have a defined role to perform and have received training for what they have to do. Interfering with them while performing their role is disruptive to training.
- Our instructors, presenters and helpers have given up their time to deliver or assist with the course. Not showing deference for their goodwill in training you and your colleagues is disrespectful.
Our Conduct
Before attending the session
We will send you the location, times and any other pre-requisite information at least one (1) calendar week prior to the course starting.
- You need to know where, when and anything you need to have done before the course. For you not to have the information in time to be prepared will be disruptive to delivering the course on the day.
- Not keeping you informed is disrespectful to you as someone who would like to attend our course.
During the session
We will deliver the course you have signed up for.
- You have signed up for a course. Not delivering the course you have signed up for will be disruptive to your learning and disrespectful to you.
All instructors, presenters and helpers will respect all attendees and adopt a "there is no stupid questions" approach to queries.
- All of our courses are intended to help develop skills. Suggesting or implying that any question is trivial or that a particular task is easy is disrespectful to new learners, de-motivational and inconsiderate of those new to what is being taught.
Sanctions
Sanctions for violating this code of conduct may include exclusion from the next training course you wish to attend or being asked to leave the current course.
We reserve the right, in extreme cases, to exclude people from any or all of our courses for very serious violations of the code of conduct (we envisage that this would only occur where an individual's continued attendance at our courses would interfere with the delivery of each course to the rest of the attendees).
Disputes/appeals
Any disputes or appeals regarding this code of conduct and any sanctions enforced will be dealt with by the Advanced Research Computing training lead.