This Code of Conduct is a community agreement between participants in the KNZ LTER program. It applies to all individuals participating in physical and virtual environments associated with the KNZ LTER program. The goal of the Code of Conduct is to expand our consideration of scientific misconduct (e.g. data fabrication, plagiarism) to include the mistreatment of people. The intent of this community agreement, and associated community-enforced warning system, is to protect all individuals by correcting unintentionally harmful behavior. If harmful behavior persists after the offender is conscious of its effect, then the violation is more severe, and more likely to require reporting to higher authorities.
● Expected behavior:
○ Treat all people with respect and consideration
○ Foster a collaborative, equitable research environment
○ Value the diversity of views and opinions in our research program
○ No harassing or discriminatory remarks or actions
● Unacceptable behavior:
○ Harassment, abuse, stalking, or threats in-person or virtually
○ Unwelcome physical contact
○ Discriminatory behavior related to race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or physical appearance
○ Abuse of power dynamics
○ Conduct that prevents another person from exercising their freedom of expression, as long as this expression does not violate this Code of Conduct
○ This is not a comprehensive list of unacceptable behaviors
● To report a concern, contact the person you feel most comfortable with from the list below:
○ To anonymously report something please fill in this Google Form. The report will be routed by a KNZ-external KSU staff member (Dr. Eve McCulloch) to the requested ombudsperson.
Konza LTER - Reporting Code of Conduct Violation
○ The PI from your research group
○ KNZ LTER ombudspeople* (1 student, 2 KSU faculty/staff, 2 non-KSU faculty/staff)
■ Students: Katy Silber (240-205-9843)
■ KSU affiliates: Lydia Zeglin (505-280-2254), and Jeff Taylor (785-640-0934)
■ Non-KSU affiliates: Meghan Avolio (917-239-6709) and Kevin Wilcox (425-446-1747)
○ Kansas State University Office of Institutional Equity*
*The ombudspeople's responsibility is to
1) hear and respect any individual's concerns about code of conduct violations, take action to remind the offender of their social contract with the Konza LTER community, and follow up with the targeted individual to be sure the concern has been resolved.
2) judge whether the violation rises to the institutional definition of Discrimination, Harassment, or Sexual Harassment requiring reporting to KSU (*IF incident happened onsite at Konza) or other legal authorities, and if so act to support the victim's reporting efforts, and to protect the victim's privacy within the Konza LTER community during subsequent investigation.
Further safety resources for individual laboratory groups to consider when planning travel and undertaking research activities can be found here: Steps to protect BIPOC scholars in the field | Bystander Intervention Resources | Konza LTER and LTER Network Office Diversity Resources.
This document was compiled by the KNZ LTER DEI Committee, and will be revised annually to ensure it remains effective for maintaining a safe and inclusive research environment for all people working with the KNZ LTER program. To contribute feedback, which will be shared with and considered by the committee for iterative revisions, please contact the committee chair (currently (2022) Lydia Zeglin) or any ombudsperson.
LINKS
Harassment requiring reporting to KSU |
(*IF incident happened onsite at Konza) |
Further safety resources for individual laboratory groups to consider when planning travel and undertaking research activities can be found here:
Ten steps to protect BIPOC scholars in the field |
Bystander Intervention Resources |
Code and more: ADVANCEGeo Resources |
Konza LTER Diversity Resources |
LTER Network Office Diversity Resources |
- Updated on 01 Dec 2022