Conflict Resolution Guidelines

The Open Science Student Support Group (OSSSG) is an inclusive space for students from various backgrounds where they can discuss their opinions, ideas, and project(s) concerning implementing open science practices. As a result, we support each other in our respective initiatives and value upholding diverse perspectives within our group.

The short version of the OSSSG Conflict Resolution guidelines (CRG) is that we are committed to hearing and addressing concerns from our visitors, members, contributors and/or organizers. We are also devoted to ensuring that conflicts are dealt with in a timely, fair, and satisfactory manner for the parties involved.

In this document you will find information concerning:

1. When the Community Guidelines and the CRG should apply
2. How you can give feedback on the CRG
3. How to report an issue or conflict in the OSSSG
4. What happens when an issue has been reported
5. The Conflict Resolution Report and Response Process
6. Initial Response
7. Issue Summary
8. Conflicts of Interest
9. Appropriate Responses
10. Confidentiality
11. Attribution

When do the Community Guidelines and CRG apply?

The Community Guidelines and the CRG govern the interactions between OSSSG visitors, members, contributors, and organizers, that are situated within the OSSSG space. These guidelines apply to these groups when they interact during our bi-weekly sessions as well as during OSSSG workshops, planning/collaboration meetings, organizer huddles and social events.

The Community Guidelines and the CRG also govern interactions and issues that may arise within the OSSSG digital workspaces (e.g. the OSSSG slack workspace, GitHub, and collaborative documents, such as Google Docs and OneDrive).

The CRG document takes effect if OSSSG visitors, members, contributors and organizers have violated the community guidelines, and the issue has been reported to the Feedback and Community committee (if they are not already aware).

Giving feedback on the OSSSG Conflict Resolution Document

The CRG is a collaborative document between the OSSSG Feedback and Community initiative and other parties who interact with this space, thus we welcome amendments and feedback. We acknowledge that there may be certain areas that are not sufficiently addressed in these guidelines. Thus, we invite you to make suggestions for updates or clarifications via this link to the google doc version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15kKr1PGD9Ot7AHllYgQmCEX7bw9uYw4Z/view?usp=sharing

How to report an issue or conflict related to the OSSSG

The Conflict Resolution (CR) response team includes:

1. Chelsea Moran – chelsea.moran1@ucalgary.ca – slack: @Chelsea Moran
2. Jenelle A. Morgan – jenelle.morgan@ucalgary.ca – slack: @Jenelle Morgan
3. Gwen van der Wijk – gwen.vanderwijk@ucalgary.ca – slack: @Gwen

Please contact any one of us if you are experiencing any issues that are related to a specific or general concern within the OSSSG. We can be contacted via email or on Slack.

What would happen when you have reported an issue?

All reports submitted will be heard/read and thoroughly reviewed by the CR team. At least two reviewers from the Feedback and Community committee will be involved in the process to ensure transparency and accountability. However, it is important to note that our team is equipped to address concerns that can be rectified with either providing apologies, requiring minor changes in one’sbehaviours, suspending and/or expelling the violating party from OSSSG. More grievous complaints will involve referrals to the relevant entities on campus that are more equipped to thoroughly address those issues.

If there is uncertainty regarding whether the report is in OSSSG jurisdiction, we encourage you to still relay those concerns to our team. We will not hold any negative perceptions of you if your report is deemed to have been founded outside the OSSSG or if your report would benefit from input from external parties. Therefore, do not hesitate to approach us with those concerns, whatever they may be.

The Report and Response Process

We will adhere to being compassionate and respectful throughout the process detailed below.

The Initial Response

If you have reported the issue via email, there will be a confirmation of receipt promptly sent to you, and further directions provided.

Please note that if you are no longer comfortable proceeding with your complaint, you may also withdraw your report and your participation at any stage of this process.

The Issue Summary

If reporting the issue by email, please include:

• A description of the incident (if there are any issues that may be difficult to discuss within the complaint, you can either choose to share that issue in less detail, omit from the discussion completely or share face-to-face).
• The individual(s) involved (if you are not comfortable disclosing that detail, you could comment on general/specific attributes that OSSSG should improve) and/or any witness(es) to the incident(s) present (if comfortable disclosing).
• A brief description of when and where the issue occurred and if it is still ongoing.
• The kind of resolution, support, or information that you are seeking.
• Whether you believe there are any members of the CR team that might be in conflict if they are assigned to revise your complaint.

If reporting an issue face-to-face, the CR members assigned will seek your permission to write a brief issue summary that includes the information listed above. You may withdraw consent for having this information recorded.

The purpose of the issue summary is to ensure consistency and transparency in the way in which information is gathered. It also safeguards against experiences being understood inaccurately therefore minimizing the burden of retelling your account. You can also revise the issue summary made on your behalf, and either approve, or clarify certain details where necessary.

If new details have arisen during this process, the issue summary will be updated accordingly. However, drafting an issue summary is not required for you to access guidance, information, referrals, or support from OSSSG.

After the issue has been resolved in a satisfactory manner for parties involved, there will be a follow-up to ensure that the issue has not resurfaced; if it has resurfaced, then collaboration will resume to ensure that it is permanently resolved.

Conflicts of Interest

If the issue, complaint, or concern involves a member of the OSSSG CR team, that person will not be recommended to address your issue. They will also not be able to access the documentation related to your situation.

Appropriate Responses

Depending on the nature of the issue, the CR team will propose a course of action to the person(s) who made the report. Then we will collaborate with the individual(s) involved to ensure that it is an appropriate response before acting.

An appropriate response is one which:

• Seeks to ensure and respect the autonomy, experience, safety, dignity and security of all OSSSG participants.
• Aims to provide a resolution that is meaningful and fair to all participants affected.
• Encourages accountability, responsibility, cooperation, honesty and personal growth on the part of all participants affected.
• Is context-specific, therefore does not apply the "cookie-cutter method".
• Reflects and improves the inclusiveness of the OSSSG.

Examples of responses that could be appropriate, depending on the context and nature of the issue may include: (please note that this list is not exhaustive):

• Referral to the relevant external entity that would be equipped to address more grievous concerns (for example: https://www.ucalgary.ca/student-services/student-conduct/report-misconduct)
• A moderated conversation between the parties involved by members of the OSSSG committees, to define specific concerns and outline proposed solutions (may also be mediated by external advisors).
• A request for a verbal or written apology, public or private, from an OSSSG participant.
• OSSSG-wide policy changes to avoid repeating harmful incidents.
• An agreement that two or more individuals be kept separate for the duration of OSSSG.
• The temporary or permanent removal of an OSSSG participant from OSSSG physical and digital spaces and from future events.
• Nothing, if the issue reported is not a violation or is outside of the scope of this Code of Conduct and/or the jurisdiction of OSSSG. If outside our jurisdiction, we will also attempt to refer the parties to the applicable governing body (such as the Student Conduct Office).

Confidentiality

• The information shared with the CR team will remain within the OSSSG organizing committee. Therefore, it will not be shared with anyone outside of this domain, unless the response process calls for that. The individual(s) involved will be notified and will have the opportunity to consent or reject having details about this case publicized in this manner.
• With that said, if the nature of the information shared by the individual(s) potentially places other OSSSG visitors, members, contributors, and organizers at serious risk, we will not withhold that information.

Attribution

The CRG is adapted (lightly) from the Neurohackademy Code of Conduct. It was also adapted (lightly) from the Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group Code of Conduct which was itself heavily adapted from the Citizen Lab Summer Institute 2017 Code of Conduct and used under a CC BY 2.5 CA license.

Parts of this Code are based onthe xvzf Code of Conduct,the Contributor Covenant,the Django Code of Conduct and Reporting Guide andguidance from Ada Initiative.

This Code of Conduct is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0 CA) license which means you are free to share and adapt the work so long as the attribution to Kirstie Whitaker and the Open Science Student Support organizing committee is retained, along with the attribution to the Alan Turing Institute Data Study Group organizing team, Neurohackedmy, Citizen Lab and the other resources.