Rules, Etiquette And Code of Conduct
Golden Rule Haiku
Learn. Share. Try. Be kind.
Support all. Be generous.
Be here with purpose.
(courtesy of MatchBox Virtual)
Thanks for being part of ACTFL Central. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using these communities, you agree that you have read and will follow the rules and guidelines set for these peer discussion groups. You also agree to reserve list discussions for topics best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions about the community should be directed to our Membership department.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the member services department. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, ACTFL reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership on all lists for members who violate these rules.
The Rules
- Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions on the lists are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Personal attacks will not be tolerated and those posting personal attacks will be banned from ACTFL Central.
- Posts such as information about upcoming meetings (particularly ones with registration costs), call for proposals, continuing education, or programs are allowed, but must be posted within the Educator Resources Community. Posts outside this community will be deleted and moved.
- Commercial posts (discussions or emailed) are not allowed - if you are interested in advertising your product to ACTFL members, please consult our Exhibits Manager for pricing information. ACTFL Central is first and foremost a space for educators to ask questions, collaborate, and engage. It is NOT meant to be a method to promote paid services, products, or events.
- Commercial posts include promoting paid-access products, solicitations (such as requesting donations), and mass private messaging about your product/service
- Please note, we do allow for promotion of meetings or events that would be of interest and relevance to users through the Educator Resources Community. Additional posts are subject to removal. We do ask that you do not spam multiple communities to promote the same meeting or event.
- Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists is available for members to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
- All harassment, intimidation, threatening speech, or discrimination in any form, including (but not limited to) relating to race, gender, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, disability, body size, marital status, age, sexual orientation, inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images, or any other protected category. are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything in a community message that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
- Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted to the list. Do not share materials that contain copyrighted material or content.
- Remember that ACTFL Central and other participants have the right to reproduce postings to this community.
- Send your message only to the most appropriate list(s). Do not spam several lists with the same message, repeat posters are subject to moderation without notification and will have posts reviewed for appropriateness before approval.
- All messages must add to the body of knowledge.
- ACTFL Central is a place for users to share knowledge, resources, and best practices. Unrelated posts that do not add to the body of knowledge are subject to deletion.
- ACTFL reserves the right to reject or delete any message for any reason without notifying the poster.
- Duplicate posts in the same community will be deleted.
- The member directory is not to be used for mass messaging or commercial messages. If you are sent a message that seems to be a mass message or commercial post, please forward it to the Community Manager - akwak@actfl.org
- Job postings of any type are not permitted. All job postings must be placed through ACTFL Job Central. All job postings will be deleted. Users posting repeated job postings will be banned from the Community.
Community Etiquette
- Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location.
- State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
- Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting.
- Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
- Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals--not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
- Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the list, through the community. Instead, use the Web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings.
- Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message."
The Legal Stuff
These communities are provided as a service of ACTFL for collaboration amongst ACTFL members and peers. ACTFL is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. ACTFL disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by ACTFL or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall ACTFL be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants ACTFL and users of this list the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
ACTFL reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.