News » Draft of Code of Conduct / Member Grievance Process

Access Tucson is revising the current Code of Conduct and Member Grievance Process. A draft document of the revisions is available at the front desk and on the web at: http://accesstucson.org/download/coc_draft.pdf

If you would like to comment, please provide written feedback using this form by Monday, April 24.

Please indicate on the feedback form whether you would like to be contacted by a Board Affairs Committee member for a follow-up conversation.

Q and A

Why is Access Tucson revising these procedures?

In 2005 the Access Tucson Member Relations Committee, after working to resolve a Code of Conduct violation, recommended that Access Tucson, its staff and members would benefit from revising and clarifying the existing Code of Conduct, Disciplinary Process and Member Grievance Procedure.

What is the process being used to revise these procedures?

The Access Tucson Board of Directors (BOD) directed the Board Affairs Committee (BAC) to undertake a review and revision. The BAC began by analyzing Access Tucson’s current procedures, comparing them with policies from three government agencies and four public access centers. The BAC used that analysis to produce the current DRAFT revisions. Feedback to the revisions is now being sought from Access Tucson members, staff and Board of Directors. The BAC will evaluate the feedback it receives and bring forth a revised draft to the BOD for discussion and action.

What are the important changes that underlay revisions to the Code of Conduct?

The most significant change to the existing general Code of Conduct (COC) is to concentrate on identifying and preventing actions, behaviors and language that could harm individuals, damage equipment and / or create an environment in which members and staff can not produce programming or do their work.

As part of this, the list of “prohibited behavior” in Access Tucson’s current general COC has been clarified and streamlined; in addition, separate Code of Conduct(s) have been created for members and staff. The overall goal is to create a general environment in which fewer violations occur.

What are the important changes that underlay revisions to the Disciplinary Process – that is, how Access Tucson responds to Code of Conduct violations by members?

There are two major changes to the current Disciplinary Process. The first is to revise the current “three strikes” policy, in which a member may violate the COC twice before a third violation brings an automatic suspension.

In the proposed changes, any violation of the COC requires a member to meet with the Deputy Director to discuss the situation; depending on the nature of the violation the Deputy Director may find no violation occurred, issue a warning, or choose to suspend membership privileges.

The second change to the current Disciplinary Process involves how a member may appeal a disciplinary finding that results from a COC violation. The current process requires a member to appeal first to the Executive Director; if the member remains dissatisfied he/she may appeal the Executive Director’s finding to the Access Tucson BOD.

In the proposed changes, if a member chooses to appeal any disciplinary finding by the Deputy Director, a hearing board (consisting of an Access Tucson member, staff person and BOD member) would be convened to hear the case and make a recommendation to the Executive Director. The Executive Director’s decision would then be final.

What are the important changes that underlay revisions to the Member Grievance Process – that is, how an Access Tucson member who has a dispute or a grievance can find a solution to the problem?

The major change to the current Member Grievance Process (MGP) affects how appeals are addressed. Under the current process, if a member is unsatisfied with the steps Access Tucson has taken to resolve the problem, he/she appeals first to the Executive Director for further action. If the member remains dissatisfied he/she may appeal the Executive Director’s finding to the BOD.

Under the proposed change, if a member remains dissatisfied with the steps Access Tucson has taken to resolve the problem, he/she would appeal to the Executive Director, whose decision would then be final.