The ASL Code of Conduct was approved by the ASL Council on March 1, 2023. The first two sections of this code should be available on the website of each ASL meeting along with the name of the trusted person.The entire code will be available on the ASL website. ASL sponsored meetings will also be encouraged to adopt this code of conduct.
Welcoming Environment
It is the policy of the ASL that everyone participating in an ASL meeting or other ASL-sponsored activity will enjoy a welcoming, inclusive environment that is free from all forms of discrimination or harassment. The ASL is committed to the promotion of equal treatment for all members and other participants, regardless of race, color, gender, caste, religion, national origin, ethnicity, migrant or indigenous status, socioeconomic status, political beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or any other quality unrelated to the ASL’s scholarly function. Harassment of any kind represents misconduct that undermines the integrity of the ASL. All ASL members and other participants in ASL Meetings are expected to do their part to look out for each other, and to act to ensure that everyone feels welcome. This policy is meant to cover everyone connected with the ASL meeting, including, e.g., staff, exhibitors, accompanying persons, and online participants, as well as on-site participants, invited speakers, and organizers.
See the ASL statements on inclusiveness and diversity, and on women in logic.
Reporting Problem Behavior
All participants at ASL meetings are expected to try to prevent behavior that works against establishing a respectful and welcoming environment for all. However, incidents may occur that require action. At each meeting, there is a designated “trusted person,” who is charged with hearing complaints of discrimination or harassment, and helping to deal with them. The trusted person conveys the complaint to the local organizers and, if appropriate, the ASL officers. The trusted person follows up with the complainant(s) once the organizers (and ASL officers) have decided how to address the problem. The trusted person, and those to whom they report, will act with confidentiality, avoid re-victimization, and respect the principle of not taking actions that go beyond the wishes of the complainant(s).
If you are the target of some form of discrimination or harassment, or if you witness inappropriate behavior directed at someone else, please report to the trusted person, or, if you prefer, to the chair of the local organizing committee. Reports can be about individual incidents or about patterns of behavior, or organizational features that might be working against a welcoming environment. These may occur not only at the (physical) meeting site, but also at online sites, social events related to the meeting, etc.
Procedural Information
For each ASL meeting, the designated trusted person is chosen by the local organizing committee, subject to the approval of the ASL President. The size of the local organizing committee varies. For each meeting, there should be a group of at most four people, chosen from among the the local organizing committee, who will discuss any cases of problem behavior that may occur. Problem behavior is dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Incidents may vary considerably and so will the required measures to deal with them. Some situations may call for the removal of a person from a meeting. Some may be resolved just by a reminder that certain behavior makes others uncomfortable.
When a report of problem behavior is received, either by the trusted person or by the chair of the local organizing committee, the designated group of local organizers discuss the seriousness of the complaint, and possible actions to take. If the contemplated actions are more serious, or if the local organizers need guidance on appropriate actions to take, they bring the ASL officers (President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurers) into the discussion. In any case, the local organizers and the trusted person keep, for the ASL officers, a written record (possibly without names), indicating the nature of each complaint and how it was dealt with.