Community Rules

The BioInteractive Online Community is a professional community for life science educators to network, share resources, discuss teaching practices, and more. BioInteractive is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive Online Community that welcomes, supports, and encourages open discussion among educators of all identities and backgrounds. This requires an environment free of discrimination, harassment, bullying, and intimidation, and these behaviors will not be tolerated in the Online Community. We expect community members to be respectful and professional and behave with integrity. Members must adhere to the rules below when participating in or contributing to the Online Community. BioInteractive will update these guidelines as necessary and will notify community members when the guidelines are updated.

The comments and opinions expressed in the Online Community group discussions and the content in the Educator Resource Library are not attributed to, vetted or endorsed by, and do not necessarily represent the views of HHMI. Community groups are actively moderated, and HHMI reserves the right to remove and block group members who do not comply with the guidelines outlined below.

Community Member Behavior

In order to maintain an inclusive and supportive space where science educators can engage in conversations that contribute to professional learning and growth, we expect community members to behave according to the following guidelines.

1. Be Respectful: Treat other community members with dignity and respect in all interactions, including when opinions and experiences diverge. 
2. Focus on Learning: Maintain a curious approach by asking questions and seeking to understand.
3. No Discrimination or Harassment: Contribute to an environment free of discrimination or harassment based on any protected characteristic (described below) and free of intimidation or bullying in any form. Hurtful or offensive behaviors, such as those described below, even if intended as “humor,” are not permitted.
   • HHMI policies prohibit discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, marital status, genetic information, genetic status or characteristics, military or veteran status, or on any basis protected by an applicable law (a “protected characteristic”).
   • Examples of harassment include, but are not limited to: epithets, derogatory statements, slurs, comments or jokes related to a protected characteristic, unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, posting or displaying inappropriate images, sending messages that are inappropriate, leering, or making sexual gestures.
4. We encourage you to feel empowered to invite others to contribute, uplift other community members’ ideas, and keep conversations on topic.

Community Content 

Community members must adhere to the following guidelines when contributing content to the Online Community via groups, direct messaging, and the Educator Resource Library.

1. Keep It Professional: Only contribute content that is appropriate for a professional setting.
2. Credit Your Sources: When sharing content that is not your own work, credit the original author(s). Community members must have appropriate permissions before sharing materials created by others. Plagiarism and/or taking credit for others’ work will not be tolerated.
3. No Prohibited Content: Sharing the following types of content is prohibited and will result in removal of the content, and possibly up to removal of the member who shared it, from the Online Community:
   • Copyrighted material that you do not have the rights to distribute. 
   • Advertising and solicitation for commercial, for-profit, or other fee-based products, events, courses, and/or professional development. Examples include, but are not limited to, Teachers Pay Teachers and textbooks. 
   • You may share your own personal experiences about commercial, for-profit, and other fee-based products or professional development under the following conditions: 
     • You can speak authentically about your experience using the product or participating in the professional development.
     • You do not receive monetary or in-kind compensation from the source company or organization.
     • You are transparent about any conflicts of interest.
     • You receive approval from a moderator if posting in a group discussion.
   • Personally identifiable information about others, including anything that reveals a student’s identity.
   • Materials containing spyware, computer viruses, Trojan horses, computer “worms”, keystroke loggers, rootkits, or other malicious computer software. 
   • Spam or similar messages sent indiscriminately to other users via discussion posts and direct messaging.
   • Material that is defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal. 
   • Any other content that HHMI deems inappropriate in its discretion.

Other Community Requirements 

1. Report Infractions: Report any potentially inappropriate behavior or content you observe. 
2. Comply with Requests: We expect community members to immediately comply with requests to stop behavior that is not consistent with these guidelines. Members who do not comply will face consequences, possibly including being removed from the Online Community.
3. Comply with Terms: In addition to the requirements above, all community members are required to comply with the  HHMI BioInteractive Online Community Terms of Use, HHMI Terms of Use, and HHMI Privacy Policy & Cookie Notice (collectively, the “Applicable Terms”). In the event of any conflict between these Online Community Rules and the Applicable Terms, the Applicable Terms shall govern and control.