Community Guidelines

Skillcrush’s mission is to improve the quality of life of all our students–particularly those marginalized by gender, race, and age–through digital empowerment & skills to build higher-earning & more flexible careers. As part of this mission, we are dedicated to providing harassment-free experiences for everyone, regardless of who they are, what they look like, or what they believe. This includes gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, location, or religion.

We have a few ground rules that we ask people to adhere to, which constitute our “Code of Conduct.” This code applies equally to instructors, mentors, career coaches, and students seeking help and guidance.

This is a guide to make it easier to enrich your education at Skillcrush, and to be active and positive participants in the larger technical and professional communities outside of Skillcrush.

Students violating our Code of Conduct will be warned and, if appropriate, expelled from Skillcrush at the discretion of the team.

Who and Where This Applies

This Code of Conduct applies to all correspondence and interactions between Skillcrush, its employees, students, and alumni, including but not limited to the following types of interactions:

Students interacting with Instructors, Mentors, or Career Coaches
Students interacting with other students

Examples of where interactions might occur include email, video calls, webinars, Slack, social media, and in person.

To read our Code of Conduct, please see below.

How We Handle Code of Conduct Violations

This section explains how Skillcrush will handle reported violations, and the consequences of these violations.

Steps We Take to Review Reported Violations

Review any evidence attached to report
If necessary, privately speak with individuals affected by the violation.

Consequences of a Violation

Skillcrush may take any action regarding your access to and/or use of the community, programs, or site as it deems appropriate in connection with a violation of this Code of Conduct, including, but not limited to, removal of your posts or other content, removing you from our community, or removing you from our programs or any or all of our Services without any refunds.

To Report a Violation:

Fill out this form (your identifying information will be kept confidential).

If you have comments or questions about this Code of Conduct please email us at trust@skillcrush.com.

Code of Conduct

Expectations as a Member

We invite all who participate in the Skillcrush Community to help us create safe and positive experiences for everyone. This section covers how you can make this community awesome with your actions!

Be considerate and respectful. Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions.
Impact over Intention. If you are unsure if something is appropriate behavior, it probably isn’t. Each person you interact with can define where that line is for them. Impact matters more than intent. Ensuring that your behavior does not have a negative impact is your responsibility. Problems happen when we assume that our way of thinking or behaving is the norm or ok with everyone.
Make Space, Take Space. Speak up and have your voice heard, but also be cognizant of how much space you’re occupying and take a step back when needed. Let people of different backgrounds tell their stories and experiences. We have a lot to learn from each other!
Value Each Other. Members of this community spend their precious and valuable time to give each other guidance, advice, introductions, etc. If someone does this for you, acknowledge their comments, take time to write back thank you to their messages, and pay it forward when you can.
Be the Community Member You Want Others to Be to You. Help each other! Participate in a supportive and active way. In doing so, you contribute to the health and longevity of this community. Attempt collaboration before conflict. Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech.
Report. Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants. Alert us if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this Code of Conduct, even if they seem inconsequential. You can report a violation at the bottom of this page.

Unwelcome behavior

Here are some examples of inappropriate or unwelcome behavior in the Skillcrush community.

Microaggression. Microaggressions are often brief and communicate hostile and derogatory slights or insults about a person. Offhand comments can be hurtful, feel dismissive, and insult people, even if that wasn’t the intent.
- Examples: “You are good at math for a girl.” or “You sound white when you talk”.
- Better approach: “You’re good at math!”
Subtle Prejudice.
- “This is so easy my Grandma could do it!” This is a great example for a couple reasons:
  - i) It assumes that a Grandma can not be tech savvy or intelligent– which just isn’t true. We know quite a few Grandmas that can kick serious butt in a code editor!
  - ii) Just because something may be easy for you does not necessarily mean that it’s easy for someone else. Everyone is in a different stage of their learning process.
Interrupting. Listen when others are speaking. Interruptions often happen when we assume we know what someone is saying and we interject before they have finished. Sometimes we interrupt when we are afraid we’ll forget something important that we want to say. Be conscious of when you interrupt. If you are worried you might forget what you want to say, write it down, so you can go back to fully paying attention to the person who is speaking.
Inappropriate materials. Displaying any inappropriate images or writing when using any tools associated with the Skillcrush platform, including but not limited to the Slack community or Zoom calls.

Harassment

Definition: harass′ment n. systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group, including threats and demands.

Harassment includes:

Offensive verbal or written comments or solicitation related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, mental illness, body size, neuro(a)typicality, race, ethnicity, or religion
Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment
Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names
Sexual images or unwelcome sexual attention
Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like “*hug*” or “*backrub*”) without consent or after a request to stop
Threats of violence
Incitement of violence towards any individual or group of people, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or engage in self-harm
Deliberate intimidation
Stalking or following
Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes
Sustained disruption of talks or other events
Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others
Continued one-on-one communications after requests to cease
Deliberate “outing” of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect other Skillcrush members or other vulnerable people from intentional abuse
Publication of non-harassing private communication or publication of private or identifying information, otherwise known as doxxing

What we won’t address:

There are certain actions that do not go against our Code of Conduct and therefore will not be addressed, including:

‘Reverse’-isms, including ‘reverse racism’, ‘reverse sexism’, and ‘cisphobia’
Reasonable communication of boundaries, such as “leave me alone”, “go away”, or “I’m not discussing this with you”
Refusal to explain or debate social justice concepts
Communicating in a ‘tone’ you don’t find congenial
Criticizing racist, sexist, cissexist, or otherwise oppressive behavior or assumptions