Discussion Group Rules & Etiquette
Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions, shared files, and content to that 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 ongoing conversations.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact our Member Services team. Technical questions on association management issues should be directed to the Community Manager. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these rules.
The Rules
- Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation, not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may.
- Don't post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other area where others might see it. The All-Member Forum is for discussions and may not be used for marketing/fundraising or lead generation. Contact people directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them. Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
- No job postings are allowed. Please use the CEC Career Center for any job recruitment.
- Members must obtain approval from CEC Headquarters (service@exceptionalchildren.org) at least three weeks in advance before posting any messages inviting CEC members to participate in a research project or survey. As part of this approval process, you will be asked to submit an IRB approval document confirming the study is focused on special education and directed at special educators, a brief description of your study with a link or instructions on how to participate, and the date requested for posting on the Forum. Please note that posts inviting research participation that have NOT been approved will be removed.
- All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything 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.
- Remember that other participants have the right to reproduce postings to this site unless you specify otherwise.
- Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.
- All messages must add to the body of knowledge. CEC reserves the right to reject any message for any reason.
The 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." 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 update 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
This site is provided as a service for the members of The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). CEC is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by CEC or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall CEC 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 CEC and users of this site 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 implicitly 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.
CEC actively monitors the site for inappropriate postings, and reserves the right to undertake editorial control of postings that violate these guidelines. If inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of CEC, we will take all appropriate action.
CEC reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.