About The Firefly Academy
Code of Conduct
01 Introduction
The code of conduct is traditional to advance and protect the founding missions of TFA, to promote the academic and public development of the academy's students and staff in a safe and protected learning environment, and to protect the people, properties and processes that hold up the Academy and its missions. The core foundations of The Firefly Academy are community, teaching and learning, and service. Safeguarding of academic freedom and free and open trade of ideas and opinions for all members of the academy is essential to these missions.
02 Jurisdiction
This code of conduct applies to all registered users, students, faculty, and administrative staff, in relation, but not exclusively pertaining to:
A. Any courses, workshops, independent studies, or other credit and non-credit activities.
B. Any website owned an operated by TFA or its affiliates, including fireflyacademy.org, firefly.mrooms.org, and fireflychronicles.com.
C. Any online or in person activity that is sponsored, conducted, or authorized by TFA or a student organization, including, but not limited to, chats, meetups, and conferences.
02 Confidentiality
A. Unless posted by the user his or herself, personal information is to be kept confidential by all students, faculty, and administrative staff. While it maybe necessary for administrators and faculty to exchange information between these senior parties, in no shape or form should information about any user be shared with other users, unless the information is public or campus knowledge, or unless the users exchanging information have an administrative reason for doing so.
B. Discretion needs to be observed, because not all members of TFA will be out in the open with their beliefs. It is not the place of anyone at this school to decide bring out into the pubic any member who does not wish to be publicly associated with this school, Paganism, Wicca, or other spirituality.
03 Site Ethics
A. All members of this site are expected to be accessing and using the material contained within in a way that abides by all applicable laws.
B. Though not all members of this website are Wiccan or abide by the Wiccan Rede, when logged into the website with an account or as a guest, all members are expected to keep the Wiccan Rede in perspective, "And ye harm none, do what ye wilt."
C. All members of this community are required to respect the beliefs and practices of other members. There is a no-tolerance policy for disregarding this rule.
04 Site and Course Participation
A. All accounts which have not been accessed in 80 days are considered inactive, and may be subject to deletion. It is the user's responsibility to maintain site activity. TFA and its affiliates are not responsible for information and student records lost when an account falls inactive and/or is deleted.
B. When enrolled in a class, all students are expected to complete each class, barring there are no extenuating circumstances. Students are required to inform their instructors of circumstances that do not allow them to participate or log in for an extended amount of time.
C. Students who continually seek enrollment in courses, but do not complete them, are subject to review, and are not guaranteed enrollment.
05 Academic Conduct
Any activity that tends to compromise the academic reliability of the academy, or undermine the educational process is prohibited. Examples of academic misconduct include, but are not limited to:
A. Violation of course rules, if applicable, as contained in the course syllabus.
B. Plagiarism. For more information, see the chapter on plagiarism.
C. Using one course requirement to satisfy a different course's requirement, unless approved by the instructor.
D. Falsification or fabrication of any information, including, but not limited to, research information and personal information, or modification of grades in an effort to gain credit.
E. Unauthorized use of resources, materials, forum posts, or other works posted to the site. For example, the redistribution of the Firefly: Wiccan Advancement textbook is prohibited, unless approved by the administration board.
06 Personal Conduct
Any action that endangers the safety, physical or mental health, or life of any person, or creates a realistic fear of such action, whether intentionally or as a result of carelessness or gross negligence is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limted to:
A. Stalking, or engaging in a pattern of unwanted conduct or communication, including in person, through email, IM, Moodle messaging, on the phone and any other mode of communication or contact.
B. Sexual misconduct, or the unwanted physical and online contact of a sexual nature in the absence of clear, knowing and voluntary permission.
C. Destruction of property, which includes the actual or threatened damage to or destruction of TFA property or property of others, whether done intentionally or with thoughtless disrespect.
D. Deceitful conduct, including, but not limited to, knowingly reporting a fake emergency; knowingly making false accusation of misbehavior; misuse or falsification of TFA papers by actions such as forgery, modification, plagarism, or improper transfer; submission to a TFA administrator of information known by the submitter to be false.
E. Unauthorized use, which is the unauthorized entry to or presence in or on TFA sites.
F. Disorderly or disruptive conduct, or conduct that interferes with the quality of any TFA activity or community.
G. The use, manufacture, delivery, sale, or possession of drugs in a manner prohibited under U.S. and the user's local law.
H. Use, manufacture, delivery, sale, or possession of alcohol in a manner prohibited under U.S. law, the user's local law, and TFA policy.
I. Though the TFA community encourages the sharing of resources and person connection of users, no user is permitted to organize or plan activities on TFA sites/property or with TFA members without the prior written consent of a TFA administrator.
07 Conflict Resolution
We would like as much as possible to be a support community. All members will strive to resolve conflict either through individual or administrative intervention. Should a formal complaint be filed, the administration board will take the following steps to resolve the conflict:
A. A written warning will be issued by the Assistant Dean.
B. If the conduct continues, a chat room hearing will be held with no less than three members of the administration board present. The parties in question will be invited to this hearing, and because a resolution is better reached when all parties are in attendence, attendence is expected. In the case that a user cannot make the hearing, a written statement can be submitted for inclusion in the proceedings. Depending on the nature of the offense, a resolution should be reached, which could take the form of another warning, a suspension, or dissmissal.
C. Any user has the right to appeal the resolution. A written appeal must be submitted to the Assistant Dean within five (5) business days of the hearing. The decision of the Assistant Dean in regards to the appeal is final. Grounds for appeal include procedural error, the introductin of new evidence or facts, a resolution not supported by the evidence of facts, dispute that the resolution does not fit the misconduct. The Assistant Dean can dismiss an appeal if it does not meet the approporiate grounds.
D. Dismissal from TFA may occur if a user's continued presence poses a significant risk of considerable harm to the health or safety of themselves, others, or to property. If a user should be dismissed from TFA, this includes all sites, premises, resources, and activities, online and in person. Should a user attempt to gain access or participation, this person will be considered trespassing.
E. The Administration Board reserves the right to bypass the hearing process should a situation prove an immediate threat to TFA safety and security.
08 Authority
The bylaws of the TFA adminitstration board and rules of the TFA faculty provide that the Dean shall have the final responsibility and authority for the discipline of all students of the school. This responsibility and authority has been delegated by the Dean to the Assistant Dean, whose office is also charged with responsibility for circulation of rules governing student conduct.
The Firefly Academy code of student conduct is an official publication of The Firefly Academy administration board. All petitions for modification and adjustment of this code of student conduct should be submitted through the office of the Asst. Dean. No proposed review shall become effective unless approved by the administration board and until printed notice of such revisions is made available to all users.
Iris Firemoon, Dean
July 7, 2008
The Firefly Academy (TFA)
