2021Q3 Reports: PCC Co-Chairs

Membership

The PCC has 32 active members (including the 2 co-chairs). In April 2021, we held an online training session, run by our consultant Anne Grant, and, as a result, welcomed 16 new members. The full list of PCC members can be found at https://www.aclweb.org/adminwiki/index.php?title=Professional_Conduct_Committee

The co-chairs' terms end on 31 December 2022, so we will be looking to recruit our replacements in time for a smooth hand-over.

Communication and Procedures

Based on our experience with the first few cases to come to the PCC, we have developed a template that PCC subcommittees can use to prepare reports to the Co-Chairs and to the Exec.

The PCC co-chairs are also considering updates to the procedures document based on experiences so far. These will be communicated when complete.

Confidentiality

In order for the policy to achieve its long-term goal of providing a harassment-free environment, due process and appropriate safeguards for confidentiality are essential. Accordingly, before each ACL-affiliated conference, we are contacting the organizers as well as ACL and Chapter Exec members who may be approached by individuals wishing to raise a complaint to remind them that if someone comes to them with a complaint, to direct them to a member of the PCC, to not try to collect any detailed information from the Complainant, and to keep any information they do learn (including the existence of the complaint) in the strictest confidence.

Cases

At present, the PCC has only one open case, which should result in a report to the Exec in due course.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Conflicts of interest (CoI's) arise from previous collaborative or personal relationships. ACL's Conflict of Interest policy requires all reviewers, area chairs, and program chairs to determine and disclose potential CoI's in reviewing and decision making, and to not review or participate in the acceptance decision of any paper for which they have a conflict of interest.

We would like to ask the Exec to verify that the COI policy is efficiently implemented for TACL, the CL Journal, and the new rolling review set up. We ask that the Exec inform the PCC when this is complete.

Record Keeping

We have learned that the ACM has established a ‘violations database’ which tracks information about sanctions that is critical in their implementation of their anti-harassment policy. We propose that ACL should ask ACM for details of how they have set this up, to see what we can adopt. Further details: https://sigchi.org/2021/05/the-new-acm-violations-database/

Inter-Society Information Sharing

We think the ACL should consider whether to establish information sharing relationships with ACM (or other societies) and whether or under what circumstances sanctions imposed by another professional society should be mirrored by ACL (with or without further investigation) and whether or under what circumstances ACL should share information about sanctions with other professional societies.