PCC July2019 Statement
July 2019
In light of recent discussion on social media and elsewhere about the role of the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), we would like to clarify to the community what exactly that role is and what we can and cannot do. PCC policies are set up to maintain confidentiality to the extent possible and as such this statement will not address any particular case.
Despite the name (which sounds very general), the PCC was established by the ACL in order to handle complaints raised under the anti-harassment policy. It consists of volunteers who have all received training in mediation, and who are appointed for (renewable) three-year terms. The co-chairs of the committee (also volunteers) serve 5-year terms. The anti-harassment policy specifically concerns activities at ACL venues (“at any ACL conference, associated event, or in ACL-affiliated on-line discussions”) and it specifically concerns harassment. It was put in place to ensure that the events that ACL runs are “harassment-free experience[s] for all the members, as well as participants at our events and in our programs”.
ACL is the primary professional organization in our field and strives to create a welcoming environment, but it does not follow that ACL can or should regulate its members’ activities outside of participation in ACL-sponsored events. The PCC can therefore not resolve private conflicts between members, or act upon legal matters. Any cases pertaining to legal (e.g., threats), institutional (e.g., promotion), or psychological (e.g., anxiety) matters should instead be referred to the appropriate authorities. Furthermore, the PCC has the authority only to determine formal sanctions in response to violations of the anti-harassment policy. (PCC members can, however, offer mediation for situations beyond that, at their discretion.) The ACL does not yet have any similar policies around issues such as falsified data, etc.
Any community member experiencing harassing behavior at an ACL venue (as described above) is invited to bring their concerns to any member of the PCC. The PCC member will work with the community member raising a complaint to understand their experience, after which the community member will indicate what further action they request the PCC to take (where options include no further action, initiating mediation, or initiating formal consideration of sanctions). The consideration of formal sanctions takes place only if the person raising the complaint requests that process to start. The PCC will act to protect the privacy of both Complainants and Respondents, to the extent feasible and reasonable.
The intent of the ACL’s anti-harassment policy is to ensure that the ACL and the field that it represents can benefit from the broadest possible participation. The policy was adopted pro-actively and is still relatively new: it was initially adopted by NAACL in 2014 (in a slightly different form) and by the ACL in 2016, with the PCC established in 2018. 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.