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Policies and Procedures for the Cisco academy for the Vision Impaired (CAVI).

Introduction

As an entity consisting of Students, volunteers, paid staff and other 3rd party contributors it is important that CAVI acts in a fair, transparent and efficient manner towards all who may be involved with it.

The following policies (based loosely in part on those utilized by the Association for the Blind of Western Australia) are designed to describe the roles, rights and responsibilities of all involved with CAVI.

CAVI is a professional organization which endeavors to provide high quality training to vision impaired people worldwide. To this end it is important that all who are involved with CAVI behave in a professional manner. The below points attempt to clarify and define this behavior. All members of CAVI are highly valued and their contributions either paid or voluntary to the organization are appreciated and valued equally. All members shall treat all other members with respect, dignity, understanding and tolerance wherever possible to facilitate the smooth running of the Academy.

Relationships between CAVI contributors:

The relationship between CAVI contributors is a professional one. Personal relationships outside of CAVI, if conducted, must be done in such a way that no perceived or real conflicts of interest arise as a result of these friendships as they relate to CAVI.

External relationships may also result in an increased propensity for overstepping confidentiality agreements so care must be taken that professionalism is not impacted.

Actions that breech these policies will be investigated, and disciplinary action will be taken, and in extreme cases expulsion from CAVI may result. Such investigations will be conducted in as fare manner as can be arranged with the intent of protecting all parties to the maximum extent possible without negatively affecting CAVI itself.

Where operational issues arise members should co-operate to the maximum extent possible to insure a speedy resolution of problems for the improvement of the Academy.

Complaints policy:

If any member has a complaint regarding either another member of CAVI or the operation of the organization they have a right to raise a complaint.

Complaints must be registered with the appropriate member of CAVI staff within three months of when an incident occurred.

If the complaint relates to another person involved with CAVI, the complainant should attempt to resolve the issue directly with the person concerned, unless this is not possible due to emotional psychological or operational reasons. In this case, the CAVI Program Director should be notified (or if the complaint relates to said director, to the Association for the Blind training director).

If the complaint relates to a 3rd party outside CAVI which is involved with CAVI then the complaint should be raised with an instructor, if this is not possible then the complaint should be heard by the CAVI Program Director. When a complaint is raised, the party to which the complaint has been lodged against should be notified as soon as possible and instructed whether or not contact with the complainant is advisable or desirable.

Both parties should be notified of the outcome of these negotiations. Unless the complaint is deemed by management to be of an extremely serious nature or which may impact on other members of CAVI, lines of communication between CAVI members should not be closed. This includes use of the blocking facilities in instant messengers or other programs. In the case of blocking being sanctioned, the offender must be informed that they are not to attempt contact with the complainant until the issue is satisfactorily resolved by all parties. If contact is established by the complainant and the result of such contact is against the wishes of the complainant disciplinary action may be taken.

Inappropriate behavior towards CAVI participants:

Inappropriate behavior infringes on the health, wellbeing and dignity of the participant and might include, bullying, teasing, verbal or sexual abuse and cruelty.

Any inappropriate behavior of CAVI staff, Volunteers or students towards other CAVI participants will not be tolerated and may result in dismissal or expulsion from the CAVI community and courses.

Anyone who witnesses an act of this nature should report it immediately to an appropriate person as listed above.

CAVI will investigate any concern or allegation of inappropriate behavior as soon as possible and will strive to be fair and objective in its handling of the investigation. CAVI aims to conduct investigations and resolve allegations at the most appropriate level and with consideration to:

i) the vulnerability and rights of Clients
ii) the law and community standards
iii) confidentiality for the complainant, Client and alleged person responsible (notwithstanding Duty of Care, which might override confidentiality if it becomes necessary to protect an alleged victim from further harm)
iv) protection of the rights of the complainant, Client and alleged perpetrator
v) providing information on how to resolve a complaint/allegation
vi) providing clear avenues for referral
vii) providing for the engagement of an independent arbitrator / investigator where appropriate
viii) referring the incident to an external organisation as appropriate.

Every effort will be made to conduct investigations that are sensitive, fair, thorough and as confidential as possible.

Documentation relevant to the investigation will be kept by management securely and will not be disclosed unless there is a legal requirement to do so.

Confidentiality policy:

Information that is deemed or may be considered confidential shall be treated with respect and dignity by all members of CAVI.

Such information will not be disclosed to any other person unless there is a legal or operational reason sanctioned by management to do so. Any queries on confidentiality may be referred to the CAVI Program Director.

Lectures and other CAVI Presentations

CAVI offers a flexible learning format that is somewhat less formal than a typical college environment. Any student past or present in good standing as well as any staff may attend any lecture or presentation as long as they are not disruptive. Disruptive behavior will receive a warning and if the disruption continues they will be muted and/or chat may be disabled for the duration of the presentation.

Headsets

Each student must be wearing a headset while at CAVI events. This eliminates audio loopback, which can be a serious issue for students with problems hearing or those with audio processing disorder. This rule is strictly enforced.

Mobile Devices

Check out these guidelines on the use of mobile devices to attend lectures.

Lab Assessments

To ensure both consistent grading (through peer review) and to record laboratory submission/student feedback, all marked labs will be sent to the global instructors email address along with pass/fail notifications.

Curriculum Distribution

If Cisco has provided accessible curriculums in any format, these curriculums should be used at all times. in the case a student is genuinely unable to access a curriculum in a particular format and an instructor wishes to provide alternate materials they must receive permission from Iain Murray.

Payment of Course Fees

Full term courses have a two week trial period during which students can attend the course without payment. After the trial however, course fees must be paid, either the up front cost or the first payment of the payment plan. Short courses do not have a trial period. Payment is due up front for these courses. A student will not be added to the class list for a given short course until either payment has been received, or the student has reached an understanding with the course instructor/s as to when payment will be made.

Acceptance

By emailing a copy of this document to the CAVI instructors list, you are accepting the Code of Conduct and conditions of involvement in the CAVI community and courses and will comply to the best of your ability to these rules.