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1 Behavior Standards

Team behavior is subject to all local, state, federal, and campus regulations with regard to bullying, harassment, discrimination, hazing, or other behavior that creates an unsafe or hostile team environment. These include actions at school, during team meetings, or in online forums used by team members regardless of whether they are team-sanctioned communication platforms or not. In addition, team members are subject to the following team-specific expectations:

1.1 Everywhere

When you wear the team logo, you are representing our team, our schools, our community, our sponsors, and yourself wherever you are. You should treat others with respect and kindness. Additionally, your behavior impacts everyone that you represent. At competition, what you say to another team member and how you say it may be overheard by a judge, potential sponsor, or member of another team. Any invited guests must understand this and behave accordingly. All your actions as a team member reflect directly on 190’s team image.

1.2 During Team Meetings

Team members should not use their phones at team meetings or functions unless it is necessary for the work they are doing or for communication with family members. Unacceptable behavior includes but is not limited to: playing games, using personal social media, or other distracting and unproductive tasks. Students who continue to exhibit unacceptable behaviors during a team meeting may be marked unproductive. You are expected to respect others at all times and should follow the Golden Rule—treat others how you want to be treated—to help sustain our professional and respectful working environment. You are expected to take initiative during team meetings. If you have nothing to do, you should be seeking out tasks from their peers and leaders or mentors on the team.

1.3 Online

When representing our team online, please remember Gracious Professionalism. Just like at competition or in public, you are representing our team, and must remember to be humble, professional, and considerate.

1.4 Student-Mentor Ratio Requirement

The mentor & student dynamic is critical to the team success and it is also critical that we protect the safety and wellbeing of both our students and mentors. Consistent with the policies of youth protection programs, the following are the guidelines for mentors & students working together.

  • When students and mentors are grouped together, either physically or virtually, the group size must always be a minimum of three (2 students & 1 mentor or 1 student & 2 mentors), and more is preferred. At meetings, the entire team is expected to work in large common workspaces.
  • All digital communication must follow the student-mentor ratio. Ideally, all communication happens in Slack public channels or in-person conversation in the team space. When a mentor or student wants to have digital communication with a limited set of people, there must be enough people in the chat to meet the student-mentor ratio, even if those people are not involved in the chat.
    • If a student DMs a mentor or a mentor DMs a student, do not respond. You may tag a team leader into the conversation so it may proceed, answer the question in a public channel, or report it to a team leader to address.
  • Team Leaders are the only one allowed to be alone with a student when necessary, although all reasonable efforts will be made to prevent this.
  • At public spaces when others are closeby (competitions, outreach events, attractions, hotel lobbies, restaurants, etc.), it is acceptable to momentarily (less than a few minutes) have a mentor & student together without other team members nearby, because other students and adults are nearby.

Here are some examples that are okay:

  • Mentor & Student walking the pits together looking at robots
  • Mentor & Student working together in another team’s pit
  • Mentor & Student at the practice field
  • Mentor & Student, during an outreach event, alone in the demo area of a museum/event while another team member goes to the restroom
  • Mentor & Student with the Student’s parent present

Use your common sense! If you aren’t sure, do not do it.

1.5 At Competition

  • Plan to attend for the duration of the competition and stay with the team until the competition is over, and, in the case of competitions that require travel, we return to WPI. You are not allowed to leave competition early or to attend other events with family or friends while on the varsity team without explicit, advanced permission.
  • Always be respectful to other teams, event volunteers, and parents.
  • Stay with the group. If you need to go anywhere, let the Team Leaders know and find a reasonable time to do so. If you are needed and you are not present, it will reflect poorly on you.
    • If at any time you must go out of the venue or hotel:
      • High School Students must have at least two other high school students present with them, no matter how many mentors will be present. This supersedes the student-mentor ratio requirement in 4.2.4.
      • You must request and receive written permission (via Slack) from a team leader to do so. Your request must include specifics on where you are going, why, with whom, and when you will return.
      • If at any point less that three students are being left at any given location, it must be clear to them they cannot go anywhere off-site now.
      • Exception to this is when you are with a designated Team Leader/Mentor.
  • Stay on task and fulfill your role on the Varsity team. Making friends with folks from other teams is highly encouraged, but when you are scouting or performing other Varsity team tasks during competition, refrain from excessive socialization with 190 members and other teams.
  • Follow the Dress Code outlined in Section 2 under Attendance and Behavior.

1.6 Incident Report Form

Mentors may fill out incident report forms for behaviors during team meetings, competitions, or other team events where students have violated team policies, including excessive phone use, being unproductive, or otherwise being disruptive. These incident report forms will be reviewed by Core Leadership and will be taken into consideration when evaluating varsity team or selecting students for leadership positions, and may be the basis for removal from the team if the behaviors are consistently repeated. If student team members observe violations of team policies, they should bring it to the attention of a mentor. Any more serious incidents related to bullying, harassment, discrimination, or other behavior that creates an unsafe or hostile team environment should be directly reported to a team leader or trusted mentor.

The incident report for is located here: https://forms.gle/cw39kvLTgjUMpBoJA

1.7 PDA Policy

All members and mentors of 190 are expected to maintain professional behavior, both in public and at team meetings. All relationships on the team must remain professional, especially with any potential for public displays of affection (PDAs). PDAs are acts of romantic physical intimacy visible to others, not to be confused with platonic acts of friendship. Robotics meetings and events are places for people to work and be focused, and PDAs can be distracting not only to those involved but also to those who witness it. If engaging in a PDA, team members create an unprofessional image and an impaired working environment for the team, whether during a team meeting, competition, or other event. Therefore, all forms of PDA are considered inappropriate and are prohibited at any team event. If you are in a relationship with another member on the team, do not let it interfere with robotics.

Unacceptable PDA includes but is not limited to:

  • Intimate touching
  • Hand holding
  • Caressing/stroking/fondling
  • Kissing
  • Cuddling
  • Sitting in another person’s lap
  • Rubbing or massaging
  • Hugging in a romantic manner

We expect mentors to apply these guidelines to themselves with the maturity of an adult mentor.

Additionally, student and mentor relationships must always remain strictly platonic and professional. See FIRST’s Youth Protection Policy for more detail.

Failure of a student to adhere to this code will result in initial warnings from the captains, and possibly involvement from mentors. If an inappropriate situation arises in which Core Leadership feels it is necessary to intervene in the moment, they will do so.

1.8 Consequences

Violations of any of the above team expectations will be addressed through a progressive disciplinary review based on the seriousness of the behavior, recognized effort by the team member to rectify the behavior, and any repeated violations.

1.8.1 Initial Violation

Based on evidence and reports presented to Core Leadership, as well as interviews with the victim of the behavior, a meeting will be held between Core Leadership and the team member to discuss the behavior and specifically how it violates team or other standards of behavior. Core Leadership and the team member will develop an approach to address the issue. For issues of bullying and harassment, a reconciliation meeting or mediation may be scheduled with the subject of the violation, if appropriate.

1.8.2 Second Violation

If the behavior is repeated, or if the team member does not follow or engage in the recommended steps to rectify the initial behavior, a meeting will be held with the team member (for students that will include their parent(s) or guardian(s) and a MAMS representative) and members of Core Leadership. This meeting will discuss the violation and may result in such measures as temporary suspension from team meetings, or loss of leadership position or other position of responsibility, particularly if the behavior is related to another team member that they supervise or direct.

1.8.3 Third Violation

If the behavior continues past the second meeting, the team member will be removed from the team. This removal from the team is effective for the remainder of the school year. Team members are encouraged to consider applying for the team the following year, but application to the team may include a follow-up meeting before acceptance to review the past violations, and discuss how the behavior has been acknowledged and addressed.

1.8.4 Behavior Violations at Competition

For most competitions, the team is away from home. Behavior violations at competition are particularly serious since they may involve issues that result in immediate safety concerns or have a negative effect on team cohesion and performance. As a result, team members may be asked to leave the competition and must arrange transportation home on their own. This transportation will be at the expense of the team member or student and their parent/guardian. The determination to have a team member sent home is at the discretion of the Team Leaders. In some cases, the behavior will be addressed following the competition using the procedures outlined above, but team members may have their participation or attendance at the competition limited.