The Hoogland Center for the Arts strives to create and maintain an environment in which people are treated with dignity, decency, and respect, characterized by mutual trust and the absence of harassment. Employees, resident organizations, students, volunteers, and visitors should be able to visit, work and learn in a safe environment. The accomplishment of this goal is essential to the mission of the Hoogland Center for the Arts. For that reason, the Hoogland Center for the Arts will not tolerate any type of harassment or violence. Through enforcement of this policy, the Hoogland Center for the Arts seeks to prevent, correct, and address behavior that violates this policy.
Prohibited Conduct Under this Policy
The Hoogland Center for the Arts prohibits harassment of any kind and will take appropriate and immediate action in response to complaints or knowledge of violations of this policy. For purposes of this policy, harassment is any verbal or physical conduct that demeans, threatens, intimidates, or coerces an employee, co-worker, student, visitor, or volunteer working for, or on behalf of, the Hoogland Center for the Arts or one of our resident organizations. This includes all rehearsals, performances, meetings, and social events occurring at the Hoogland Center for the Arts (HCFTA), or any other function where the person is working on behalf of HCFTA.
Harassment
Examples of harassment that should be reported (whether the complainant was subjected to harassment, or has knowledge of violations of this policy) include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Physical harassment or bullying;
- Verbal harassment or bullying;
- Written harassment or bullying;
- Nonverbal harassment (e.g., when a person distributes, displays, or discusses any written or graphic material that ridicules, denigrates, or shows hostility toward an individual or group);
- Racial, gender-based, and ethnic slurs;
- Cyber bullying (e.g., the intentional and overt act of aggression toward another using a technological tool, such as email, social media, instant messages, text messages, and digital photographs and images. Cyber bullying can include the posting of sensitive, private or identifying information about another with malicious intent);
- Sexual Harassment.
Sexual harassment may take many forms, including the following:
- Offensive and unwelcome sexual invitations, whether or not the individual submits to the invitation, and particularly when a spoken or implied quid pro quo for sexual favors is a benefit of employment or participation;
- Offensive and unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including sexually graphic spoken comments, offensive comments transmitted by e-mail or other online messaging systems, offensive or suggestive images or graphics whether physically present on site or accessed over the Internet, or the possession of or use of sexually suggestive objects;
- Offensive and unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature, including the touching of another's body, the touching or display of one's own body, or any similar contact.
Communication with Minors
It is the policy of the Hoogland Center for the Arts that anyone working with minors while participating in events associated with the organization will refrain from any private contact with minors, including, but not limited to email, texts, snapchats, phone calls, WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, or any similar electronic application. Any required communication must either be made on a public or semi-public forum (i.e., a group email to an entire cast and staff of a show, the BAND app, or a closed Facebook group involving all members of the cast and crew of a production and includes Hoogland Center for the Arts producers and officers) or includes the minor's parent or guardian on the correspondence.
Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect
The Hoogland Center for the Arts takes the safety and security of all minors very seriously. It is of utmost importance. If child abuse/neglect in violation of this Policy is suspected, it must be reported to the Director of the production and to the Executive Director of Hoogland Center of the Arts. The Hoogland Center for the Arts will take appropriate measures to investigate the situation. A report of suspected child abuse/neglect will be investigated promptly and impartially by the Hoogland Center of the Arts in accordance with this policy. If, upon investigation, the complaint appears to be well founded and serious in nature, local authorities will be brought in to investigate.
Procedures in Cases of Harassment
Any employee, volunteer, student, or visitor who believes that they've been subjected to harassment of any kind has the responsibility to report the harassment immediately to their immediate supervisor (including directors, teachers, or the designated leader of the resident organization under which the harassment occurred). If the person is uncomfortable reporting the harassment to said person (whether because the person has committed the harassment, or for any other reason whatsoever), the person may report the harassment directly to the Executive Director of the Hoogland Center for the Arts or to a member of the Hoogland Center for the Arts Board of Trustees.
The Hoogland Center for the Arts will make every reasonable effort to promptly and completely address and correct any harassment that may occur. In such investigations, every effort shall be made to maintain confidentiality. The complainant and the accused will be informed of the results of the investigation. If the Hoogland Center for the Arts finds that this Policy has been violated, appropriate corrective and remedial action will be taken, up to and including discharge or banning of offending employees, volunteers, students, visitors, or resident organizations, and/or similarly appropriate action towards offending vendors or contractors. No employee, student, volunteer, resident organization, or visitor will be retaliated against for reporting harassment in good faith.
info@hcfta.org