No subject

decided that a policy that was open and flexible is the best approach to
take in order to both be fair to those involved and effective in
bringing about a solution that members of the IMC will fully support
once a decision is made about a particular problem.

Please send me any input you might have on this proposal so that I can
attempt to incoporate into the proposal before next Sunday's Steering
group meeting. I would imagine that we will try to finalize the proposal
at that time so that we can take a final vote on it at the June 17
meeting.

Please note that each section addresses a particular detail of the
policy and process. If you have an issue with a part of it, please
suggest alternative wording for that specific section. If you feel that
another section needs to be added to deal with something that has been
overlooked by me, please include suggested wording and guidance about
where it should be placed in this proposal.

Mike Lehman

Personnel Policy Proposal

1. The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center promotes the use of the
U-C IMC and its media by diverse and underrepresented individuals and
groups. Given the wide range of individuals who may use the Center and
its resources, it is important to remind all members, staff, and users
of the importance of respecting the opinions of others and their
lifestyle choices, even when they don’t agree with one’s own views.

2. The U-C IMC expects all members, staff, and users of its facility and
resources to conduct themselves in a manner that is respectful of
diverse and conflicting views by avoiding purely personal conflict and
in manner which upholds the reputation of the U-C IMC as a welcoming
center of community activity.

3. If any member, staff, or user of the U-C IMC feels that another
member, staff, or user of the U-C IMC or its resources acts in such a
manner that they feel does not comply with the above stated policy, they
may approach any spokesperson of the Steering Group, with whom they feel
comfortable about bringing their problem to, with their concern(s).

4. The spokesperson can proceed in either an informal manner or a formal
manner, based on dialogue with the complaining party and other
spokespersons, about what would be the best way to satisfactorily
resolve the complainant’s concern.

5. If the spokesperson, in consultation with other spokespersons, and
complainant agree that informal action will work best to resolve the
issue, the spokesperson will act to do so by contacting the other
parties in the dispute to effect a satisfactory resolution of the issue.

6. If it is determined by the spokesperson, in consultation with other
spokespersons, and the complainant that formal action by the Steering
Group is necessary to resolve a concern, it will hold a hearing on the
issue during an open session of the Steering Group meeting.

7.Parties to the complaint must be notified, to the extent possible, of
the time and nature of the hearing so that they have an opportunity to
present their view of the issues involved.

8. The Steering Group will take official action based on testimony of
the parties involved, any relevant witnesses and evidence, and
discussion by the Steering Committee.

9. In formulating official action, the Steering Group will take into
consideration the nature of the concern, any informal or formal action
previously taken regarding the concern, and the impact on the mission
and membership of the U-C IMC of the concern in question.

10. Official action taken by the Steering Group can range from a simple
request that the offending behavior cease, up to, and including,
revocation of membership and/or banning from the premises of the U-C IMC
and use of any of its resources, to include use of the Newswire, IMC
mailing lists, and other resources and programming that the IMC has
control over.