Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Psychology
Statement of Community Standards
The Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University strives to be a community that is academically and intellectually rigorous, as well as being diverse, inclusive, and respectful to all of its members. We aspire to promote a collegial professional environment in which all individuals can thrive and do their best work with community support and free from harassment, intimidation, or disrespect. We embrace and champion the following values:
Courtesy and Respect for Individuals
Excellence in the workplace requires an environment that promotes courtesy and civility towards every community member. Courtesy and civility require having mutual respect for one another. Therefore we expect all members of our community to take individual responsibility for:
- Viewing threats, hate speech, and harassment as totally unacceptable in an environment of free exchange of ideas amongst individuals.
- Encouraging all individuals to be respectful of others’ views and opinions when expressing their own.
- Communicating with each other in ways that are clear, relevant, timely, constructive, and respectful.
- Making efforts to welcome and get to know all members of our community.
- Taking care of our common spaces rather than assuming that others will do it for us.
Diversity and Inclusion in Our Community
Academic excellence is built on a thriving and diverse community – something that is not possible without respectful treatment of all community members and intentional elimination of barriers to inclusion across groups. Therefore we expect all members of our community to take individual responsibility for:
- Providing mentoring and support for our colleagues.
- Prioritizing recruitment of people from diverse backgrounds into our community.
- Making efforts to be aware of the barriers faced by individuals and, whenever possible, making accommodations to remove or mitigate these barriers.
- Recognizing that with greater power within the academic hierarchy comes greater accountability for our actions and interactions.
- Making efforts to include our colleagues in intellectual and social gatherings during the workday whenever possible and appropriate.