Reporting a Code of Conduct Concern at an Event

This article is the procedure for reporting and responding to a Code of Conduct concern at an event. It does not restate policy. For the standards behind these steps, see the Code of Conduct, Student-Centered Policy, Youth Protection Policy, and Safety Policy. Safety concerns, including any immediate danger to a student, are handled under the Youth Protection Policy and Safety Policy rather than this procedure.

It is written for Event Partners responding to a concern during an event.

Definitions of the terms used here are maintained in the central glossary.

Receiving a Concern

• The Event Partner receives concerns from anyone at the event, whether or not that person is directly involved. Concerns reported to the Head Referee or Judge Advisor are brought to the Event Partner.
• The Event Partner collects any photo or video evidence on the spot.

Contacting the Program Support Team

• The Event Partner contacts the Program Support Team for guidance, not just notification, before deciding how to respond to the concern.
• If the concern does not fall under the Code of Conduct, or it is unclear whether it does, the Event Partner does not open a Team Conduct Report and follows the Program Support Team's direction on where the concern belongs.

Opening the Team Conduct Report

• For a Code of Conduct concern, the Event Partner opens a Team Conduct Report. Only the Event Partner files this form. It becomes the single running record of the matter: one incident, one report.
• If the concern involves the Event Partner or a team affiliated with them, the Event Partner hands reporting to the Head Referee or Judge Advisor, who contacts the Program Support Team directly. If the Event Partner is unavailable, the Head Referee or Judge Advisor does the same.
• Anyone else, including the original reporter and any later witnesses, may also submit what they saw through the Additional Evidence Report, filed against the same incident.

Gathering Facts and Speaking with the Coach

• The Event Partner gathers facts calmly and fairly and hears from everyone involved.
• Conversations with the coach or mentor take place away from students; students are not drawn into adult conduct discussions.
• No student is interviewed alone; a team adult representative is present for any conduct-related interview with a student.
• The Event Partner tells the coach or mentor what was reported, which part of the Code of Conduct it concerns, and that the Global Robotics and Science Foundation will be informed, leading with the expectation.
• If the matter could affect judged awards, the Event Partner notifies the Judge Advisor through the event's note-to-judges process.

Escalating Serious or Repeated Concerns

• The Event Partner confers with the Head Referee and Judge Advisor.
• Before any significant action, such as limiting participation, holding a team out of alliance selection, eliminations, or finals, or removing a team or individual, the Event Partner consults the Program Support Team first.
• Where safety allows, the Event Partner makes every reasonable effort to let a team finish its qualification matches, out of fairness to alliance partners. Where safety doesn't allow it, safety wins.
• In-competition consequences (rankings, skills scores, advancement, judged-award eligibility) follow the Game Manual and the Code of Conduct. This procedure governs how the concern is handled and recorded, not the competition ruling itself.

Recording and Submitting the Report

• The Event Partner keeps adding observations to the Team Conduct Report as the situation develops.
• The Event Partner submits the report to Global Robotics within 72 hours of the event's final day, regardless of outcome, even if no action was taken.

Timeline

All time frames are calendar days. Safety actions are never held for a deadline.