COMMUNITY RULES & ETIQUETTE AND PRIVACY GUIDELINES
Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to our Member Services department via the Contact Us link on this site. Technical questions on association management issues should directed to our helpdesk.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the member services department. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these rules.
The Rules
- Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation, not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may.
- Don't post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other area where others might see it. Contact people directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them.
- Don’t post job listings in the Open Forums – these posts should be directed towards ASCE’s LinkedIn Groups, or ASCE Career Connections.
- Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
- All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
- Please note carefully all items listed in the disclaimer and legal rules below, particularly regarding the copyright ownership of information posted.
- Remember that other participants have the right to reproduce postings to this site unless you specify otherwise.
- Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.
- All messages must add to the body of knowledge. We reserve the right to reject or remove any message for any reason.
Discussion Group Etiquette
- Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location.
- State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
- Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting.
- Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
- Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals--not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
- Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list.” Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings.
- Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message."
The Legal Stuff
This site is provided as a service for the members of American Society of Civil Engineers. American Society of Civil Engineers is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by American Society of Civil Engineers or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. Any individual who acts in reliance on any information obtained from this site does so at the individual’s sole risk and liability. In no event shall American Society of Civil Engineers be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits in connection with this access or inability to access this site, or in any manner arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants American Society of Civil Engineers and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
Do not post any messages that encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are also strictly forbidden: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
American Society of Civil Engineers does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of American Society of Civil Engineers, we will take all appropriate action.
American Society of Civil Engineers reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
PRIVACY POLICY
WE RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY
Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.
WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE THE PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT THROUGH THIS SITE
Our Service Providers.
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.
Business Transfers.
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.
Government and Legal Disclosures
We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.
EXTERNAL SITES.
We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.
COOKIES
A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as newsfeeds.
REMEMBER THE RISKS WHENEVER YOU USE THE INTERNET
While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies. For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.