Central Indiana Grotto Code of Conduct

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Central Indiana Grotto is committed to providing a safe, respectful, welcoming, and conservation-minded environment for everyone who participates in our meetings, cave trips, events, online spaces, and other grotto-related activities.

Caving depends on trust. Whether we are underground, at a meeting, working on a project, helping with an event, teaching new cavers, or representing the grotto to landowners and the public, our members and guests are expected to treat one another with respect, kindness, courtesy, and good judgment.

Central Indiana Grotto adopts and supports the National Speleological Society Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy. This local Code of Conduct explains how those expectations apply to CIG activities.

This Code of Conduct applies to all CIG members, NSS members, guests, visitors, trip participants, volunteers, and anyone participating in CIG-related activities.

It applies during:

   • CIG meetings 

   • CIG-sponsored or CIG-organized cave trips 

   • Grotto events, programs, trainings, and workdays 

   • Online spaces managed by or associated with CIG 

   • Email, messaging, and social media interactions related to CIG 

   • Public events where someone is representing CIG 

   • Interactions with landowners, partner organizations, event hosts, and the public in connection with CIG activities 

This Code of Conduct may also apply to behavior outside of official CIG activities when that behavior affects the safety, trust, participation, reputation, or functioning of the grotto.

Participants are expected to:

   • Treat others with respect, courtesy, and kindness. 

   • Help create a welcoming environment for new and experienced cavers alike. 

   • Respect differences in experience, background, age, ability, and perspective. 

   • Follow trip leader instructions and safety expectations. 

   • Be honest about caving experience, fitness, equipment, medical concerns, and limitations that may affect trip safety. 

   • Respect cave owners, landowners, managers, access rules, permits, closures, and conservation requirements. 

   • Practice responsible caving and follow appropriate cave conservation ethics. 

   • Avoid damaging caves, formations, biology, artifacts, gates, trails, or property. 

   • Speak up when safety, conservation, or conduct concerns arise. 

   • Accept responsibility for personal behavior and its effect on others. 

   • Cooperate with reasonable requests from trip leaders, event organizers, officers, or hosts.

Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to:

   • Harassment, intimidation, threats, bullying, or coercion. 

   • Discrimination or demeaning behavior based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected or personal characteristic. 

   • Unwanted sexual attention, comments, images, jokes, touching, or advances. 

   • Repeated unwanted contact after being asked to stop. 

   • Stalking, doxxing, or deliberate invasion of privacy. 

   • Abusive, insulting, or humiliating language directed at another person. 

   • Retaliation against someone for reporting a concern or participating in a review. 

   • Knowingly making a false or malicious report. 

   • Unsafe behavior that puts oneself or others at unreasonable risk. 

   • Refusing to follow trip leader safety instructions. 

   • Pressuring someone to enter, continue, or attempt a cave trip beyond their ability, comfort, equipment, or safety. 

   • Damaging caves, cave life, formations, historic resources, gates, trails, equipment, or property. 

   • Violating landowner rules, cave access agreements, preserve rules, permits, closures, or conservation restrictions. 

   • Illegal activity during CIG-related events or trips. 

   • Possession or use of alcohol, drugs, or other substances in a way that creates a safety issue, violates event rules, or interferes with participation. 

   • Behavior that seriously disrupts a CIG meeting, event, trip, or online space.

Cave trips require honest safety decisions. Trip leaders and organizers may need to discuss a participant’s experience, equipment, physical ability, technical skill, medical concerns, preparedness, or suitability for a particular trip.

Respectful discussion of these issues is not harassment or discrimination when it is based on legitimate safety, conservation, landowner, access, or trip-management concerns.

Examples include:

   • Limiting trip size. 

   • Requiring helmets, lights, vertical gear, or other equipment. 

   • Turning someone away from a trip because they are not properly equipped. 

   • Discussing whether a trip is appropriate for a participant’s experience or physical condition. 

   • Changing or canceling a trip because of weather, water levels, landowner requirements, group ability, or safety concerns. 

   • Removing someone from a trip or event because of unsafe conduct. 

These decisions should be made respectfully, fairly, and without personal attacks or offensive commentary.

If there is an immediate threat to safety, call 911 or the appropriate emergency service first.

Concerns about conduct during CIG activities may be reported to a CIG officer. Reports may be made by the person directly affected or by someone who witnessed the behavior.

A report should include as much information as practical, such as:

   • What happened. 

   • When and where it happened. 

   • Who was involved. 

   • Whether there were witnesses. 

   • Whether there is supporting documentation, such as messages, emails, photos, or screenshots. 

   • Whether there is an immediate safety concern. 

   • What outcome or support the reporting person is requesting, if any. 

CIG may also refer people to the NSS reporting process when the matter involves NSS policy, NSS events, NSS members, or issues that should be reviewed beyond the local grotto level.

CIG will make reasonable efforts to respect the privacy of everyone involved in a conduct concern.

Information will be shared only with those who need to know in order to understand, review, respond to, or resolve the issue.

Complete confidentiality cannot be guaranteed, especially when safety, legal, organizational, or due-process concerns require action.

When a report is received, a CIG officer or designated representative should acknowledge the report as soon as practical.

The initial response may include:

   • Checking whether anyone is in immediate danger. 

   • Determining whether emergency services, landowner notification, or event host notification is needed. 

   • Asking for additional information. 

   • Identifying any conflicts of interest. 

   • Determining whether temporary action is needed to protect participants or the grotto while the issue is reviewed. 

Temporary action may include separating individuals, removing someone from an event or trip, limiting participation, or referring the matter to NSS or another appropriate organization.

CIG officers, or a committee designated by the officers, may review reported conduct concerns.

Anyone with a direct conflict of interest should recuse themselves from reviewing or deciding the matter.

A conflict may include being directly involved in the incident, having a close personal relationship with someone involved, or having another reason they cannot fairly participate.

The review process may include:

   • Speaking with the reporting person. 

   • Speaking with the person whose conduct was reported. 

   • Speaking with witnesses. 

   • Reviewing messages, emails, photos, screenshots, or other relevant information. 

   • Considering CIG bylaws, NSS policies, event rules, landowner requirements, and safety concerns. 

   • Determining whether the Code of Conduct was violated. 

   • Recommending an appropriate response. 

CIG should seek to handle reports fairly, promptly, and respectfully while recognizing that some situations may require more time to review.

Depending on the circumstances, CIG may take one or more of the following actions:

   • No action, if the concern is not supported or does not violate this Code of Conduct. 

   • Informal conversation or clarification. 

   • Verbal or written warning. 

   • Request for apology, correction, or changed behavior. 

   • Removal from a meeting, trip, event, or online space. 

   • Temporary limits on participation in CIG activities. 

   • Removal from leadership, trip-leading, volunteer, or event responsibilities. 

   • Suspension from CIG activities. 

   • Termination of membership without recourse.

   • Referral to the NSS, event host, landowner, law enforcement, or another appropriate authority. 

Serious or repeated violations may result in suspension, expulsion, or other action allowed by CIG bylaws and applicable NSS policies.

Retaliation is prohibited.

No one may threaten, harass, intimidate, exclude, punish, or otherwise retaliate against someone for:

   • Reporting a concern in good faith. 

   • Participating in a review. 

   • Serving as a witness. 

   • Supporting someone involved in a report. 

   • Enforcing this Code of Conduct. 

Knowingly false or malicious reports are also a violation of this Code of Conduct.

CIG’s ability to cave depends on trust with landowners, preserve managers, agencies, partner organizations, and the broader caving community.

Participants must follow all cave access requirements, including:

   • Permission requirements. 

   • Sign-in or waiver requirements. 

   • Parking rules. 

   • Gate and lock procedures. 

   • Seasonal closures. 

   • White-nose syndrome and decontamination rules. 

   • Restrictions on cave locations or sensitive information. 

   • Conservation rules. 

   • Limits set by landowners, preserves, or trip leaders. 

Violating access rules can harm CIG, damage relationships, and jeopardize future cave access.

CIG online spaces should follow the same standards as in-person activities.

Participants should avoid harassment, personal attacks, threats, bullying, repeated unwanted contact, inflammatory behavior, or sharing private information without permission.

Moderators or officers may remove posts, limit participation, or take other reasonable action when online conduct violates this Code of Conduct or disrupts the purpose of the space.

CIG officers, trip leaders, and event organizers are expected to help maintain a safe and respectful environment.

They may take reasonable action during a meeting, trip, event, or online discussion to address safety concerns, disruptive conduct, harassment, conservation violations, or access issues.

This may include correcting behavior, changing plans, removing someone from an activity, ending a trip, contacting emergency services, or referring the issue for further review.

This Code of Conduct is intended to support, not replace, the CIG Constitution and Bylaws, NSS Code of Conduct, NSS Anti-Harassment Policy, and any rules that apply to a specific event, preserve, cave, landowner agreement, or partner organization.

When there is a conflict between policies, CIG officers should apply the policy or process most appropriate to the situation, while respecting CIG bylaws, NSS requirements, safety needs, and applicable law.

This Code of Conduct may be reviewed and updated by Central Indiana Grotto as needed.

Updates may be made to reflect changes in CIG bylaws, NSS policies, safety practices, reporting procedures, or the needs of the grotto.