The Access Network

Access Assembly 2020

Welcome to the webpage for the 2020 Access Network Assembly! You should be able to find all of the information that you need to participate in the Assembly here.

Schedule

The 2020 Access Assembly runs from Thursday, June 18 through Sunday, June 21. Assembly activities typically begin at 9AM Pacific/12PM Eastern and end at 2PM Pacific/5PM Eastern.

Please see here for a detailed schedule and here for a description of all of the sessions.

Code of Conduct

We are dedicated to providing a respectful and inclusive Assembly experience for everyone, regardless of gender identity and expression, age, year in school, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or class. We do not tolerate harassment of Assembly participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any Assembly venue, including talks, workshops, social events, Facebook, and other online media. Please abstain from becoming intoxicated during the duration of the Assembly; such behavior is inappropriate especially when we are trying to be inclusive of underaged participants and can threaten the funding of Access. Generally, try to behave professionally. Assembly participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the Assembly at the discretion of the Assembly organizing team. If you are uncertain about any of the terms or conditions in this code of conduct, you can refer to our glossary and/or contact any member of the Ombuds team.

In addition to the above, please follow the “don’t yuck my yum” principle, meaning respect others interests and passions even if you don’t share them. 

If you would like to report an incident related to this code of conduct or need to discuss any other issues related to the Assembly, please contact a member of our Ombuds Team:

All attendees must indicate that they understanding and agree to abide by the Code of Conduct. Please do so by filling out this form.

Session Materials

We have created a Google drive folder with materials for this year’s sessions, including slides, handout, and so on. Please feel free to look through these materials.

One particularly helpful resources is the Access’s Social Justice Glossary, which has been maintained by Assembly planning teams for the last few years. If you come across an unfamiliar term during the Assembly, please use this as a resource.

Norms and Guidelines

Norms are not required behaviors, but are behaviors we want to engage in when we interact with each other during the Assembly.

  • Be civil and respectful when you have disagreements.
  • Respect other’s decisions to participate, or not, in sessions. It’s ok to excuse yourself.
  • Allow undergraduates to speak first.
  • Build in pauses after questions to allow everyone time to think before responding.
  • Use consensus cards to aid in conversation. 

Participating in a virtual conference is pretty different from participating in one in person. It is much easier to get distracted or not engage fully in what’s going on. We want to provide you with these guidelines to help you (and other attendees) get the most out of your Assembly experience.

  • Be mindful of your engagement with the session—try to engage as much as you would in person.
  • Use the following format for your Zoom name: Name (pronouns, institution)—for example, Jane Doe (she/her, Berkeley).
  • Only use the chat box for relevant comments.
  • Use your video if you are able. However, if the audio/video seems to be breaking up because of bandwidth issues, please turn off your video to see if that helps.
  • If you have to leave a session temporarily, mute your video and audio.
  • Try to be in a quiet environment or keep yourself muted if you are someplace noisy.
  • Give your full attention to the session—don’t multitask, use your phone, etc.
  • The dress code for the Assembly is casual, but please dress as though you were leaving your house.
  • Please be mindful of time: arrive at sessions on time and don’t let sessions run over.

The purpose of the consensus “reactions” is to assist in consensus-based decision making. They are used to make sure everyone has a voice in the conversations we have here at the Assembly. In the participant tab on Zoom, you can use these reactions:

Yes (✓): Yes, I agree. Jazz Hands. Yes vote. I support you / what you said. 

Go Slower (<<): I have a question / comment. My vote is hesitant. 

No (X): Wait! I disagree. Please get back on topic. That violates our norms.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the Assembly, run into tech issues, and so on, please feel free to contact Joel Corbo (joel.corbo@colorado.edu) or Karmela Padavic-Callaghan (kpadavi2@illinois.edu).