UCLA Committee on Disability Community Guidelines for Public Speaking
UCLA Committee on Disability Community Guidelines for Public Speaking
Purpose Statement
The UCLA Committee on Disability (UCOD) welcomes and encourages public comment during monthly meetings. This platform is provided for members of our community to have their voices heard, to bring to the forefront important issues and concerns related to disability on our campus, and to collaboratively work towards finding solutions. Our goal is to foster an environment of constructive dialogue and problem-solving, not to assign blame. The following guidelines are intended to ensure that we create a safe, respectful, and productive space for all community members to share their experiences and ideas. With all attendees adhering to these guidelines, no one will be censored or silenced. All members of UCOD, as well as guests, are accountable to these guidelines.
1. Address the problem, not the person.
- Respectfully challenge the idea or organization, not the person.
- Refrain from personal attacks and assuming malintent or incompetence.
- To promote equality among the entire community, please refrain from using first or last names during targeted comments.
- There are some individuals on this committee who cannot speak publicly about an ongoing issue for legal or policy reasons; cases requiring naming individuals can be deferred to a closed-door meeting.
2. Stay focused and mindful of time.
- Please respect the committee’s agenda and time allocations.
- If the topic has been discussed fully, please do not bring it back up later in the meeting unless it is during the designated, open-discussion period.
3. Be open to hearing all perspectives.
- Everyone in the meeting will have an opportunity to share their views.
- For non-members to present live at a UCOD meeting, they must agree to follow the guidelines in this document.
4. Allow each speaker to finish before commenting.
- Know that everyone will get the chance to speak.
- Interruptions are discouraged so that individuals have the opportunity to complete their thoughts. This includes disruptive noises including boos and hissing.
- Take the time to learn all sides; appreciate all perspectives and feelings.
- Consider any power dynamics involved and be mindful of different lived experiences.
5. Respect confidentiality.
- Any personally identifiable information or other explicitly stated confidential information shared in the meeting should not be shared outside of the meeting without express written consent from all involved parties.
- Public comments will be generalized and anonymized by the secretary before being published in publicly available meeting notes.
- Meeting attendees are listed in publicly available meeting notes.
If Guidelines Are Not Respected:
- If these public-speaking guidelines are violated, there will be one verbal warning by UCOD leadership.
- If the warning does not suffice, the meeting host will mute the speaker’s mic over Zoom and notify the meeting members that the current public comment for the meeting is over.
- Any person engaging in threatening speech or conduct will be required to leave the meeting immediately.
