Code of Conduct

NAIS Connect Rules and Conditions 

Welcome to the NAIS Connect section of the NAIS Website ("NAIS.ORG"), which is operated by the National Association of Independent Schools ("NAIS" or "we").

Acceptance of Rules and Conditions of Use

These rules and conditions ("Rules") govern your use of NAIS Connect. By using this site you are accepting these rules and conditions and agree to abide by them. You promise that you have (and will maintain) all permissions and approvals needed from your organization for you to use NAIS Connect and to comply with these Rules.

The Rules supplement and incorporate the NAIS Terms of Use and NAIS Privacy Policy. (If there is any conflict between the documents, these Rules take precedence for purposes of your use of NAIS Connect.) YOU SHOULD READ THE NAIS TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BECAUSE THEY INCLUDE IMPORTANT PROVISIONS ABOUT WARRANTIES, LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, INDEMNIFICATION, AND HOW (AND WHERE) DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND NAIS MAY BE RESOLVED.

Please check these Rules regularly because we may modify them from time to time by posting modified Rules on this page or, if we determine that it is appropriate, by giving you additional notice of the changes. Your continued use of NAIS Connect after we have posted amended Rules indicates that you agree to the amended Rules. If you have questions about the Rules, please submit a request.

Persons Under Age 18. Only persons aged 18 years and older may use NAIS Connect. By registering for NAIS Connect, you represent that you are at least 18 years old. If you are not 18 years old, you may not use NAIS Connect in any way.

Guidelines for Forming, Maintaining and Terminating Communities Within NAIS Connect

NAIS Connect enables participants to communicate with others who share similar interests or job functions in special subsections of the site (each, a "Community") in line with the NAIS Antitrust Policy. NAIS prohibits Communities to be formed or used, in whole or in part, for the benefit of third-party organizations, businesses, products, or services. Additionally, Communities may not be formed or used, in whole or in part, to promote third-party events or programs or to post third-party job opportunities. Furthermore, NAIS reserves the right at any time to terminate inactive Communities or Communities that otherwise fail to comply with NAIS's purposes (set forth above), the NAIS Terms of UseNAIS Privacy Policy, NAIS Antitrust Policy, or these Rules.

Some participants, which may include you, volunteer their services to other participants as moderators ("Moderators") within one or more Communities. For example, Moderators may assist by contributing material, answering questions for other participants, or moderating discussions. Moderators are not NAIS employees or agents for any purposes whatsoever. If you serve as a Moderator, you are solely responsible for all of your activities in that capacity.

Content Provided by You and Other Users

NAIS Connect includes discussion forums and other interactive tools that allow you and other participants (including Moderators) to submit and share text, commentary, messages, information, documents, computer files, images, event listings, links, "tags" for identifying specific content, modifications to other users' submissions (in the case of collaborative tools such as "Wikis"), and other material (all together, "User Content").

User Content does not necessarily reflect the views, policies or opinions of NAIS, and NAIS does not endorse, adopt, or publish any User Content unless one of NAIS's authorized agents explicitly states otherwise in an official capacity. NAIS bears no responsibility for any User Content or any injury or offense it causes (regardless of whether the User Content has been approved, edited, rejected, or removed by NAIS, a Moderator, or another participant). NAIS has no obligation to pre-screen, monitor, edit, or delete User Content, but NAIS reserves the right to do so if any User Content fails to comply with these Rules or is otherwise harmful, inaccurate, or objectionable.

You take sole responsibility for all User Content you submit to NAIS Connect, and all such User Content must be your own. By posting this information, you grant NAIS the non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, unrestricted license (with the right to sub-license) to reproduce, distribute, publicly display and perform, transmit, adapt, translate, modify, and create derivative works of any User Content in whole or in part and in any form now known or later developed. You represent and warrant that your User Content does not (i) defame any party; (ii) violate any party's copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, right to privacy or publicity, or any other proprietary or personal right; or (iii) otherwise violate any applicable law or regulation.

You submit User Content entirely at your own risk. Password protection or other restrictions may control access to NAIS Connect, and there may be options for you to limit the availability of some of your User Content to other participants. Because NAIS cannot guarantee the security or confidentiality of any User Content, you should consider all User Content you submit to be non-confidential and assume that any ideas, inventions, or know-how disclosed in it could be made available to the public. You represent, warrant and covenant (i) that you are under no obligation that would in any way interfere with the disclosure or use of any User Content you submit and (ii) that no User Content you submit contains any material or information furnished to you in confidence or with the understanding that it would not be disclosed or published (including, but not limited to, any confidential information related to the business of your employer, colleagues,  customers, or others).

NAIS Antitrust Policy

Users are prohibited from using Connect in ways that would violate federal or state antitrust laws. Users are prohibited from using Connect to share competitively sensitive information about individual schools or to facilitate an express or implied agreement between schools on competitively sensitive subjects (e.g., tuition, financial aid, teacher compensation). 

Use of NAIS Connect and Its Contents

NAIS values a diversity of viewpoints and expects users of NAIS Connect to exhibit the same level of respect for others as they would in any other professional or academic forum. Accordingly, you may not:

  • submit, upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any User Content that is unlawful, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, or libelous, or that is threatening, hostile, harassing, or abusive on the basis of personal beliefs or characteristics;
  • send any unauthorized, unsolicited, junk, or bulk email or other form of communication that violates any law or these Rules; or
  • upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any User Content (including any code or other materials) that contain time-bombs, viruses, spyware, adware, keyloggers, backdoors, trojans or other malicious code of any kind, including code that corrupts or destroys data, disrupts, damages, or disables NAIS software, hardware or equipment, provides for the unauthorized transmission of software or material to any computer, or has any other effect which the NAIS or any user of NAIS Connect would reasonably consider undesirable.

You may not use NAIS Connect or any of its contents in any way that would violate (i) laws or regulations(ii) the rights of the NAIS or any third party.

Unless otherwise authorized by NAIS, all material on NAIS Connect may not be sold, used for any commercial or political purposes, or used for any type of solicitation, fundraising, recruitment, or analogous activity. You may not use any material from NAIS Connect in a manner that attributes a false or misleading statement to, or implies a false endorsement by, NAIS or related parties. Without authorization, you may not reproduce, distribute, publicly display or perform, transmit, incorporate into a database or compilation, adapt, translate, modify or create derivative works of, or in any way exploit or use any material (including User Content) that is protected by copyright or otherwise, whether owned by NAIS or a third party.

You may have access through NAIS Connect to personally identifiable information of others. This information is provided only for your personal use in connection with NAIS Connect. You may not engage in or permit others to engage in data mining or the systematic collection of such information for any reason.

No Advice or Recommendations

The information in NAIS Connect, including User Content, is made available for general informational purposes only. It should not be construed as any kind of professional advice or substitute for it. If you need professional advice or services, you should consult a qualified person in the relevant field.

NAIS Connect may include a feature that automatically generates "Suggested Contacts" based on information in your Account or user profile that is similar or related to other users' information. These "Suggested Contacts" are provided for informational purposes only, and NAIS does not endorse or recommend them for any purpose. You assume sole responsibility and risk for your use of this information, and you expressly release NAIS from all liability arising from or relating to such use.

When you register for NAIS Connect, you accept the following limitations of liability and disclaimer of warranties.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, WILL NAIS OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONDUCT OF PARTICIPANTS IN NAIS CONNECT, INCLUDING FACILITATORS OF ANY NAIS CONNECT COMMUNITIES, OR FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) NAIS CONNECT OR YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT FROM NAIS CONNECT.

Copyright Infringement

Any complaint about copyright violations in User Content or otherwise in NAIS Connect may be made by following the procedures in the NAIS Terms of Use.

Creating an Account

NAIS membership is required to participate in most of the NAIS Connect communities. In order to register and create an NAIS Connect account, you must provide certain data including name, email, organization, job title, primary role, and phone number and will be prompted to create a password. To access the majority of NAIS Connect communities, your organization must be an NAIS member or premium subscriber. The first time you log in to NAIS Connect you will be asked to affirmatively accept and abide by this Code of Conduct. 

Sharing Your Data With Other NAIS Participants

Once you register your account, NAIS Connect provides options that give you control over the information you include in your profile, including whether you wish to be included in the member directory and community roster, and other participants' access to Your Data. For example, some items in your "Profile" may be accompanied by a select box marked "Public," "My Contacts," "Members Only," or "Only Me," meaning that this information will only be visible to the participants that you choose. Other items will carry notices about whether the information you enter will be shared with other participants. If you need additional assistance in controlling Your Data's availability, please follow the instructions in the section entitled "Access and Revision of Your Data."

Please note: If you incorporate Your Data or other identifiable details about yourself into your User Content (e.g., your posts to community discussions or messages to other users), other participants will have access to that information and may be able to identify you.

Purpose for Collection

NAIS uses Your Data (i) to establish your Display Name and share it with other NAIS Connect participants; (ii) to permit other NAIS Connect participants to search for your Display Name, and, if you choose to make them available, other items in Your Data; and (iii) to send you messages within NAIS Connect.

If you choose to opt-in when creating your NAIS Connect Account, we may also send you emails related to NAIS Connect (e.g., "Alerts", or notifications that you have received a new message on the site). If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can change your settings on your "Profile" page by deleting your Alerts, contact us by submitting a request, or send a request to NAIS Membership, Attn. NAIS Connect, 2001 K Street NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20006 or call 202-973-9700.

Sharing with Other Third Parties

Any personal information you provide to us including 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. 

Service Providers

NAIS uses third parties ("Service Providers") to provide certain services, such as software maintenance, database maintenance, and verification, that are necessary for operating NAIS.ORG and NAIS Connect or fulfilling your requests. These Service Providers may have access to Your Data, but only for the purpose of providing these services to NAIS. 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.  For users who are not NAIS members, NAIS does not share personally identifiable data with third parties (other than Service Providers).

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 and Service; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our association, our users, or others.

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. 

External Sites

We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites and you may occasionally be directed to such sites by clicking on links provided within Connect. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information. 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. 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. 

Access and Revision of Your Data

You may review or update Your Data by making changes on your "Profile" page within NAIS Connect. You may request Your Data be deleted, or submit other inquiries regarding your account, by submitting your request here or by mail to NAIS Membership, 2001 K Street NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20006, or phone 202-973-9700.

Reporting Unauthorized Use

Please report any violations of these Rules to us by clicking here.

Last Updated March 2024.