Code of Conduct

Statement of our Core Values

Congratulations on your enrollment in Hogwarts Is Here, the premier online academic environment for young witches and wizards! After over 1000 years of dedication to academic excellence, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry prides itself on the caliber of its students, both in terms of academic excellence as well as proper and mature conduct. As an elite online institution, we expect the best of our students. We also expect certain elements of comportment and composure in public and private settings. This code of conduct serves to guide students as they begin their Hogwarts experience.

Continuing with a Culture of Open and Honest Communication

Hogwarts is Here (“HiH”) prides itself on its academics. Every student should feel comfortable speaking their mind in a constructive and helpful way. Hogwarts is Here benefits when its students feel they have an environment that they can speak freely without any repercussion. However, the school must also balance such free speech with the safety and security of the institution and everyone within it. The Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy, and the Code of Conduct are official documents issued by Hogwarts is Here that govern the behavior of students on the site. Students are required to abide by them or else face disciplinary action up to, but not limited to, expulsion and banning from the site. 

If you observe a violation of any official rules documents by any member of the Hogwarts Is Here community (student or staff), please report it to your Head of House or the Deputy Headmistress (with screenshots of the violation if possible). That said, Hogwarts Is Here cannot accept responsibility for violations that occur off-site, though we reserve the right to take disciplinary action if such a violation is brought to our attention.

General Site Behavior Policies

Hogwarts is Here aims to provide a thorough education for all magical students, regardless of race, background, bloodline, gender, sexuality, religion, national origin, or any other characteristics. Thus, we expect the following behavioral standards from our students:

• Bullying and harassment in any form will not be tolerated among any of the student body. Infractions include, but are not limited to: 
  • Repeated messaging after being asked to stop
  • Spamming of public or private feeds, private messages, chats, or other site locations
  • Posting of inflammatory content or words of violent intent
  • Threats (physical or otherwise) against user
  • Racist, homophobic, xenophobic, ageist, or sexist content, or any derogatory commentary about blood status or House in a threatening or prejudiced context
  • Spreading personal or private information about other users without their consen
  • Pestering members for their personal information
  • Encouraging others to block or harass other members
• Students will present appropriate maturity in all public areas such as chats and feeds. Therefore, the following are prohibited in public areas (school feed, forums, Great Hall chats, comments, etc):
  • Spamming with repeated posts
  • Speaking aggressively about other users or classes
  • Posting any pornographic visual or written material
  • Posting racist, homophobic, xenophobic, ageist, or sexist material
  • Using extreme profanity or threatening language
  • Posting any material that can be seen as inappropriate for a minor audience
  • Posting crowdfunding requests (GoFundMe, KickStarter, etc) for any reason
  • Discussing controversial or divisive political topics
• Administrators and staff reserve the right to delete inappropriate or offensive content posted on the public feeds, including but not limited to: profanity, obscenity, or abusive content or language.

Academic Guidelines

Students should try their utmost in all classes. While students will never be suspended or expelled for poor academic performance, they are expected to uphold the academic excellence for which the school is known to the best of their ability.

Any experiencing trouble with courses may reach out to professors, professors’ assistants, or tutors to assist them with content.

Students may not behave abusively toward staff, professors’ assistants, or other students for any reason, including disagreement with a grade received. They may appeal or privately message staff or appropriate students privately to ask for additional clarification on the received grade if an ordinary appeal is not available.

Students will maintain academic integrity. Plagiarism, copying of fellow students or outside content, or other breaches of integrity are prohibited and may result in automatic failure of an assignment or the class.

Deliberate submission of inappropriate assignments or irrelevant content is prohibited.

Students may not provide other users with content to submit as their own. Those who plagiarize on the site run the risk of all parties failing should they be discovered.

Students may not share their login information with anyone else. Student accounts are subject to these rules and disciplinary action for violating them, regardless of who is operating the account at any given time (though additional disciplinary action may be taken against the individual operating the account).

All coursework submitted must be unique; plagiarism of any kind is not tolerated. 

Students may not advertise any similar website that is not owned or operated by Hogwarts is Here in any public setting, particularly MOOC style websites that might compete with Hogwarts is Here. Similar actions that are prohibited are:

• Creating a separate group on HiH meant to function as a school that provides lessons and graded assignments, employs a professor staff, and/or has a reward system like points
• Sharing or distributing a link to a website that is similar in natre to HiH, in particular a website that provides lessons and graded assignments, employs a professor staff, and/or has a reward system like points
• Creating lessons and/or content with graded assignments and using HiH to distribute this content, no matter the subject
• Providing assignments, tests, or other forms of assessment that are completed to earn points, no matter the name given to the reward system
• Claiming to be a professor, headmistress/headmaster, deputy headmistress/headmaster, head of house, head student, or prefect associated with another website or group functioning as a school, as this can cause confusion with official positions on HiH

Student - Professor Interactions

As providers, mentors, and educators, the Professors at Hogwarts is Here choose to remain neutral in any student altercations. The Professors will only take the stance as necessary to prevent breach of privacy, terms of service, or other conduct against school code.

Students are to address the professor in public (Chats, Forums, Feeds) as “Professor” followed by the professor’s last name. In any private setting, students may be less formal if permitted by the professor.

Students may not reveal the personal or private identity of a Professor.

Students have the right to be treated in a respectful manner by all staff members. In the event of staff misconduct, students should immediately contact their Head of House, the Deputy Headmistress, and include evidence of the misconduct (such as screenshots). 

Students are to maintain a respectful attitude when speaking to or about a Professor in any setting. 

Romantic relationships between students and staff are strictly forbidden. Students may not solicit professors for such relationships, and in the event that any staff member might solicit a student, it should be brought to administrative attention immediately.

Student-Student Relationships

As a roleplaying environment, Hogwarts Is Here acknowledges that members may engage in roleplay - or other - forms of online attachments and other interactions. Students are strongly advised to exercise extreme caution when engaging in online relationships, fiction and non-fiction. This includes, but is not limited to: 

• Do not share your personal name or any other identifying details about yourself with curious parties.
• Never share personal passwords for any accounts.
• Never share personal address, phone number, or links to private accounts off of Hogwarts Is Here.
• Refrain from interacting or meeting in person with any previously unknown users of Hogwarts Is Here without permission from a parent or guardian present (for those under 18).

Please remember that Hogwarts Is Here provides a safe and secure environment for users age 16 and up. That said, students are expected to interact in a mature manner and to take proper precautions for their own safety.

Harassment of those with whom a student had a former personal relationship constitutes bullying, and will be handled appropriately. Any student who feels that he or she is being targeted by anyone - whether or not a previous relationship was had - should contact a staff member as soon as possible for private investigation.

Similarly, students may not try to force another member into an intimate relationship or setting without their permission.

Assistance

Please remember to keep a respectful approach if problems arise, notify your Head of House or another staff member if you ever feel unsafe on the site or suspect others might be. Do your best in class, and otherwise have fun! You’re attending Hogwarts! It’s Real For Us!

Headmistress Oshiro