Code of Conduct - American Society of Radiologic Technologists

Effective May 2023

Code of Conduct and Terms of Use
American Society of Radiologic Technologists Communities

Code of Conduct

Thanks for being part of the ASRT Communities. As an ASRT member, you play an important part in keeping the Communities vibrant and safe for all users. We appreciate your help in ensuring the Communities remain positive, diverse and welcoming. To ensure the best possible experience for all ASRT members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

To preserve an environment that encourages civil and fruitful dialogue, ASRT reserves the right to suspend or remove from the Communities anyone who violates these rules. ASRT retains the right to remove any content for any reason, including but not limited to content that it deems defamatory, abusive, harassing, discriminatory, offensive, threatening, demeaning, profane, obscene, invasive of another’s privacy, tortious, in violation of intellectual property rights or privacy laws, commercial or advertising, off-topic, or otherwise injurious or illegal. ASRT also retains the right to suspend or remove a user from posting on the Communities without notice and in its sole discretion for a pattern of inappropriate postings, harassing other users, or as ASRT deems necessary. All user content must comply with the ASRT Code of Conduct and Terms of Use.

In response to posts that violate the ASRT Code of Conduct, ASRT employs a three-step process:

Step 1: After the first post: a written warning to the user and editing or removal of the post.
Step 2: After the second post: a written warning to the user, removal of the post and a 30-day suspension from posting on the Communities.
Step 3: After the third post: user will be notified of removal of the post and user loses the right to post on the Communities.

Respect the purpose of the Communities. The primary purpose of the ASRT Communities is to help individual ASRT members connect with each other, answer practice-related questions, share news about the profession and interact with others in their discipline or specialty. It is also a platform for ASRT announcements. The Communities should be used to share successes, challenges and questions.

Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Discussions are meant to stimulate conversation, not create contention. Posts should be professional and respectful in tone, without provocative or inflammatory language. Comments should add to the body of knowledge, offer information to solve problems or help to build consensus. Do not spam other users with unwanted messages publicly or privately.

Stay on topic. Posts must be relevant to the medical imaging and radiation therapy profession. Please respect the broad diversity of opinions among our members by avoiding posting about politics, current events or religion. Clearly state the topic of your comment in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search by subject. Once you have posted your opinion on a subject, allow others to respond and move the discussion forward. Do not copy/paste or repeat the content of previous posts. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

Guidelines for All Community Posts

Questions about ASRT or membership should be directed to the Member Services Department at memberservices@asrt.org or 800-444-2778.
Communities’ signatures should be no more than four lines and contain, at most, your name, title, company (can be linked to your website) and phone number. If your institution requires a disclaimer for legal reasons, it may be included if it does not run contrary to ASRT’s disclaimer below.
Simple messages like "Thanks for the information" or "Me, too!” can be sent directly to individuals using the “Reply to Sender” link in the message, instead of the entire discussion thread.
If you notice an inappropriate posting, click on "Mark as Inappropriate" and ASRT will review the post.
Do not post trademarked or copyrighted material without the owner's written permission. Only post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.
Posts must not contain individually, personally identifiable information about patients that could violate HIPAA regulations or other privacy laws.
To support research in our field while protecting ASRT from claims of antitrust, surveys that link to an external site must be pre-approved by ASRT. The survey must be related to medical imaging or radiation therapy and respondents must remain anonymous. Survey questions related to prices, costs or salaries are not allowed. ASRT does not allow market research surveys on the Communities. Inquiries should be directed to research@asrt.org.
Corporate advertising, recommendations by someone with a financial link to a company, advertising to sell goods or services, and fundraising or crowdsourcing such as GoFundMe pages are not allowed. Junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes and unsolicited advertising are also prohibited. ASRT reserves the right to post information regarding its products or services.
Use caution when discussing products. Comments about products and manufacturers are subject to libel, slander and federal and state antitrust laws. Do not post competitively sensitive or anticompetitive information about products or manufacturers, discussions about pricing or market allocation, or comments that disparage vendors, manufacturers or suppliers. As a tax-exempt association that represents members who work in the same profession or industry, ASRT and its members are subject to antitrust laws. Antitrust laws prohibit users of the ASRT Communities from making decisions together regarding, among other things, the prices they charge, the vendors or suppliers they use, the patients whom they serve or the geographic markets they work in. Accordingly, you must not post any statements in furtherance of collective conduct, and you must not advocate boycotting or refusing to do business with any vendor or supplier through the posting of reviews.
Do not post the costs of equipment or exams or salaries. Discussing compensation and benefits information has the potential to result in illegal cost-fixing or salary-fixing between organizations.
Posts for job openings are limited to 250 words.
Do not post your resume on the Communities. Please use the ASRT JobBank®.
Do not use posts to conduct or condone activities that violate any certification agency’s standards of ethics or continuing education guidelines. The ASRT may be obligated to report such posts to the attention of certification agencies.
Uploading, posting, email, transmitting or otherwise making available, including through any attachments, any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment is prohibited.
Do not post content that violates or encourages the violation of any applicable local, state, national or international law, including but not limited to regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law.

Guidelines for ASRT Affiliates and Other Nonprofit Organizations

ASRT Affiliates

ASRT Affiliates in good standing may post announcements in the Communities about upcoming meetings and other general announcements about affiliate activities.
Affiliates are encouraged to send their proposed announcement to communities@asrt.org to ensure it meets ASRT Community Guidelines prior to posting.
Affiliates are encouraged to include the phrase “A Proud Affiliate of the ASRT” at the end of their ASRT Communities posts to distinguish their status.

Nonprofit Organizations

Other nonprofit organizations are encouraged to use their own social media channels to promote meetings, CE opportunities and membership. Posts from other nonprofit organizations are generally not permitted on the ASRT Communities.
Nonprofit organizations who have partnered with ASRT in some capacity may post limited announcements. Example partnerships include:

Contractual partnerships with ASRT or the ASRT Foundation.
Nonprofits whose conferences include an ASRT representative as an invited speaker.
Nonprofits whose conferences provide ASRT with a complimentary exhibit hall booth.
Accreditation or certification agencies recognized by the ASRT that are providing information or requesting feedback on accreditation or certification activities.

Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to clarify their relationship with ASRT in their post. Example clarifications include: “Visit the ASRT booth at our annual meeting!,” “Attend the ASRT Update at our annual meeting!” or “Our organization partners with ASRT to provide educational opportunities to R.T.s in underserved communities around the world.”

Terms of Use

By accessing or using the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (“ASRT”) Communities (herein referred to as the “Sites”) you agree to comply with and be bound by the ASRT Code of Conduct and these Terms of Use, as well as ASRT’s Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the Code of Conduct, Terms of Use, and the Privacy Policy, you must immediately terminate use of the Sites.

The Sites are available only to individuals who can enter into legally binding contracts under applicable law. The Code of Conduct and Terms of Use constitute a legally binding agreement between you and ASRT regarding your use and access to the Sites.

ASRT may collect, use and share your information when you use the Sites. Please refer to ASRT’s Privacy Policy here to see how it collects, uses and shares your information: https://www.asrt.org/main/about-asrt/privacy-policy.

The logo, name and all graphics on the Sites are trademarks of ASRT. Use, reproduction, copying or redistribution of trademarks without the written permission of ASRT is prohibited. All other trademarks or service marks appearing on the Sites are the marks of their respective owners.

You understand and acknowledge that if you violate the terms and conditions at any time, you will not be able to use or contribute to the Sites and may be liable to ASRT for your actions. You warrant that you will abide by, without limitation, all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations with respect to your use of the Sites and not interfere with the use and enjoyment of the Sites by other users or with ASRT’s operation and management of the Sites.

ASRT reserves the right to amend or modify its Code of Conduct and Terms of Use and conditions herein at any time. Please check back frequently in order to see changes, as it may be amended from time to time. If you do not agree to the revised terms and conditions, you agree that your only recourse is to cease using the Sites.

ASRT reserves the right to refuse your participation at any time in ASRT’s sole and absolute discretion. ASRT may withdraw or suspend content or restrict or terminate your services and participation on the Sites at any time, immediately without notice and without liability to ASRT, as determined in ASRT’s sole discretion.

To participate on the Sites, you agree to register. You agree that you will keep your e-mail address and other contact information up to date. You agree that when you provide content to the Sites, you will provide your contact information with the content. You understand that ASRT will contact you through your e-mail address and that you take sole responsibility for actions resulting from incorrect contact information that you may provide. You will, at all times, provide true, accurate, current, authorized, and complete information when submitting information or materials on the Sites, including, without limitation, information required to be provided through an ASRT Site registration. If any false, inaccurate, untrue, unauthorized or incomplete information is submitted by you, ASRT reserves the right to terminate your access and use of the Sites. You warrant that you will not impersonate any other person or entity, whether actual or fictitious, when using the Sites, or defame or otherwise harm any party through the use of the Sites.

In providing the content to ASRT via the website, you hereby grant ASRT a perpetual (subject to the conditions below), worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive right and license to host, cache, route, transmit, index, store, copy, modify, distribute, perform, display, reformat and excerpt the content so that ASRT may: (i) host the content on the Sites and its servers, and (ii) display, perform and distribute the content, in whole or in part in any form. This license gives ASRT the right to display the content via streaming and/or downloading technologies, currently known and unknown, and to display the content on the Sites and for internal and external marketing purposes. ASRT reserves the right to display advertisements in connection with any display of the content on the Sites. All content shall be displayed in ASRT’s sole discretion and in no event shall ASRT be required to host, index or display the content. ASRT may remove or refuse to host, index or display any content in ASRT’s sole discretion. ASRT is not responsible for any loss, theft, intellectual property infringement or damage of any kind to the content. All user content is at your own risk. Other users may use posted information beyond the control of ASRT.

Provided that you agree to the terms of these Terms of Use and Code of Conduct, you will be able to share content on the Sites by the following methods: posting in the discussion forums, commenting on other individuals’ posts and sharing files in the libraries.

By using the Sites, you agree, represent and warrant that: (a) you are at least 18 years of age; (b) all of the information you have provided is correct and current; (c) the content is not, in whole or in part, pornographic, obscene, libelous and/or slanderous, or otherwise objectionable; (d) you hold and will continue to hold the necessary rights and licenses to the content, including but not limited to all copyrights, trademark rights and rights of publicity in and to the content and to grant to ASRT the necessary rights to the content; (e) you have the authority to grant the rights and licenses described herein; (f) you will not upload any information that reveals confidential information of a third party, including, but not limited, to patient identity; (g) you will not upload copyrighted or proprietary materials that is not owned or licensed by you; and (h) you will seek and receive permission from the document owner prior to uploading any material that is owned by others.

You further represent and warrant that the content and ASRT’s displaying of the content: (i) does not and will not violate any applicable federal or state law, statute or regulation; and (ii) does not breach and will not breach any duty toward or rights of any person or entity including, without limitation, rights of intellectual property, publicity or privacy, or rights or duties under consumer protection, product liability, tort or contract theories. Regardless of the foregoing, ASRT has no obligation to return any content to you.

The Sites and all content provided on the Sites by ASRT is presented "as is" with no warranties, express or implied of any kind, including without limitation, any representation or warranty that (i) the Sites or ASRT content, or any results that may be obtained by you, are complete, accurate, reliable or non-infringing; (ii) access to the Sites will be uninterrupted, timely, secure or error free; (iii) the quality of any services, information, content or other material obtained by you through the Sites will meet your expectations; or (iv) ASRT content will remain unchanged or accessible on the Sites. All warranties, express or implied, are disclaimed to the fullest extent permitted by law including, without limitation, any warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and/or non-infringement of intellectual property.

Any decisions you make based on the information provided is voluntary and should only be undertaken after an independent review of its accuracy, completeness, efficacy, and timeliness, and if applicable, discussion with your medical professional. Any decisions as to how you use this information is in your sole discretion and ASRT assumes no responsibility for any injury or damage to persons or property arising out of or related to any use of the material contained in the Sites or to any errors or omissions.

ASRT and its members, officers, directors, employees and volunteers shall not be liable, and disclaims any liability, for any claim, loss or damage, direct or indirect, including without limitation, compensatory, consequential, incidental, indirect, special, exemplary or punitive damages of any kind whatsoever in connection with, as a result of, or arising (i) out of the use of or inability to use the Sites and/or any ASRT content; (ii) from any interruption in the availability of the Sites and/or ASRT content; (iii) from any loss of data and/or from any equipment failure; (iv) from unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data; (v) from statements or conduct of any third party on the Sites; (vi) from any delay or failure of the Sites arising out of causes beyond ASRT’s control; (vii) out of the use of, reference to, or reliance on, the ASRT content; (viii) out of any third party materials, information, content, products and services contained on, or accessed through, the Sites; (ix) out of any content, information, materials, accuracy of information, and/or quality of the products, services or materials provided by or advertised on third party websites; or (x) out of any other matter relating to the Sites or ASRT content even if ASRT and its members, officers, directors, employees and volunteers have been advised of the possibility of such special, incidental, punitive, direct, indirect or consequential damages.

In the event you are dissatisfied with, or dispute, these Terms of Use, the Sites and/or ASRT content, your sole right and exclusive remedy is to terminate your use of the Sites, even if that right or remedy is deemed to fail of its essential purpose. You confirm that ASRT has no other obligation, liability, or responsibility, monetarily or otherwise, to you or any other party.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or conditions or the limitation or exclusion of liability for loss or damage caused by negligence, breach of contract or breach of implied terms, or incidental or consequential damages. Accordingly, only the above limitations in the preceding four (4) paragraphs which are lawful in your jurisdiction will apply to you and ASRT’s liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Use of the internet and the Sites is solely at your risk and is subject to, without limitation, all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. Unless expressly required by law, ASRT does not guarantee the confidentiality or security of any communication or other material transmitted to or from the Sites over the internet or other communication network. ASRT shall not be obligated to correct or update the Sites or any content and shall not be liable for omissions, typographical errors or out-of-date information, which may appear on the Sites.

The information contained in the Sites and ASRT content may or may not reflect the most current developments; accordingly, information on the Sites are not promised or guaranteed to be correct or complete and should not be relied upon as such. The information on the Sites does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the ASRT. The Sites may feature materials, content and information provided by third parties. Any such information made available by third parties or other users of the Sites are those of the respective third party and not of ASRT. ASRT makes no representation with respect to, nor does it guarantee or endorse, the quality, non-infringement, accuracy, completeness, timeliness or reliability of such third-party materials, information or content.

In no event shall ASRT be liable for any information that you post or otherwise provide to the Sites. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify, defend, and hold ASRT, and its directors, officers, employees, and applicable third parties (collectively "Indemnified Persons”) harmless from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, penalties, and judgments, including reasonable attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses incidental thereto, which may be suffered by, accrued against, charged to, or recoverable from any Indemnified Person, arising out of, or related to, the content, ASRT's authorized use of any of the content, your use of the Sites, and/or your breach of these Terms of Use and the Code of Conduct. ASRT may provide written notice of any such claims, but failure to provide such notice will not release you from any of your obligations pursuant to this paragraph except to the extent that you are actually prejudiced by such failure and will not relieve you from any other liability that you may have to the ASRT other than under this paragraph.

You understand that you have the right to request that ASRT withdraw your content from the Sites by providing ASRT with a written request sent to:
          15000 Central Ave. SE
          Albuquerque, New Mexico 87123
          United States
          FAX: 505-298-5063

If you request the withdrawal of your content with written notice to the above addresses, ASRT will strive to use commercially reasonable efforts to remove the content from the Sites within sixty (60) days from receipt of notice of withdrawal. ASRT may at any time in its sole discretion and without liability to ASRT terminate the Sites or withdraw any content from the Sites.

The content of the Sites includes, without limitation, (i) ASRT’s trademarks, service marks, logos, brands, and brand names, trade dress and trade names and other distinctive identification (“ASRT Marks”); and (ii) information, data, materials, interfaces, computer code, databases, products, services, software applications and tools, text, images, photographs, audio and video material, including artwork, and (iii) the design, structure, selection, compilation, assembly, coordination, expression, functionalities, applications, look and feel, and arrangement of any content contained in or available through the Sites (“Content”). Such Content is the property of ASRT, its licensors, sponsors, partners, advertisers, content providers or other third parties and is protected by law including but not limited to, copyright, trade secret, patent, and trademark law, as well as other state, national and international laws, treaties and regulations. The reproduction, transmission, distribution, sale, publication, broadcast, circulation or dissemination of any ASRT Content by you, or by you through any other person or entity, is prohibited unless express written consent is separately obtained from ASRT or the owner of such content if ASRT is not the owner. Any use of ASRT Marks without ASRT’s express written consent is strictly prohibited. You may not alter, delete, obscure or conceal any copyright or other notices appearing in the Content, including any such notices appearing on any ASRT Content you are permitted to download, transmit, display, print, or reproduce from the Sites.

These Terms of Use and Code of Conduct shall be governed by the laws of the State of New Mexico, without regard to its principles of conflicts of law. Any litigation here under shall be brought in any state or federal court of competent jurisdiction in New Mexico. You agree to unconditionally and irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of such courts and you will not object to such jurisdiction and venue on the grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction, inconvenient forum or otherwise. YOU IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ANY AND ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR CODE OF CONDUCT. ASRT reserves all rights and remedies available to it, in law or equity, with respect to any matter relating to these Terms of Use or Code of Conduct.

The application of the Terms of Use to you will take effect at the time you begin using the Sites. ASRT reserves the right, with or without notice, at any time and for any reason to deny you access to the Sites or to any portion thereof, and to terminate these Terms of Use. Your use of the Sites will be terminated if you fail to comply with the Terms of Use set forth herein. You may terminate your use of the Sites at any time by ceasing to use the Sites, but all applicable provisions of these Terms of Use will survive such termination, including but not limited to your indemnification obligations. Upon termination of your use of the Sites, you must destroy all copies of any portion of the Sites, including any ASRT content, in your possession.

The failure of ASRT to exercise or enforce any right or provision in these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such provision shall be enforced to the fullest extent of the law, and all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action by you arising out of or related to these Terms of Use or your use of the Sites must be filed by you within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.

These Terms of Use, together with any revision, any Additional Terms or Conditions incorporated by reference, the Code of Conduct, and any click-through agreement, constitutes the entire agreement between you and ASRT relating to the Sites and their use by you, and supersedes any previous written or oral communication regarding the use of the Sites.

ASRT makes no claims regarding access or use of the Sites or the ASRT content outside of the United States. If you use or access the Sites or the ASRT content outside of the United States, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with the laws and regulations of your jurisdiction as well as these Terms of Use.

ASRT provides opportunities for user interaction within its Sites and social media profiles. On these social media profiles, content and links to other internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the organizations, entities, views or content contained therein. ASRT is not responsible for content or links posted by others.