Help:Mediators Council Menu
Categories: Conflict Help
Here is the fixed selection of choices for the Mediators Council when Formal Mediation fails.
This menu of options, like all WikiTree rules and policies, may be discussed and changed. Mentors and Mediators are volunteers who are attempting to interpret and apply rules that have been agreed-upon by the wider community in order to resolve a conflict. They do not make the rules. If a rule is unclear, it should be clarified. If a rule is unfair, it should be changed. If you want to clarify or change a rule, see Help:Developing New Rules. However, note that any rule changes will only apply to future cases.
The Mediators Council Process
- The Mediators Council deliberates privately to reach its conclusion.
- During deliberation, parties to the conflict will have their accounts temporarily deactivated and should not communicate with anyone on or about the conflict.
- If any Mediators on the council have been involved or assisted at an earlier stage in the conflict escalation, they can participate in discussions but should abstain from the decision-making.
- Decisions made by the council must be unanimous. If a unanimous decision cannot be reached within seven days, the case defaults to option B, i.e. a return to informal mentoring.
- Decisions are communicated to the member through an impersonal and brief standard message. Specifics of the case were communicated at earlier stages of the conflict escalation process. If the council decides that WikiTree's rules were insufficiently communicated. or it is unclear how the member violated them in the most recent instance, they should choose option B or C.
- If the member does not accept the decision or does not reply within seven days, the case defaults to option G, i.e. account closure.
If you are involved in an escalated conflict and want to know the stage of your case or offer information, email WikiMediators@GoogleGroups.com. The council is unlikely to reply immediately because of the formal nature of the process. If you don't receive any message related to the case within seven days email info@wikitree.com.
Option A: Close the Conflict
The conflict file can be closed if it was a simple misunderstanding and is now fully resolved.
Option B: Return to Informal Mentoring with New Mentor
A new Mentor Intervention Request (MIR) will be filed so that a new Mentor can be assigned. It will not be the same Mentor that the Member worked with before.
Option C: Return to Formal Mediation with New Mediator
A new Mediation Request Form (MRF) will be filed so that a new Mediator can be assigned. It will not be the same Mediator who examined the case before.
Option D: Participation Limit
The council may ask the member to limit their participation in specific ways. For example:
- The member should only manage and edit:
- private profiles of close family members, or
- profiles of family members born after year X.
- The member should only participate in discussions with WikiTree members that are directly related to managed profiles.
This could be a permanent limitation or for a limited period of time, e.g. three months, six months, or a year.
Option E: Three-Week Break
The council may ask the member to take three weeks away from WikiTree.
The team would implement account deactivation and place an Absent Sticker on the member's profile explaining to others that they will be absent and incommunicative.
The member will be removed from management of all non-private profiles, but not removed from Trusted Lists. They will still receive some email through WikiTree. They should not reply to any messages or communicate in any other ways on or about WikiTree. If someone needs a reply, they should forward the message to info@wikitree.com and the team will explain in a neutral way that the member is temporarily unavailable.
At any time after three weeks (starting from the date the member was informed of the Mediators Council decision) they can contact info@wikitree.com to have their account reactivated. They will not automatically be added as the manager of any previously-managed profiles but can adopt profiles and participate with the full benefits of an Honor Code signer unless the council has recommended participation limits after the return as described in Option D.
Option F: Three-Month Break
Same as the above, but for three months.
Option G: Account Closure
The council will ask the WikiTree Team to close the account if it decides that the volunteer community has exhausted all of its abilities to resolve the conflict.
Member Acceptance of the Decision
The decision of the Mediators Council is the final stage of conflict escalation. It is the volunteer community's last attempt to resolve a problem.
The WikiTree Team will close an account if it is the decision of the council. The team will not overrule the decisions of volunteer Mentors and Mediators at any stage of the escalation process unless there is a Terms of Service violation or legal issue. In these cases, it is outside the scope of what can be handled by volunteers and account closure is required.
The member always has a choice. They can choose not to participate in the volunteer community. Nobody has a right or obligation to edit WikiTree. This is clear in our Terms of Service and in US law.
Help is always available to WikiTree members. Our community is amazingly generous. Members can always ask the team for help in closing their account cleanly.
This page was last modified 17:57, 21 April 2022. This page has been accessed 1,237 times.