The RMA Code of Ethics has been developed to help RMA guests, instructors and volunteers achieve a level of personal conduct that is consistent with the position and profession of RMA. It contains standards of behaviour expected of members while they perform their duties.
The following Code of Ethics is organized around four principles:
1. Respect for RMA Guests
This principle challenges members to act in a manner respectful of the dignity of all participants in the sport.
2. Responsible Teaching
This principle demands that the activities of members will be done safely and with the best interest of all participants in mind.
3. Integrity in Relationships
This principle holds that members are expected to be honest, sincere and honorable in their relationships with others.
4. Honouring Sport
This principle challenges members to recognize, act on and promote the value of sport for individuals and other partners in the sport.
Each main principle is followed by an explanation of a key word that is supportive of the main principle. The Board of Directors shall take appropriate disciplinary action should any breach of the Articles of the Code occur.
1. Respect for Participants
1. Respect
• Treat all participants in sport with respect at all times.
• Provide feedback to participants in a caring manner that is sensitive to their needs.
• Refrain from engaging publicly in demeaning descriptions of others in sport (e.g., statements, conversations, jokes, presentations, and media reports).
2. Rights
• Respect people as autonomous individuals and refrain from intervening inappropriately in personal affairs that are outside the generally accepted jurisdiction of a ski instructor.
3. Equity
• Treat all participants equitably within the context of the sport regardless of gender, race, place of origin, athletic potential, colour, religion, political beliefs, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, or any other status.
4. Empowerment
• Encourage and facilitate participants’ abilities to be responsible for their own behavior, performance and decisions.
5. Confidentiality
• Exercise discretion in recording and communicating information so that information is not interpreted or used to the detriment of others.
2. Responsible Teaching
6. Professional Training
• Be responsible for achieving and maintaining a high personal level of professional competence through appropriate training.
• Keep themselves up-to-date with relevant information through personal learning discussions, workshops, courses, conferences, etc., to ensure their services will benefit others.
7. Self-Knowledge
• Evaluate how their own experience, attitudes, beliefs, values, and stresses influence their actions as ski instructors and integrate this awareness into all efforts to benefit others.
8. Teaching Limits and Safety
• Take the limits of their knowledge and capacity into account in their teaching practice. In particular, members must not assume responsibilities for which they are insufficiently prepared.
• Refrain from working in unsafe or inappropriate situations that significantly compromise the quality of their services and the health and safety of participants.
9. Complete Effort
• Ensure that every reasonable effort has been applied to help participants reach their potential.
10. Sexual Relationships
• Be acutely aware of power in teaching relationships between you, the instructor, and the participants:
• Avoid sexual intimacy with participants. The principle of zero tolerance should be exercised where minors are involved.
• Abstain from and refuse to tolerate in others all forms of harassment, including sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment includes either or both of the following:
a) The use of power or authority in an attempt to coerce another person to engage in or tolerate sexual activity. Such uses include explicit or implicit threats of reprisals for noncompliance or promises or reward for compliance.
b) Engaging in deliberate or repeated unsolicited sexually oriented comments, anecdotes, gestures, or touching that:
i. are offensive and unwelcome;
ii. create an offensive, hostile or intimidating environment; iii. can be expected to be harmful to the recipient.
11. Extended Responsibility
• Recognize and address harmful personal practices of others in the sport e.g., drug and alcohol use/addiction, physical and mental abuse, and misuse of power.
3. Integrity in Relationships
12. Honesty
• Accurately represent their qualifications, experience, competence and affiliations in spoken and written communication, being careful not to use descriptions or information that could be misinterpreted.
13. Conflict of Interest
• Declare conflicts of interest when they arise and seek to manage them in a manner that respects the best interests of all those involved.
14. Equipment
• Avoid discrediting specific ski equipment, manufacturers, sponsors, suppliers and/or other industry partners.
15. Financial
• Members must meet professional financial obligations promptly and conduct all their business dealings in a manner befitting the standards of the organization.
4. Honouring Sport
16. Positive Role Model
• Maintain the highest standard of personal conduct and project a favorable image of skiing and of ski teaching to participants and the public in general.
17. Responsibility to Industry Partners
• Promote cooperation with resorts, ski schools, the skiing public, and other groups that participate in and promote skiing.
18. Respect for Other Members
• Respect the good efforts of other members in the field. Refrain from vilifying the actions of other colleagues in public or private.
19. Resort Respect
• In a resort, privileges are often given, and under no circumstances should these be taken as a right nor be abused so as to cause embarrassment to any instructor, director or operator.
Recommended Process and Procedures
In cases where a violation of the RMA Code of Ethics is suspected, the following process and procedure is recommended.
1. Students or responsible associates may contact the RMA directly to seek advice if they are unsure of what to do.
2. Make every possible effort to deal with and resolve a suspected Code of Ethics violation.
3. Document, in writing, the facts. No action should be considered on the basis of hearsay, innuendo or undocumented information.
4. Submit complaints to the RMA by email to info@rockymountainadaptive.com
5. RMA shall consider cases of suspected breach of RMA Code of Ethics.
This information has been adopted from the CSIA Code of Ethics