Instructor No-Show Policy

The Carpentries is usually not involved in travel arrangements for workshops. Instead, once instructors have been selected, they negotiate travel and accommodation with the workshop’s host, and are then reimbursed directly by the host. In order to consistently provide high-quality workshops, however, The Carpentries must ensure that instructors fulfill their commitments. In particular, it must do what it can to ensure that instructors show up for workshops they have agreed to teach, so that hosts have the appropriate number of instructors and do not incur unnecessary expenses.

Instructors who find that they will not be able to meet an agreed upon teaching engagement are required to notify The Carpentries workshop coordinator as soon as possible. If travel arrangement have not been made, and the workshop is at least 6 weeks away, instructors may cancel with no questions asked. If non-refundable travel has been booked or it is less than 6 weeks from the workshop, instructors should clearly communicate the reason for missing their teaching engagement. The workshop coordinator will then handle communication with the host and attempt to find an alternate instructor if possible.

Depending on their reason for missing their agreed upon teaching engagement, instructors may be required to reimburse any non-refundable travel or accommodation costs that the host may already have incurred on their behalf. The Carpentries may waive this requirement in special circumstances outlined below, based on the judgement of The Carpentries Policy Subcommittee.

In some cases, The Carpentries will waive the requirement for the instructor to reimburse the host, and The Carpentries will reimburse the host for any expenses incurred. Circumstances in which The Carpentries will reimburse the host for any expenses incurred for missed workshops include, but are not limited to: illness, injury, family or work related emergencies, weather or transportation malfunction. Instructors may be required to provide appropriate documentation to the Policy Subcommittee. If an instructor is required to reimburse costs, but refuses to do so, or an instructor fails to provide adequate notice of withdrawal more than once, The Carpentries reserves the right to suspend their Carpentries instructor status.