Code of Ethics

These ethical guidelines are established by the Association to outline Members’ ethical duties and obligations to students, colleagues and the general public, and to promote professional cooperation and productive relationships among its Members. 

Antitrust Compliance Information

I. Personal Ethical Standards

The Association expects its Members to behave professionally and ethically in the representation of their abilities and in their promotional materials and outreach, and to conduct themselves in a manner that reflects positively on the Association.

1. Members shall present themselves honestly, in a dignified and professional manner, and with documented qualifications. These may include appropriate academic degrees, awards, professional affiliations, and teaching and performing experience.
2. Members shall strive to teach with competence by demonstrating knowledge of voice pedagogy, musicianship, familiarity with a variety of vocal repertoire, as well as performance skills.
3. Members should strive for continued growth in professional competencies.
4. Members shall faithfully support the Association and are encouraged to participate in and contribute to its activities and mission.
5. Members should abide by copyright laws and guard against encouraging or allowing infringement thereof.
6. Members shall exhibit responsible and ethical behavior when using print, digital and social media associated with the profession and the studio.
7. Members should be artistic resources for their communities.

II. Ethical Standards Relating to Students

The Association is committed to Member/Student relationships which foster excellence and learning in a dignified and professional environment, and which do not involve discrimination, sexuality, innuendo, or favoritism.

1. Members should avoid all types of discriminatory practices. Appropriate guidelines are set forth in statutes such as Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Canadian Human Rights Act.
2. Members should maintain appropriate boundaries in psychological, emotional, and personal contact with students, including insinuations that could be construed as sexual advances, even when a student may encourage or request such interaction.
3. Members should respect the privacy and personal integrity of students, not disclosing confidential information except to the extent that a particular legal or academic system requires disclosure.
4. Members should clearly communicate and comply with their studio policies and expectations in a timely and concrete manner.
5. The relationship between teacher and student shall be established, maintained and terminated in a respectful, professional manner.
6. Members should respect a student's prerogative to obtain instruction from any teacher(s) of their choice, including concurrent study with another teacher(s). Transparency should be maintained among all parties.
7. Members should offer their best instruction and career advice to every student under their supervision, and should treat each student in a respectful and impartial manner while taking into account individual differences in ability, learning styles and motivation.
8. Members should refrain from making exaggerated claims or misleading statements concerning a student's prospects for a professional career in music. They should not guarantee performances, professional positions or favorable contacts unless they can fulfill those promises.

III. Ethical Standards Relating to Colleagues

The Association encourages a mutually supportive atmosphere among its Members, and in their interactions with other related professionals.

1. Members shall refrain from making defamatory or untrue negative public statements or judgments about colleagues or their students, either verbally or in writing.
2. Members shall render honest and unbiased adjudication at auditions and competitions. If they are unable to do so, then they should recuse themselves.
3. In cases where a Member determines that involving other professionals in a student’s instruction may be of benefit (for medical, technical, artistic, musical, pedagogical, or other reasons), Members shall strive to work collegially with these professionals.
4. Rules and regulations of accredited academic institutions may at times take precedence over the Association’s Code of Ethics, should there be a conflict.
5. Should ethical conflicts arise between Members and/or a NATS Entity, direct communication should be used to resolve problems among the involved parties. If the conflict cannot be resolved, the Association has a specific, detailed process for dealing with concerns.

This version of the Code of Ethics approved by the NATS Board of Directors in June 2018.

Privacy Policy

NATS respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. It is important for you to understand what information we collect about you, and what we do with it:

1. What information do we collect and what do we do with it?

We do not collect personally identifiable information about you, except when you provide it to us. For example, if you complete a registration form, you may be asked to provide certain information such as: name, e-mail and mailing address. We may also collect your credit card details if you choose this payment option when purchasing any of our products and services.

The amount of personally identifiable information that a member chooses to disclose to the Association is completely up to the member. The minimum information required to maintain membership is a member's first name, last name and valid email address. Members wishing to resign membership may request their personal information be completely deleted from our membership records.

The information you supply will be used to provide you with the requested information and/or service. It may also be used to deliver other communications containing pertinent NATS product updates and information. If you prefer not to receive such communications, you may opt-out by sending an email to , subject line titled "opt-out".

We may collect, store or accumulate certain non-personally identifiable information concerning your use of this Website, such as: which of our pages are most popular, etc.

We do not sell, rent, or give-away your personal information to any third parties.

2. Cookies and Log Files

We may place a "cookie" on your computer's hard drive so we can recognize you as a return user and personalize your experience. A cookie is a piece of data that enables us to track and target your preferences. The cookie will be stored on your computer's hard drive until you remove it. We may also use temporary or "session" cookies to help you shop. These cookies will expire when you leave the Website. You can have your browser notify you of, or automatically reject, cookies. If you reject our cookies, you may still use our Website, but you may be limited in the use of some of the features.

In addition, we may use IP addresses to analyze trends, administer our Website, track traffic patterns, and gather demographic information for aggregate use, as well as for credit fraud protection and risk reduction. Except as otherwise disclosed in this Privacy Policy, we will not use IP addresses in combination with your personally identifiable information.

3. Security and Safeguards

We implement various security measures to protect the security of your personal information, both on and off line. In the case of online transactions, credit card numbers are only ever transmitted using secure connections, and are never stored on our servers. If you have any questions about security at our Website, you can send an email to .

4. Links

This Website may contain links to or from other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites. This Privacy Policy applies only to the information we collect on this Website.

5. Comments

We have taken great measures to ensure that your visit to our Website is an excellent one and that your privacy is constantly respected. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about our privacy practices or website, please contact us at .