Terms of Service

Last updated: [DATE]

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of carolinamanagementinstitute.com and the CMI Insider membership service (together, the "Service"), operated by Carolina Management Institute, LLC d/b/a CMI Consulting ("CMI," "we," "us," or "our"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

1. Eligibility & Accounts

You must be at least 18 years old and capable of forming a binding contract to create a membership account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly of any unauthorized use.

2. Membership Subscriptions & Billing

  • CMI Insider and Organization memberships are billed on a recurring monthly or annual basis, as selected at signup, through Stripe.
  • Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current price for the plan you selected until you cancel.
  • You may cancel at any time through your member billing portal (Stripe's hosted Customer Portal, accessible from your member dashboard). Cancellation stops future renewal; you retain access through the end of the billing period you already paid for.
  • We may change subscription pricing prospectively. If we do, we will provide reasonable advance notice before the change applies to your next renewal; continuing your subscription after that notice constitutes acceptance of the new price.
  • We are not responsible for payment processing errors caused by Stripe or your card issuer, but will work in good faith to help resolve billing issues.

3. Refunds

Subscription fees are generally non-refundable, including for partial billing periods when you cancel mid-cycle — your access simply continues through the period already paid for, rather than being refunded for the unused portion. We may, at our sole discretion, issue a refund or credit in cases of billing error, service outage, or other circumstances we determine warrant one. To request a refund, contact us using the information in Section 14.

4. Organization Plan Team Seats

The Organization plan permits the paying account holder to invite a limited number of additional team members (seats) to share access to member content, as described on the Membership page at the time of your subscription. Invited team members do not have their own separate billing relationship with CMI; their access is entirely dependent on the primary account holder's active subscription and can be added or removed by the primary account holder at any time. If the primary subscription lapses or is canceled, all associated team seats lose access automatically.

5. Content License & Acceptable Use

Subject to your compliance with these Terms and, for member content, an active subscription in good standing, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the Service and its content for your organization's internal business purposes.

You agree not to:

  • Redistribute, resell, sublicense, or publicly republish member-only content (articles, templates, videos, or resources) outside your own organization
  • Share your account credentials with anyone outside your organization, or beyond the seat limits of your plan
  • Use the Service to build a competing product or service
  • Scrape, systematically download, or use automated means to extract content from the Service beyond normal individual use
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service, interfere with its operation, or circumvent rate limiting, authentication, or other security measures
  • Use the Service for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable regulation

We may suspend or terminate access for violation of this section, in addition to any other remedies available to us.

6. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its design, text, graphics, logos, and all member content, is owned by CMI or its licensors and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of any Service content to you; you receive only the limited license described in Section 5.

7. Consulting Engagements Are Separate

These Terms govern use of the website and membership content only. Consulting engagements with CMI Consulting — scoping, deliverables, fees, and timelines — are governed by a separate signed agreement between CMI Consulting and the client organization, not by these Terms.

8. Third-Party Services

The Service integrates third-party services, including Stripe (payments), Microsoft 365 (email delivery), and Anthropic, OpenAI, or Grok (AI tooling used internally by CMI staff, depending on current configuration). Your use of features that rely on these services is also subject to those providers' own terms. We are not responsible for the acts, omissions, or availability of third-party services.

9. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. CMI DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE.

Member content — including articles, templates, checklists, and trend briefs addressing healthcare, behavioral health, residential care, HR, and regulatory topics — is provided for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute legal, medical, clinical, financial, or other professional advice, and should not be relied upon as a substitute for consultation with qualified professionals or verification against current, authoritative regulatory sources (including but not limited to CMS, SC DPH, SCDHHS, and SC BHDD OIDD). Regulatory and industry information may become outdated; CMI is not responsible for decisions made in reliance on member content without independent verification.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, CMI AND ITS OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, OR GOODWILL, ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. CMI'S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID CMI IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100) IF YOU HAVE NOT PAID CMI ANYTHING. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold CMI harmless from any claims, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your violation of these Terms, your misuse of the Service, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time for violation of these Terms, non-payment, or other conduct we determine harmful to the Service or other users. You may terminate your account at any time via self-service account deletion in your member dashboard. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 6, 9, 10, 11, and 13) will survive.

13. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. You agree that any dispute arising from these Terms or the Service will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in South Carolina, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there. Before filing a claim, you agree to first contact us to attempt informal resolution.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Last updated" date above; for significant changes, we may provide additional notice. Continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to dshearer@carolinamanagementinstitute.com.