Organizing our thoughts

Grosseschnauzer

Grosseschnauzer

TNPer
WAKE UP!


I've done some rough copying and pasting from the different threads so we can move towards a set of recommendations, and a final report outlining the plan for TNPU.

Please feel free to quote paragraphs and show what you would change, add or delete, so we can work towards a consensus report. There are still some issues to be resolved, but I wanted to give y'all a swift kick in pants to get this on track. (Don't get mad at me, someone had to do it!)

The Mission of the University of the North Pacific is to establish a seminary and repository of those lessons learned and demonstrated by the manifest experience of its members, for the betterment of all players of Nationstates and the game itself.

The university will offer courses of study leading to certification for beginning and advanced courses. The university would also serve as the host for the discussion of topics of either a general or specialized nature in a disciplined, academic setting.  In general, this would include:
    * Courses on beginner NS issues, such as how the UN works, how issues work, etc.
    * More advanced courses for players who understand the game. Subjects such as complex invader/defender, history of NS regions, interregional politics, etc.
    * Certifications for those who have taken a set of courses and passed a short examination or made a academic rigorous presentation on a relevant area of academic value;
    * Lectures by veteran NS players on various issues;
    * Discussions on in-depth and advanced NS issues;
    * A library of NS documents, posts, forum addresses, etc. that are normally hard to find, including an in-depth archive of documents relating to TNP history.

The University would operate as an independent, functional, autonomous entity of The North Pacific. We evision the University would be adminstered through a chancellor and a board of regents. The board of regents would consist of six members, to serve a six-month term and elected by the members of the Regional Assembly as representatives of the nations contained within The North Pacific on a non-partisan basis. The election would be conducted in the same manner used for the Security Council. The Minister of Culture and Education would serve as the chair of the board of regents on an ex-officio basis, voting in cases of a tie.

The chancellor would be elected by the board of regents for a six month term, at the half-way point of the regents’ term. The chancellor would be an ex-officio member of the board of regents, and be the day-to-day head of the university. The chancellor will organize the curriculum and selecting the faculty and other officials of the University. The board and the chancellor would set the policies of the University.


In the event of an emergency, or where action is necessary or appropriate, then the Minister of Culture and Education as chairman of the board of regents, could take an issue to the Cabinet or to the Regional Assembly. The board of regents will provide for who would act as chancellor in the event the chancellor is unavailable or resigns until a new chancellor is put in place. The university would have access to the judiciary as a distinct entity.

Beginner Courses

    * Introduction to Nationstates - 3 credits
    * The Nationstates United Nations, an introduction - 3 credits
    * Introduction to defending/invading - 3 credits
    * TNP History I - 3 credits
    * Issues, what are they? - 2 credits
    * Communication between nations and regions - 2 credits

Intermediate Courses

    * Writing NSUN Resolutions I - 4 credits
    * Defending I - 3 credits
    * Invading I - 3 credits
    * Diplomacy I - 3 credits
    * Writing Issues - 3 credits
    * TNP History II - 3 credits
    * History of NSUN Resolutions I - 3 credits
    * NS World History I - 3 credits
    * NS Role Playing - 2 credits
    * Forums and their Importance in NS - 2 credits
    * Flag Design - 2 credits
    * Cartography - 2 credits

Advanced Courses

    * Defending II - 3 credits
    * Invading II - 3 credits
    * Diplomacy II - 3 credits
    * History of NSUN Resolutions II - 3 credits
    * Writing NSUN Resolutions II - 3 credits
    * NS World History II - 3 credits
    * NS World History III - 3 credits
    * Passing NSUN Resolution - 3 credits
    * Nationstates Government Analysis - 3 credits
    * NS Intelligence I - 3 credits
    * NS Intelligence II - 3 credits
    * The Power of Democracy in NS - 3 credits
the first area of courses should be the courses that would amount to a "NS for Beginners," and then perhaps the courses for the Diplomatic Corps?

The first one can be used to attract new players to become active in the region and the second might help the MoEA attract players to serve as ambassadors for TNP.

Then there's a lot of flexibility as to when and in what sequence more advances courses could be offered. Most likely we could solicit feedback as to what other areas to offer first.

Timeline: I wouldn't expect to be able to start classes until the governing structure is put in place. I hope to take the Commission's package to the RA by the end of December, and hopefully to a vote well before the end of January.

That would likely mean the first courses of TNPU would probably come, at the latest, by the end of February. I would hope we can move it along faster than that, but the year end holidays will slow everything down.
Click to expand...
 
I like that, only I wouldn't list the courses in the actual resolution. I would leave that to the chancellor.

I think we should also decide on the certification process/requirements. I'll start a thread on that now.
 
The list of courses would be part of the report; the legislation wouldn't include it since the plan is to leave those details to the board of regents and the chancellor. Same thing for any other details this Commission develops as part of the road map.

So we do need to flesh out this draft report, though. especially a timeline as to what could be put into place in what order, and when. Even the timeline won't be in the legislation (other than the dates for electing the board and a date by which the board should appoint the chancellor. The rest of the report is intended to be the roadmap the university can start from and modify as circumstances warrant.
 
I think that everything above would work for setting up an educational institution for NS. One thing I was wondering from the beginning, and I guess didn't express well enough is if we would also like the University to be a place where original research is done in the NS world.
 
I don't see why not?

Mikitivity, the IDU's ambassador to TNP (and TWP) and the IDU's director of a UN Proposal Writing Service, has maintained an extensive amount of original research at the United Nations Organizations forum and frewuently posts polls at Jolt for that research, as well as an extensive history of UN resolutions at the NSwiki.

It's certainly a model for how to do it, and he's been at it longer than I've even been in Nationstates.
 
BW, keep in mind, the road map is just that -- a working blueprint that the regents and chancellor will start from. If the U is going to last, there has to be a goal to point to as it develops.

Alsp, no one is suggesting that the whole thing is going to be in place from day 1. But it's important for the long term that choices are made with a blueprint to guide those choicest. It avoids wasted energy and spending a lot of time on directions that do not fit the long term objective.

The main unanswered question beside certification is the time frame, and I'd like suggestions from the Commission members on that. Assuming a bill is presented to the RA at the beginning of January, at the latest, what sort of time frame do we envision?

And Ator or Unter, do one of you want to polish the draft?

Thanks!
 
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