Posted by Captain Jennifer Ward (Presidential Candidate) in Questions for the Candidates - Academy Graduation Requirements and Character Creation

Posted by Adam W. in Questions for the Candidates - Academy Graduation Requirements and Character Creation
These are questions for Jennifer and Brian’s ticket based on their headquarters post.

What would you consider changing in the requirements for graduation?

Have you noticed graduates of the Academy who struggle with creating solid and realized characters and who feel daunted when they enter the mainfleet?

Adam W.

Specifically I think that the current requirements for graduation should stay in place, but add a component to it. Specifically that while on Challenger (or any other academy ship) cadets should work towards having a solid bio for their character. Now what does solid look like? That is something I would want to work with the academy with to decide. As for my personal experience let me start by clarifying this is not my first time at STF and I have experience writing backgrounds and bios for my characters. That is not so with every cadet. When my class left Challenger and arrived on our new ships a lot of us were told that we couldn’t keep our characters as we had envisioned them/wrote them. There was no bio nor detail of the character and so we got this situation where the CO approved us and then others on the ship pushed back and said no and it was a problem. To the point SEVERAL left STF all together
We feel that a better development of characters and writing quality will help prevent that. The Academy allows for weaker or new writers, and that’s amazing and the goal and purpose of the academy, but currently there is no requirement to help cadets build that character foundation. Without it going into the main fleet becomes a nightmare.
Jennifer and Brian, Supporting Creativity

A follow up question for you on this.

Do you think this situation may be an indication that cadets should be better trained on how to resolve issues using the chain of command?

Adam W.