Posted by Joe P in Questions for the candidates - changes to the Academy

Posted by Gavin Burkhardt in Questions for the candidates - changes to the Academy
Open to any candidates!

The Academy is a part of the club near and dear to my heart, and one which has been debated recently with no real action (that I’m aware of) resulting from the debate.

What changes (if any) would you make in the Academy space (including the Challenger, the Academy government, the Academy courses and tutoring, and anything else you think is related)?

Looking forward to your thoughts!

Gavin

Hi Gavin,

The Academy is very near and dear to my heart as well. It’s where I started in the club, and where I started doing OOC work in the club.

The Academy is especially important because it’s a lot of people’s first experience with the club, and that experience is supposed to prepare them for the rest of the club. There has been a lot of thought into how to make that experience one that is supportive and fun, based upon nearly two decades of practical experience. So, I personally think that any changes to it need to be very fully thought out before they are implemented, after understanding why the Academy was designed the way it is. Steve and I are not closed to proposals to change it, especially if whoever we pick to be Academy Commandant has an idea they want to pursue. But we don’t have a specific plan to change anything with it ourselves.

The one idea that we have toyed with slightly that might affect Academy, would actually be to the Personnel Department. It’s hard to find people who want to help out in PDept, and lot of the work processing new applicants and placing them on ships that is done by human effort now could be automated. Were that to be the case, it would make sense to fold whatever would be left of the Personnel Department into the Academy, since any remaining PDept functions would be new-member-centric things that would make sense inside the Academy. But that is a very speculative idea, and not one we’re actually committed to at this time.

I hope that answers your question. I’m happy to go into any additional detail or answer any follow ups.

Joe

Thanks for the response. I mostly wanted to make sure it was on your administration’s agenda, since I feel the Academy is such a different animal from the main fleet that club-wide agendas often overlook it. I know Daniel and Rob have tried to do things with it this term (to some extent), but as you said, due to the Academy’s nature they were reviewed carefully and nothing came of the proposals.

Thanks again,

Gavin