Something we’ve heard over and over again in our interactions with new members is “wow, STF is old.” We should all take a moment to appreciate just how long this club has been in existence. It’s truly impressive.

With old age, though, comes a lot of information and history and backstory. It can be difficult to summarize the reason we have bylaws instead of a Constitution to someone who wasn’t around 15 years ago. It may not even be a good reason now; but it’s still a reason that should be considered if we decide to turn around and think about a Constitution again.

With one of the largest groups of new members STF has had in a while, Rob and I have put a lot of thought in figuring out how to not only introduce them to STF’s role-playing, but to get them involved and excited about the rest of the club. These are the members that we need to keep the club active in another 10 years! The New Member Taskforce last term was a fantastic start to making sure that members are getting consistent information about the IC aspects of the club, but there is still work to be done to solidify that information and make sure that we have removed other references. Centralizing this information means that a small change in the future doesn’t mean three different departments need to update their web pages. There is more to be done, however, to make sure that members can go from learning we post in the third person past tense to stepping into their first government role. We propose a trio of optional New Member courses to be added to the Library as a resource, working with STF members to ensure that the information is presented in as many modalities as possible (not everyone likes reading a “read me”!):

The first course will be crafted from a combination of the Academy Syllabus and the Player’s Handbook to ensure that all new members get the same information whether they go through the Academy or they head straight to the main fleet.
The second course will be crafted to provide an introduction to STF history and government so that new members have some of the background information (and a database of acronyms :)) to get started in the OOC side of STF, should they so choose.
Finally, the third course will encompass more of the OOC knowledge needed to achieve higher positions in STF, such as tutorials on editing MOTDs, using the Admin menu, etc.

In my role as USS Challenger CO, I’ve already begun working with my new crop of graduated cadet DHs, my newly promoted CNS, and my experienced XO to establish a set pipeline to ensure that new members feel welcomed and educated, but not smothered, as they begin their STF careers. We’ve worked hard to coordinate feedback only coming from one person (typically the DH) and creating an environment where mistakes happen and get learned from and questions get answered respectfully, honestly, and quickly. Discord has provided an amazing tool to build community between the command staff, the command staff and the senior staff, and the entire ship crew.

Another aspect is making sure that we know what each role in STF is supposed to be doing. The foundations are provided by our various bylaws, but as a discussion in Command showed last term, the actual implementation can be varied and inconsistent. We’d like to see consistent standards applied to each position in STF, whether it’s the expectation that every DH in STF sends a new member JO a welcome email or that every Cabinet member posts a list of action items that’s updated monthly and everything in between. We can all hold each other accountable, then, for making STF the awesome place it is.

Action Items:

• Provide a clear outline of responsibilities for various leadership positions in STF, from DH positions to CO positions to FComms to various QDirs and EAs. These job descriptions will be crafted collaboratively with the membership to ensure that they best reflect STF’s history, STF’s present, and the desire for what STF’s future should be.
• Support TECH and the Librarian in order to get the STF Library onto the new system that is integrated into Exodus.

• Outline and then begin formation of a series of New Member Courses.

• Sarah and Rob