Bill #1
NOTE: This bill was vetoed by EGO, and was resubmitted with amendments as Bill 2
This bill amends both the PDICT and CADET bylaws.
PDICT is amended by deleting the section titled “Mentors Program”.
CADET is amended by adding the following after the section “Departing From the Academy Fleet” (with any subsequent sections renumbered accordingly):
Mentoring Program
The Academy shall be responsible for maintaining a Mentoring Program. The Mentoring Program shall be maintained and administered by a Mentors Coordinator, who shall be appointed by the Academy Commandant. Unless otherwise expressly specified in this bylaw, the Academy Commandant may delegate to the Mentors Coordinator all work related to the Mentoring Program.
At a minimum, the Mentoring Program shall have two components:
1) Mentors assigned to all cadets in the Academy Fleet; and
2) Mentors assigned to new members who are on a non-Academy ship, where such a mentor has been requested by the new member (either in the new member’s application or after the new member has joined the club).
In addition, the Academy Commandant may create or terminate any additional components to the Mentoring Program, including programs to mentor members who are interested in taking on roles and responsibilities on a ship or elsewhere in the club. The Academy Commandant cannot delegate the responsibility of approving or terminating optional components to the Mentoring Program.
The Academy shall be responsible for creating a set of standards and qualifications for a member to become a mentor and remain a mentor, including whether there can be any exceptions and who approves those exceptions. The Academy shall ensure a balance is maintained between having highly qualified mentors and ensuring that there are enough mentors for the needs of the club. Generally, all mentors must have been a member for a minimum of three months which can only be waived by the Academy Commandant in exceptional circumstances.
The Academy shall be responsible for recruiting and approving mentors for the Mentoring Program.
The Academy shall make all reasonable efforts to ensure that every ship that accepts new members has at least one active mentor. The Academy may request the assistance of a ship’s Commanding Officer for that purpose. On an Academy ship, a Department Head shall automatically be appointed as the mentor for the cadets in that department.
The Academy may set policy for the responsibilities of the mentors. At a minimum, all mentors must make personal contact with the member they are assigned to mentor, be available to answer the member’s questions, assist the member with learning how to role-play in the club, and help the member with any problems or queries.
The Academy shall maintain a set of resources to assist mentors, which may include draft emails to be sent by mentors, links to resources, and a mentoring course.
The Academy shall maintain an internal list of active mentors and what ships they are active on, as well as an internal list of which members have been assigned to which mentors. The Academy shall report monthly on the status of the Mentoring Program, including how many active members there are, how many active mentoring assignments there are, ships that currently have no active mentors, and any problems that need to be addressed in the Program.
The Personnel Department shall be responsible for advising the Mentors Coordinator if a member outside of the Academy has requested a mentor.
Daniel Lerner
President