Board of Directors Meeting January 19, 2014 Present: Steve

Board of Directors Meeting
January 19, 2014
Present: Steve McKanas Alex Carlin, Phil D’Agati Stephanie Leahy, Gavin Jones, Justin Kane,
Jane Cassingham, Brie Barbaro, Ryan Chaffin, Neiha Lasharie, Will Joyce, Jillian Whelan,
Andrew Kaz, Merlinda Xharda, Jane Rudy, Evan Bruning, Muji Ali, Elise Lecrone, Keely Mullen,
Sehej Anand, Daniel Rothchild, Jonathan Barkas
Agenda:
1. Introductions of new BOD members
2. Motion to add Ryan Chaffin, Neiha Lasharie, and Merlinda Xharda to the BOD as voting
members
a. All present voted unanimously to add them
3. Phil: Explanation of the meeting’s purpose. The political science department has asked us to
submit a proposal for what programming we will be doing for the next three years.
4. Round Robin
a. Dan: How is the MUN problem working and not working? If the MUN program ends,
can we still do RMUN and IMUN? I would also like to hear about how MAL and NATO
work.
b. Alex: NATO and Arab League work,
c. Jane C. : MUN program provides us with recruitment and fees that we need.
d. Justin: Not a fan of the MUN program, but also think that NATO quality has gone down
year to year. Right now, in favor of keeping status quo.
e. Will: MUN/NATO split is unsustainable. MUN is the gateway to the organization, we
should restructure it as an intro to model programs.
f. Neiha: Started in UN and then did NATO. There is definitely a braindrain having the two
classes back to back.
g. Jillian: Model UN is less intimidating, there are more countries, it would be better to
keep UN over NATO because it would do better as a single program.
h. Merlinda: UN is really important for recruitment. Many freshmen coming in knew
nothing about Model NATO and Model UN.
i. Ryan: Maintain status quo.
j. Brie: Cutting UN is not an option.
k. Gavin: We need to restructure the model UN program
l. Muji: UN is a good feeder program. It teaches debate basics. We could theoretically cut
NATO.
m. Stephanie: UN is important for recruitment
n. Elise: Can we restructure UN? Is it possible to try something this year and then
present our findings to the department and ask to change it? are we locked in for the next
3 years?
o. Steve: MUN is a major source of revenue, and it is important to recruitment and to
introduce people to the program
p. Jonathon Barkas: The IRC has control of these programs, if we drop MUN, then
someone else could try to reestablish it.
q. Phil: The NATO program meets requirements of the provost and the department chair.
Same for Arab League. We either keep UN for every year, bring it down to every other
year, or get rid of it completely
r. Jane Rudy: The two programs are deeply rooted in the department. If they want to
continue those programs, then they need to offer the support to maintain them.
5. 10 Minute Moderated Caucus, 30 second speaking time
a. Will: MUN is burning up our leadership. We need to focus on redefining MUN as a
training organization rather than a competitive organization.
b. Jonathon: If we’re thinking of easing up on Phil’s courseload, can some other teacher
c. Merlinda: MUN needs to become a very structured training program. Phil needs to be
authorative at the front of the room constantly during MUN.
d. Andrew: It’s not doing any good for the organization. It needs to be structured in a way
that teaches people, not mirror NATO if it’s not going to be competitive.
e. Stephanie: Model UN should either be made stronger and have a conference or it
should be a training program. This is not a decision we can make today. We should keep
the status quo.
f. Phil: If we keep the Model UN program, we need to understand that major change has
to be made. We need to think about how it’s going to be run and managed. The
department needs course numbers for the next six semesters.
g. Gavin: There’s only so much effort Phil can put in. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of getting a TA from the department.
h. Elise: We need a formal evaluation. Tell the department that we’ll need a change by
year two. There is potential for us to switch to MUN programming because there are
highquality MUN conferences.
i. Brie: If UN turns into a lecturebased class, then would we still be able to charge a lab
fee? Would a TA need to be a PHD or could they be a Master’s candidate?
j. Steve: The UN program should not be cut. It is too valuable for recruitment and we
could potentially find conferences in the future.
k. Will: UN conferences will not be the future of this organization, they are terrible.
l. Phil: Having a TA doesn’t work because the program structure is run by undergraduate
leadership.
m. Evan: It seems that everyone wants to keep UN, but reform it. We need to decide if
we want to have a committee to figure this out
n. Daniel: MUN is very different than MAL. We have to tailor our classes to suit that
difference. A committee needs to be created, with an alumni rep, to figure out how to
handle that and make UN as effective as possible.
o. Jane Rudy: This committee should be created
p. Justin: Getting MUN to be better never really works. I don’t have confidence that we will
have enough leadership to do that. We also need to decide the future of the NATO
program. The conference itself has gone down, as has our class program.
q.Jillian: The main program the Model UN program doesn’t work is because the BOD
does NATO and not MUN. A lot of these kids are very passionate, and the class needs to
be better.
r. Jonathan: It’s important to have MUN as the gateway to other programs and because it
is a program itself.
6. Motion to inform the political science department that we will be maintaining the status quo as
far as class schedule→ Motion passes
7. MUN Reform Committee created
a. Committee will be chaired by Elise LeCrone
b. Committee is made up of: Justin Kane, Will Joyce, Jillian Whelan, Neiha Lasharie,
Daniel Rothchild, Brianna Barbaro
c. Phil is a nonvoting observer member on this committee
d. The committee must present their preliminary proposal to the BOD by March 12, 2014.
If they miss this deadline, an emergency BOD meeting will be called
8. The EBoard is tasked with tasking the MUN Reform Committee

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