S E M M U N A

Notes from post-conference:

• Monitoring of rooms by advisors recommended, especially at end of day (for clean-up supervision, proper committee release time, etc.)
• Advisors and host school should make clear to chairs committee end times so they can pace committee work; advisors should work with chairs so they understand depth of topic in order to sustain debate through the conference day. 

Notes from SEMMUNA 2010 Advisor's Meeting:

• Great job by Troy Athens in accommodating all the enormous changes this year!
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• Issues Identified:
  • SEMMUNA has grown from 300 average to 500 this year; 12 schools to 19 schools
  • This makes conference logistics more dynamic and difficult for host schools
  • Determining solid numbers early is important; late registrants increase costs, especially in food which must be purchased for them
  • As the economy contracts, schools increase fees for hosting (building usage, custodial, etc.)
  • $10/delegate conference fee has not changed since 1996
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• Solutions to implement for next year:
  • SEMMUNA implements a one-time Association Fee of $50 per school to be billed for April 2011 payment; new schools will pay the fee in September 2011.  This fee will produce a Capital Fund with which the host school for 2011 may purchase initial conference supplies.
  • SEMMUNA will eliminate the $50 deposit as its function (deterring schools which drop) is no longer an issue.
  • Conference fees will increase next year and for future years to $20/delegate.  $15 will go to the host school to fund the conference; $5 will go to the Capital Fund.
  • Add/Drop date will move up to 3 weeks prior to conference.  Schools adding after that date will have to pay an extra fee per delegate (to offset extra costs of supplies); however, no schools or delegates can be added after the add/drop date without consent of the host school.
  • The Capital Fund may be used by the host school, but is understood to be a "loan" against conference payments which will be repaid back into the fund following the conference.
  • One week after add/drop date, schools will confirm their approximate numbers of delegates slated for each committee through an online form to better gauge facility use.
  • SEMMUNA Director will present a finance report to the advisors at each conference to measure the effectiveness of the above solutions.
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• Solutions to consider for next year:
  • Create 15 standard committees to reduce numbers in rooms.
  • Create topics/committees which might 1) easily split into two committees if needed, or 2) easily be merged, if needed.
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• Ideas "tabled" until next year:
  • Whether the Capital Fund should have a "cap" of $5000 or not.
  • Whether a portion of the increase fee will reimburse Troy Athens team for its work in 2010.
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• Announcements:
  • IA Central may run an IAMUN conference in the spring.
  • Royal Oak will host a SEMMUNA Leadership Summit in April, encouraging each school to send 4-5 future leaders to share ideas, learn conference and club skills, and build the SEMMUNA agenda.
  • Northville HS will host in 2011; Lahser HS is a back-up school.

Notes for SEMMUNA 2009 as recommended by our advisors at their annual meeting Nov. 15, 2008. 

• Great committees and focus; fine hosts from IA West!

• Recommendation:  Kohl's and other stores offer small grants and employee volunteers

• Some trouble in registration communication:

  • Inform advisors of registration update schedule (once/week?)

  • Emails for web updates also recommended

• Chairs should be prepped on parli pro by advisors from their schools.

• Crisis Teams should coordinate with chairs; beware polarizing committees or de-railing debate

  • Crises should occur after lunch

  • Crises should thicken or add complexity to debate

Notes for SEMMUNA 2007 as recommended by our advisors at their annual meeting Oct. 7, 2006.  Let us know if we have missed anything, but expect these changes to be implemented.

• Excellent work by chairs and Farmington HS!

• We need to improve the communication between the ROHS coordinators and the host school to be sure of school numbers at registration.

• Best dates for conference:  third or fourth weekend in October.  Early October conflicts with too many Homecomings and other events.

• Earlier end-time coincidentally works okay for many committees.

• One topic per committee is appropriate.

• SEMMUNA Leadership Summit will determine agenda and chairs for following fall.

• Schools dropping the conference and reducing the number of delegates after the add/drop date remains a problem, this year affecting the host school budget by about 25% or approx. $500.  For this reason, while the add/drop date will continue, determined by the host school, SEMMUNA will also add:

  • Registration Deposit of $50 at the time of registration to be sent directly to the host school.  Balance of $10/delegate due at conference date.

  • Registration Deposits will not be refundable.

  • Add/Drop date will be determined by the host school.

• Event dates can be posted to the SEMMUNA website.

Here are notes for SEMMUNA 2006 as recommended by our advisors at their annual meeting Nov. 5, 2005.  Let us know if we have missed anything, but expect these changes to be implemented.

• Praise to IA for its excellent work!

• Two significant changes to SEMMUNA were noted:

  • After years of working to have more schools contribute committees, this year it worked. Several SEMMUNA schools provided excellent background papers and chairs, making SEMMUNA truly a collaborative conference.  However, it was also noted that background papers were slow to be posted.

  • SEMMUNA is growing significantly. A conference of 180 students three years ago is now closer to 450.  This means more committees in order to keep committee size low (between 20-35 delegates). It also means a more dynamic conference in size and unpredictability in logistics.

• Recommendations:

  • SEMMUNA will continue to offer many committees (13-16) to keep committee size low.  However, schools will be reminded that because of the volatile nature of large numbers, some committees at future conferences may not run.

  • To keep committee debate more substantive, committees will focus on one topic during the day; however, chairs and committee-preparers will also prepare an "additional crisis chapter" which might be offered during the conference day to thicken debate.

  • For the same reason, Crisis Teams provided by the host school should be well-prepared and large enough to provide for committees during the day.

  • For background guides and timeliness, the following recommendations:

    • Agenda will be prepared at the SEMMUNA Leadership Summit the previous May.

    • Hotlinks to resources will be immediately posted on the SEMMUNA site for delegate to research while background papers are prepared over the summer.

    • Background papers will be submitted to the coordinating school to be posted on the website, ideally no later than one month prior to conference date.

  • Chairs should be well-trained so that they are solid on parliamentary procedure, ability to command a room, and to keep delegates on topic.

  • Contributing schools might also provide Crisis Team members, if the host school recommends it.

  • SEMMUNA will add an Add/Drop date two weeks prior to the conference date; schools will be obligated to pay the $10 delegation fee based upon the registered number of delegates at that date. They can certainly register earlier than that date and then adjust the number up to the Add/Drop date. Late added students may be possible depending on the overall SEMMUNA numbers as dictated by the host school.

  • Food provisions should be sanitary, but SEMMUNA recommends that host schools provide for potential wasted food.  A la carte meals are preferred where sanitary conditions permit.

  • North Farmington HS has SEMMUNA banners which can be used by host schools each year.

  • Regarding corporate sponsorship of SEMMUNA, we do recommend donations from local businesses, larger corporate interests, etc.  However, such sponsorships and logos should not dominate SEMMUNA literature (such as program cover pages, etc.).  Host schools are also advised to be conscious of the social responsibility of contributing businesses. 

• SEMMUNA will provide a May Leadership Summit each year for selected future leaders of SEMMUNA schools. Like the fall conference, schools will be encouraged to provide their expertise from current leadership, alumni, and other experts.  The purpose of the Summit will be to increase the strength of SEMMUNA schools in their Model UN activities, share ideas, and to create a closer network of student leaders among the schools.