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MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE
Model United Nations
Below are the election candidates for the Executive Board of the 2015-2016 school year. Elections will take place on Sunday, April 19 at 2 pm in Skinner 202. For information about the positions and roles check the Constitution sub tab under the "Who We Are" tab.
In addition to these candidates we will be voting upon an amendment to the Constitution. The proposed amendment would create the position of Assistant Crisis and GA Trainers appointed by the incoming and outgoing Head Delegates. The exact wording can be found in the e-mail from April 15th.
Name: Kaila Cantens
Class Year: 2017
What position are you running for: Vice President, Crisis Trainer
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 3 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: Ice Hockey, CA
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
1. I am passionate about becoming the best team we are capable of. This club brings me so much pride and I want to continue bringing in awards. We are all excellent delegates and I want to help delegates showcase their amazing efforts and be rewarded for all their hard work. Being proud of oneself is not dependent on awards and seeing my fellow delegates and myself improve makes me passionate about reaching out to new goals and expectations.
2. Competency: After attending many GA and Crisis conferences and even running a crisis committee of my own, I am competent in my abilities to train others in crisis. I am familiar with the methods that are used to write crisis notes and I am creative in finding new ways to look at an issue when deciding a crisis arc.
3. One of my best qualities is that I am amiable. I am very good at talking to people and making friends. Knowing when to speak and knowing when to be silent and listen are two very important skills that I have developed over the years that have helped me communicate well with others. These skills are the basis for being amiable.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
1. Retaining members. There are certain disadvantages to being a small club in terms of awards. Being able to retain members and grow as a club will not only allow for a richer debate during Sunday simulations but it will help with funding, awards, diversity within the club, and other factors that play into the clubs dynamic.
2.Happiness. Although conferences can become stressful at times, Model UN is a bunch of college kids playing pretend in a fake world essentially. Research and awards are very stressful topics and although they are important aspect of Model UN it is not worth the struggle if it does not bring you happiness. Model UN is about having fun and arguing about topics that you care about and learning about new country and histories and political positions. The stress can overcome these positive feelings and make an experience not worth while.
3. Awards: At the end of the day awards are what counts in terms of credibility, respect, and visibility on the circuit. When taken seriously because of our status delegates will be able to expand and reach unexpected highs in performance. Awards will show that all of their hard work was recognized.
Name: Aayushi Mishra
Class Year: 2018
What position are you running for: Crisis Trainer
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 2 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: SGA Communications Committee, Biochemistry Club, Neuroscience Club
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
- Winning Best Delegate Award at SCSY and Honorable Mention at PICSIM both encouraged and reflected my understanding of Crisis committees, especially since it has only been my first year of being a part of MUN. I plan on sharing this understanding through videos, tutorials, presentations, practices, quizzes, and dynamic lectures.
- Gaining leadership experience as Crisis Director at FCMUN VIII further structured my foundation of being in charge, teaching staffers how to write crisis notes, analyzing directives, and so on. After this experience, I can definitely teach the members how to be the best delegate in the room.
- After participating in four Crisis committees, I have developed proficient experience in forming Crisis Trees/Arcs, writing concise Directives, and speaking at a constant rate during Moderated and Unmoderated Caucuses. I will teach every method to the club members and have short quizzes at the end.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
- Accessibility: My main priority as Crisis Trainer would be to be as approachable as possible. I am planning on holding Office Hours every Sunday before the simulations so members can meet me for questions/tips/feedback.
- Individual feedback: After the Sunday simulations, I will speak with every member individually (Typically through 10-minute blocks every Sunday afternoon/evening) to give relevant feedback on a personal level. This way, the people applying for conferences will know exactly what they need to do and how to do it.
- Mount Holyoke's rankings: After having a great year with several awards as a club, it is my priority to train the members so that they are polished, intelligent, and assertive delegates. I will do so, along with the rest of the Executive Board, by encouraging transparency (If a member is not selected for a conference, make sure to train them so they will be ready for the next conference), emphasizing communication amongst the Executive Board and the club members, and holding club bonding sessions. This can be anywhere from eating dinner together on campus or going to another town together. If we are united as a delegation, we can surely take on Model United Nations and increase our ranking.
Name: Elisabeth Lee
Class Year: 2018
What position are you running for: GA Trainer
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 2 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: I will be in a dance group, Taal, and may have an on-campus job.
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
Vice President
1. I have been a committed member for the past year, attending nearly every meeting, helping at events and attending conferences. As Vice President this would also be expected of me and I believe that I have demonstrated that I would fulfill this.
2. I want to become more involved in the management and running of the club and help us to continue to succeed and to build a strong future for the club.
3. I have served on the Executive Board for the past semester and believe I have shown myself to be a capable and constructive member. It has given me experience to know how the E-Board functions and also allowed me to understand the role of Vice President.
GA Trainer
1. I have been a committed member for the past year, attending nearly every meeting, helping at events and attending conferences, including HNMUN, a GA conference.
2. In addition to my two semesters in MHC MUN I also participated in Model UN for two years in high school which was only GA. Due to this I am extremely confident in my abilities when it comes to parliamentary procedure, lobbying, writing resolutions and forming a bloc.
3. I want to become more involved in the management and running of the club and help us to continue to succeed and to build a strong future for the club. Currently many members feel less confident and less prepared when it comes to GA committees and I want to fix that to improve their overall MUN skills.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
Vice President:
1. Integrate new members through better follow up early on, more events and opportunities to get to know them personally early on.
2. Create a closer club community through bonding events and better use of MUNtors and MUNions. Also be more transparent in decision making and make clear the different roles of each E-Board member so that all members of the club are informed and satisfied with the way the club is run.
3. Help develop and teach a separate training for new members to adjust to MUN and be better equipped to participate in future conferences.
GA Trainer
1. Create a training program to teach new and inexperienced members about the basics of Model UN (i.e. parliamentary procedure, speaking, writing, debating) to prepare them better for conferences and integrate them more into the club
2. Better prepare members for GA conferences especially in the areas of strategizing, writing and adapting to difficult situations. Prioritize this in preparation for conferences such as HNMUN or UPMUNC. For this work closely with the Crisis trainer/team to coordinate trainings and plan lessons and practices in advance.
3. Also work with the past trainers/head dels (Fatima and Priyanka) to make close, personal connections with other head dels on the circuit and make Mount Holyoke more recognized and respected.
Name: Maria Saraf
Class Year: 2016
What position are you running for: Vice President
How long have you been involved in Model UN: I joined MUN during the spring of 2014 and was treasurer for the 2014 - 2015 school year.
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: I will be one of the Project Coordinators for Habitat for Humanity and I'll be writing a thesis.
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
1. Experience. I have been in the club for a year and a half and on the board as treasurer for a year of it. As such, I was a part of the behind-the-scenes of effectively running the club and am very familiar with its dynamics. I have been to multiple conferences and have expanded my network on the MUN circuit, gaining an insight into the workings of the conference as well as those running and participating in it. I have been in leadership roles in the past, managing people and activities as President of Amnesty International at MHC and this year as Project Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity. My experience on the board and in other leadership positions would allow me to transition smoothly into the VP role.
2. Organization. As treasurer, it was imperative to be responsible and organized, and this skill can easily be translated into managing the responsibilities of the Vice President, such as taking meeting minutes, sending club emails and choosing background guides for simulations. The VP has many administrative functions that my organized nature would allow me to fulfill with ease.
3. Dedication. The rest of the VP's role is based on commitment. I have grown to love MUN and the diverse people it has exposed me to and am highly committed to its success. I have attended most, if not all, of the Thursday trainings and Sunday simulations and am on a friendly basis with the other MUNners. I would have the time next year to invest into the club to help lead it towards future prosperity.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
1. Diversity and Inclusivity. It is no secret that MHCMUN has always struggled with membership retention, although every year it keeps getting better and better. One of our priorities as a board should be to work on retaining members, not only those who show immediate promise but also those who may be a little slow to learn but would eventually become very strong delegates. It is our responsibility to recognize such potential and invest in it by continuing/pioneering events such as MUNter MUNion bonding to ensure a cohesiveness that would translate into membership commitment to the club. As VP I would facilitate this process by being friendly and social and by helping non-IR and non-Economics majors find their niche, as well as other shy members.
2. Efficiency. The administrative functions of the Vice President are dependent on being prompt with emails and reserving rooms, and this forms the backbone of the logistics of running MUN. I plan on fulfilling this role effectively and efficiently so that the board and club members are always on the same page. A big part of the Vice President's responsibilities is to ensure that all other board members are on track, and this involves checking in to make sure all the wheels of the MUN machine are running smoothly, a conversation I can easily have with the other board members.
3. Awards. The underlying purpose of the club, in addition to maturing as individuals and gaining meaningful relationships with our peers, is to make a name for Mount Holyoke on the MUN circuit. And this, not surprisingly, is achieved by winning awards. Although I don't believe we should become an awards-hungry club and penalize delegates for falling short of such expectations, it is only by having high expectations that we can hope to achieve them. People require different forms of encouragement to achieve their potentials and we as a board have to recognize them and tailor our approach accordingly. As VP I would work closely with the trainers to help make sure our delegates are well prepared for the conferences so they themselves can be proud of their progress alongside us.
Name: Siying Chen
Class Year: 2016
What position are you running for: Vice President, Crisis Trainer
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 6 semesters; joined MHCMUN since first semester first year
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: Thesis writing possibly
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
For Crisis trainer:
1. I competed on the circuit and accumulated experience in succeed in crisis committees. I have travelled to 4 different crisis conferences since sophomore year and winning awards from 3 out of the 4 of them.
2. I am confident to be the one of the faces representing MHCMUN on the circuit. As I travelled to more conferences and improving myself as delegate, I grew used to the circuit dynamics and also established connections on the circuit which would be assets to being a head del.
3. I have proved myself to be leader but also a team player. I held leadership positions at FCMUN secretariat that enabled me to lead MHC team to a conference. Furthermore, I am also very personable and collaborative so I would have no problem work closely with my co-trainer to develop training plans and with the rest of the e-board to further strengthen the club as a whole.
For VP:
1. I have rich experience in co-leading a board as I served as the Secretariat General for FCMUN 2015 for the past academic year.
2. I can handle the various kinds of tasks the VP is supposed to cover as the second-in-command for the club since I have been active in the MUN club and FCMUN since first year and thus is familiar with many duties of VP.
3. I am very dedicated to MHCMUN and willing to provide assistance to the rest of e-board from training to strategic team selection using my ample experience in MUN.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
Crisis trainer:
1. Trainer Structure: (If approved by the revised constitution) Establish a team of trainers consisted of me as the head del/head crisis trainer, a co-head del/ head GA trainer and other two assistant trainers for crisis and GA respectively. This trainer team will hold an one hour weekly training meeting to discuss training strategies
2. Training Contents:
i) Streamline the prep procedure for crisis conferences: retain and formalize the mentor-mentee system as well as the homework before conference requirements. Each applicant to a conference need to pledge to complete the homework in time and attend and prepare for extra training sessions in order to be eligible. Hold at least 4 training sessions before each conference that targets a different aspects of MUN such as first speech, crisis note writing, directive writing and lobbying.
ii) Streamline directive writing and crisis note writing. Develop common types of templates that are widely useful by committee categories, i.e. american politics, fantasies, royal family and etc. This would help the more inexperienced members to get the hang of documents writing in a fast-paced environment.
iii) Start intense prepping sessions sooner in the year. While generally September is the month that we hold more sessions geared towards newbies, it is very important to help take the more advanced delegates to their next level before CMUNNY and SCSY hit.
3. Make the Sunday simulation more realistic
i )Have at least two consecutive week of simulations on the same committee so that people spend more time dealing with one topic which is closer to what actually happens in MUN conferences.
ii) Give out superlative for each of the individual Sunday session such as best speech or best note writing Once one committee exhausts after 2/3 week, give out awards like Best/ Outstanding for Sunday simulations.
iii) Establish an individual ranking that takes into account attendance and performance as indicated by these superlatives and awards. The ranking will be updated bi-weekly. Use the ranking as one of the most important tools in deciding a team for a conference.
For VP:
1. Further establish ties with UMass IRC in terms of networking as well as joint simulations
2. Hold regular lecture series to further expand the influence of MHCMUN on campus
3. Reinforce the MUN big sister and little sister system to increase the retention rate of new MUN members
Name: Onji Bae
Class Year: 2017
What position are you running for: GA Trainer
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 3 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: CS Society
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
- I am both passionate and experienced with beginners understanding MUN and gaining confidence in their public speaking skills
- I create easy to understand, fun, and helpful presentations that effectively teach viewers
- I believe I am approachable and easy to talk to, especially when it comes to questions about performance
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
- To retain less experienced members for more than 1 semester
- Increase diversity of members attending conferences
- Eliminate any fears or stigma around debating, public speaking, and MUN in general
Name: Nicole Daphnis
Class Year: 2018
What position are you running for: Treasurer
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 2 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: Russian Club
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
As of this semester I have served as treasurer for Russian Club and thus am already experienced with the protocol for budgeting a club, applying for funding, and working with Ways & Means / SGA Business. I am attentive to detail and also good at managing money and being cost-efficient.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
Ultimately my largest priority is to work in conjunction with the rest of the Executive Board in order to see MHCMUN prosper further. I hope to do so more specifically by effectively and efficiently managing the club's budget, as well as coming up with new innovative ways to do so.
Name: Marwa Mikati
Class Year: 2017
What position are you running for: President, Vice President
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 4 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: Tentative as of now.
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
1-To begin with, I have been a member of MHCMUN for as long as I've been in MHC. I have invested so much of my energy in this club because I am truly passionate about serving it, and it has become as important to me as my academics. Despite having a really rough semester, I decided that MUN was something I would never be able to let go of. Therefore, even when times got really difficult, it was still a priority.
2-This year, I served as USG committees of FCMUN. I invested my heart and soul into this position, and managed to craft state of the art committees. I successfully trained more than 100 staffers along with Kate, and I made sure that the committees were run amazingly. We ended up with one of the most successful conferences MHC has ever witnessed. This proves that I have the necessary organizational and leadership skills to succeed in the position of president/vice president. Also, this ensures that I have the essential interpersonal skills to deal with different kinds of delegates and speak to their needs in the club.
3- Having previously served on the board, I have managed to learn the dynamics and specifics of the different board positions. Seeing that I have a lot of conference experience, I can help make informed decisions on team selections and provide support to the trainers in making their final decisions. Lastly, serving on the board exposed me to different concerns that members may have, which equips me to provide solutions to any problem that a member may encounter.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
1- The fact that we made it to the top 25 teams this year makes me an extremely proud MHCMUN member. I believe that we can only get better from now on. This will remain one of my priorities; to maintain the caliber that we have worked so hard to achieve. Promoting a highly competitive spirit and maintaining that it stays within healthy bounds will be one of my main goals for the upcoming year. MHCMUN needs to remain a renowned name on the MUN circuit.
2- Although when we go to conferences, we are placed in committees alone or only with one other member, we are still a team at the end of the day. Our life in MUN really resembles that of varsity athletes, and that makes it a top priority that we build a much more cohesive and inclusive team spirit. MHCMUN attracts delegates with different experience levels, and it is very important that no one feel alienated because they are less experienced. This effort has been ongoing across years, and I believe I will make it one of my most important targets.
3- I am really excited about taking the mentoring program that we started this year to the next level. I feel like trainers do a great job teaching delegates how to generally approach conferences and provide strategies to be successful. However, seeing that one trainer cannot possibly cater to everyone's experiences, the mentoring program for conferences is a much more successful approach. Having served as a mentor, I could design strategies and micromanage all the issues the delegate I was assigned had. This will definitely increase our chances of success on the circuit if it is optimized and made more systematic.
Name: Sofia Monterroso
Class Year: 2018
What position are you running for: Events and Outreach Coordinators, Webmanager, Events/Outreach with Kelly
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 1 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: Classes, Survivorship Network (advocacy, education and awareness network I'm starting at school)
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
- Extensive experience in leadership roles requiring commitment and networking
- Creativity
- Ambition!
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
- Curate the image of MHCMUN to be reflective of the unique talent, commitment and passion within the team
- Increase the team's presence on campus to increase recognition and recruitment
- Facilitate access
Name: Fatima Ouadif
Class Year: 2016
What position are you running for: President
How long have you been involved in Model UN: Since first semester of college
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: ISOC- Minor role
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
1- Experience: I am one of the few seniors who will be actively engaged with the club, and so by being a president, I not only will be able to share my experience as a delegate who's been competing and knows the circuit very well, but I will also be able to implement strategies that have worked in the past, as well as come up with new ones to keep on the improvement of the club. I have also been part of the E-board since my second semester of Freshmen year, and I have a strong understanding of what each e-board member's responsibilities are.
2- Dedication and Commitment: I have been committed to ModelUN since my freshmen year, and this club has taught me life skills and has introduced me to people I will forever care about. It's important for me to carry out the legacy we have built as team throughout the past 3 years, and even if being a senior is in itself a busy year, ModelUN is one of the organizations that I see myself leaving only when I leave college itself. And this passion and charisma that I carry for the club and for debate itself is what will make of me a well-rounded President who's aware of all the challenges and successes of the club.
3- Ability to lead and cooperate: I think this is an important trait to have as someone who leads a well-established organization. Throughout the past year, we have as a club encountered situations that need strong leadership and also an ability to listen and compromise. And if elected as the President, I will make sure to leave everyone the chance to grow as a person and as a ModelUN delegate. My job will definitely be to oversee the club and make sure everyone is up to date and running well, including every detail. But I also don't tend to be an authoritarian, and rather implement as much transparency as possible to allow everyone, not only e-board members, to have a say on what they want to see implemented.
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
1- Maintaining our strong ModelUN community: I plan on doing this by focusing on each member in the club and making sure that the culture we maintain and the reputation we display is one that is reflective of our club's diversity, hard work, and inclusivity. Not only do I want to maintain this image in MHC, but most importantly in the ModelUN circuit, which brings me to my second priority:
2- Making MHCMUN more competitive and recognizable in the circuit: From my experience in the circuit and the network I've build with delegates and head delegates from other schools, It will be my priority and responsibility to teach our members how to network and make their name and work memorable in the circuit. I will mainly focus on the head delegates and trainers because they are after-all the face of the club, but I will be pleased to teach members how to build and maintain these networks that are useful in overcoming the politics and sometime bias in ModelUN.
3- Rankings: Another equally important priority is to maintain our rankings in the circuit. Being part of the team for the past 3 years has taught me to be strategic in choosing what conferences we go to, which committees to put people in. These strategies are what helped us, the head delegates, to go up in the rankings. By becoming the president, I will only aim for higher rankings and for the recruitment, training, and retainment of great talent that will help this club even be in the top 15 or 10. This is not an effort that only the President executes, but it's a collective one that her position will oversee. And my experience as the Head Del and Crisis trainer will be very helpful in knowing how to navigate these matters with the upcoming trainers, and know what hasn't worked in the past year that will work for us this year to become even higher ranked.
Name: Kelly Charest
Class Year: 2017
What position are you running for: Events and Outreach Coordinators
How long have you been involved in Model UN: 3 semesters
What other activities will you be involved in during the 2015-2016 school year: I will be involved with the Pre-Law Assoc. and working as a CA
List the top 3 reasons why you are qualified for this position:
1. I have had experience working with events and outreach before, staffing events and helping out whenever I can, and this past semester had the chance to see a little bit of all the hard work Thaen and Onji do in this position! I also attended SGA meetings this past semester.
2. This year I built good Five College connections by staffing at Umass MUN and Crisis directing at FCMUN, where I had an Amherst staffer and a Umass chair (gonna name drop Jess rn who was elected as IRC president for next year!)
3. I am committed to making our club the best ever, willing to put in the time and effort, and excited to learn all I can! I know how to work as part of a group, and I think Sofia and I will make an awesome team. Plus I know how to bring the party! 😄
List your top 3 priorities/initiatives in this position:
1. For fall semester I think a main priority should be recruitment, but also retention (since there is already lots of interest) of new muners (who are not necessarily all first years) To this end I think having bonding events early(!) in the year is super important. I've noticed people who stick with MUN tend to have a close friend in the club, so we maybe could hold a bonding event specifically for new muners to get to know one another, and introduce them what MUN is in a fun way (like do a skit of what parli pro should and shouldn't look like lol)
2. Making MUN a more visible student org on campus by working with professors and departments to hold more talks & panel discussions, and also making MUN literally more visible through MUN merchandise, especially clothing. (This will make our reputations as a club even better, which will contribute to #1, and hopefully get us more funding from the departments!)
3. Continuing to build good Five College relationships by maintaining open communication, and inviting Five College muners to talks, panel discussions, and other public club events (Come spring this will definitely help make FCMUN even better!)