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.