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Newsflash 6, 5 January 2008
Dear participants,
First of all, UNISCA wishes you a happy 2008 and all the best for the upcoming conference.
The schedule for the openingsday on Friday will be as follows:
Location: de Rode Hoed
09:00-09:30 Check-in registration starts at 09:00 am. Be on time! As we have a large number of students participating, we cannot guarantee your timely arrival at your forum or at the lecture if you do not pick up your participants’ badge on time!
09:30-12:00 Openingsceremony by our chairperson Isabelle van ‘t Groenewout, dean of UvA FMG L.A de Klerk and David Laws.
12:00 lunch
Location: de Bazel
13:30-16:30 Workshops Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingedael.
16:30-17:00 Check out registration
18:00-19:00 Drinks at City Hall Amsterdam
An updated version of the complete conference schedule is posted on our website.
All participants must be aware that UNISCA has a strict dress code during the conference. Al participants are obliged to dress formally from the 11th till the 18th of January. Jeans and trainers will not be allowed.
Concerning the essays: participants who have not yet handed in their essay, please do so before the conference.
Are you a Dutch student and interested in becoming member of the UNISCA 2008-2009 Board of Directors? Please e-mail to secretary@unisca.org and we will keep you informed about the solicitation rounds.
We look forward to welcoming you Friday the 11th.
Annabel Meurs
Secretary UNISCA 07-08
Newsflash 4, 3 December 2007
Dear participants,
Still more news about the UNISCA course and conference:
- On the opening day of the conference, the 11th of January, the Amsterdam city council invites all UNISCA participants for a drink at the City Hall. You can find more of these events in a detailed schedule of the conference on our website. Read it carefully in order for you to have a clear image of the activities. Please note that presence is mandatory for every day of the conference!
- This Friday is the third and final preparatory day for the UNISCA course. Since it will be an important day, we expect you all to be there and to bring your course manual with you. There will be a conference simulation with your own committee and chairs. Thus, a good practice for the real thing in January. There is a detailed schedule of the prepday on our website.
- The deadline for the essay is this Friday the 3rd of December, 23:59 hours. Please attach the essay to an email. The first assignment is currently being assessed. We will send you an email with your grade as soon as they are available.
- A request for Dutch students who live in Amsterdam: would you be willing to house an international student during the time of the conference? If so, please send an email to secretary@unisca.org. It will be very much appreciated!!!
- Finally, there is some positive news on the Virtual Classroom: it will be online this week! We will post all the relevant information on it as well as all the sheets of the previous preparatory days. There will also be a list posted of all UvA students with their student number. Please check if you are on the list. If not, you will NOT receive the 10 ECTS. An email will be sent to you with the login-codes this week. Again we wish to apologize for the delay.
Regards,
Annabel Meurs
Secretary UNISCA 07-08
The UNISCA Board of Directors.
Dear students,
Due to problems with the Virtual Classroom, we haven’t provided you with the template for the policy statement which was mentioned in the Course Manual yet. We’re still trying to get the Virtual Classroom online as soon as possible, but for now here is some additional information about writing a policy statement:
The main point about a policy statement is that you find out what the position of your country is with regards to the topic you’re writing about. For some issues, like the US policy on North Korea, that won’t be too hard. For other issues, some more research will be needed. A good place to start is the website of your country’s UN representative, but you should be creative when searching. You could also consider finding out the policy of your country on related issues, since this often gives valuable clues. For example, when looking for information on Italy’s policy with regards to Sri Lanka, you might try looking at the position Italy has taken on comparable conflicts in the past, or you might try finding out the position of the European Union in this conflict.
When you have a general idea of your country’s position, start writing it down. The exact content of the policy statement should depend on the position of your country, but things which are usually important are: What does your country think is the main problem here? Does it consider this to be a severe problem or not? What does your country think of past solutions? Does your country have any concrete measures it would like to see being implemented? How does your country see the furute of this problem?
Since you have only 300 words per topics, answering these questions should be enough. It is important that you report to us where you got your information. When you can’t find answers to all these questions, try answering them as good as you can be inferring from other sources, like the voting behaviour of your country in the General Assembly or the position of your main allies. With this in mind, it should be possible to find information for all countries.
Since we understand some of you might have been wondering about these things, the new deadline for the first assignment is Monday the 19th of November, which means you have a few extra days to finish it. The information above should, together with the information in the Course Manual on resolution writing, be enough to succesfully complete the assignment.
Newsflash 3, 5 November 2007
Dear participants,
The first preparatory day was a big success! We were happy to see all of you and to have officially started the UNISCA course. We have a record of 230 UNISCA participants for this year. Thanks everyone for your contribution and enthusiasm.
2 Announcements from the Academic Officers:
- The second preparatory day is approaching, and with it the deadline for the first assignment! Information about the three parts, which make up this assignment, can be found in the Course Manual. Worth stressing is that you have to write the policy statements from the position of the country you are representing and that the resolution should be in the correct format, as explained in the Course Manual.
- Important is that by now you should all know your country. Even so, it seems that not everyone has received the e-mail in which it this was announced. What you should do in that case is contact us immediately by e-mail! We’ll then let you know you country as soon as possible.
Regarding the Virtual Classroom:
The Virtual Classroom is not yet online. You will receive your username and password by email when it is ready. Please stop sending emails asking about your login codes. You do not need the virtual classroom to make your first assignment.
For all non-UvA students: we will submit all you personal data to the UvA this week. They will in turn send you a registration card with an UvA student number. Please email this number to the secretariat. Note that it might take a while; we will post a message when you should be expecting the card.
Kind regards,
Annabel Meurs
Secretary UNISCA 07-08
The UNISCA Board of Directors.
Newsflash 2, 10 October 2007
Dear participants,
This is the second newsflash to keep you posted on the latest UNISCA news!
Again first a few requests:
-All participants who have not paid yet please do so as soon as possible!
These are the payment details: (national) Giro P7617192 (international) IBAN: NL73 PSTB 0007 6171 92 or BIC: PSTBNL21. Do not forget to mention your conference number!
- There has been another change in the procedure at the UvA regarding registration for non-UvA students. All students who do not have an UvA-student number were earlier informed they needed to register as a ‘bijvakstudent’ at the UvA. This is no longer the case! Our secretariat will forward all your personal data to the UvA. Afterwards you will receive a registering card with an UvA student number. This number you need to email to the secretariat. Other than that, you won’t have to anything! We apologize for all the confusion.
-If you do not wish to receive the 10 ECTS credits for the course, please notify the secretariat by sending an email to secretary[at]unisca.org. Not receiving the credits means: you will complete the small assignments that prepare you for the conference, but you will not write the essay. You will not receive a grade, but you will receive a certificate by the end of the conference.
-You can still pick up you readers next week as well. See for the exact data the front-page of our website. Next week you will receive an email in which we announce the country you will be representing during the conference. If possible, try to have read the course manual before the first preparatory day.
The first preparatory day:
- Friday October 19th is our first meeting together. The central theme of this prep-day is: “The UN in General”. The workshops will be held on lobbying, the rules of procedure and a complementary questioner round for all participants who are not yet so familiar with UN conferences. The lecture will be held in the Oudemanshuispoort hall D109 from 15:00-17:00, the workshops will also be held in the Oudemanshuispoort from 17:00-19:00.
Not unimportantly, there is time for drinks afterwards in the Atrium Cafe. You can get to know the other participants and the UNISCA board of directors.
Kind regards,
Annabel Meurs
Secretary UNISCA 07-08
The UNISCA Board of Directors.
Newsflash 1, 20 September 2007
Dear participants,
The UNISCA board of directors is currently working very hard to organize a fantastic course and conference for you. In this newsflash you can read the latest news.
First a few requests:
-All participants who have not paid yet please do so as soon as possible!
These are the payment details: (national) Giro P7617192 (international) IBAN: NL73 PSTB 0007 6171 92 or
BIC: PSTBNL21. Do not forget to mention your conference number!
-For all students who are enrolled in a Dutch University other than the UvA, please register as a ‘bijvak-student’ at the UvA in order to receive the 10 ECTS. It is only when we have an UvA student number that we can assess your assignments. Please contact the Service and Information centre for more information: 0031 (0) 20 525 8080 or check this useful site.
NOTE: this does not apply to students from the UU; your grading will be completed directly through your university.
-During the conference it is not allowed to represent your own country. Therefore, if you have previously stated a preference for your own country, you can change your preference by sending an email to info[AT]unisca.org.
-Registration closes the 1st of October. If you know ambitious students who are interested, tell them to hurry since we are reaching our maximum capacity!
A few hints on the conference:
-We are proud to announce the location for this year’s conference! It will take place in the ‘Rode Hoed’ and the Bazel in Amsterdam: fully equipped, professional conference halls in the centre of Amsterdam. In short, the perfect place to be a UN diplomat!
- From the beginning of October you can pick up your readers at our office in room 1.25. There are 3 days open for pick up:
Thursday the 4th of October between 14:00 and 17:00.
Tuesday the 9th and Thursday the 11th of October between 14:00 and 17:00.
The first preparatory day will be on Friday the 19th of October at the UvA. You will find the exact locations on our website.
We are looking forward to seeing you on the first preparatory day!
Kind regards,
Annabel Meurs
Secretary UNISCA 07-08
The UNISCA Board of Directors. |
