Questions for educ admin and council

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: Thanks twigga, but do you agree with this attitude?

These people take on a leadership role and with that role comes responsibility. They love the idea of the mantle of responsibility and they bask in the glory of their worship by others but when they fail to fulfill that responsibility to the people they just become another bloated glory hungry politician drunk on power.

All I hear over and over is how much the council does for us, how much they sacrifice. Well it's bullshit if it does not translate to prosperity of the membership. It Is just glory mongering. I'm sick of them telling us how much they do, I want them to show us how much they do!! Demand and we will rebel, but prove it to us and we will believe!!!

I know this was directed at Twigga but I felt maybe I could answer some of this from my perspective. I do love the responsibility in that I enjoy feeling useful. I feel that I'm fulfilling a role that I have skill for, I'm interested in, is beneficial, needed, and worthwhile. It's a role I can learn a lot in and grow in. But there's no basking or worship. There's some thanks which keeps me going. But a lot of what we get are general attacks against "Council" that make me feel that most forget we're individual people. I know I felt that way when I was upset at Council before I got in.

But I have been...not so much failing, but not living up to the potential I know I can do and I had intended. If it wasn't for the fact I believe this is a temporary situation that has taken most of my attention, I would step down. I know that most of what I've been able to give so far are words. And it's frustrating to me that I can't give more right now. I took a serious look at my time before I took even the Advisor's seat but things changed on me and I had ignored how sick I actually was and am.

There is a lot that needs work around here. And not enough willing hands to do it. When I sit back and look at everything that I want to take on, everything that I want to fix, it's so overwhelming I'm crushed. I don't know where to start. In my work, when we take care of only emergencies that crop up instead of the day-to-day tasks, we spent the day "putting out fires". But there's so many fires burning here, and it feels like there's people just throwing more fuel into them, that I feel like this:



I don't feel the need to tote around the idea that I sacrifice for this position. It's a lot of work, and I do put in a lot of time when I can. But it's a job I took knowing it would be demanding. And it was a job I felt was worthwhile to do. But I am rather disillusioned by things here. It's really hard to get things done. There's so much to do that everyone has their pet projects and the support we get for them (even from each other) is slippery. I know in my case it's because I still think I have more capabilities than I do so I'll make a promise to do something and find it slipping through my fingers. It's this reason that the Pax is moving so slowly. I think it's extremely important for us to have it, but any time I get a chance to be online, there's another fire to take care of, or something else more pressing presents itself.

I'm really sorry hun. I wish I had a better answer for your frustrations. I can really only answer for me and my situation. I'm afraid to offer because I really feel I can do a lot of good as a Councilor, but if there's a majority of folks who feel I'm not up to par, I'll step down. I want this place to be the best it can be. You all deserve that.

My answer to the Pax Templi question is in the other thread HERE

Kyrin,

The differing Degree schemes were never built to operate or be in conjuncture with any other scheme going on at TotJO.
When it was all put together in the beginning different people thought there should be this and that and were given the autonomy to move forward on their own. This is because there was not a lot of structure at the time. Just a lot of dedicated people with their own ideas of how things might go or should be.

After time some left and others filled their roles or new roles were created out of thin air. Each with yet another idea of how things needed to work but still the underlying issue was not addressed.

People want to explore the areas and paths that interest them and that’s fine. But until there is a unifying structure that ties all the different areas of TotJO together, this is what you’re going to get.

And a constant question was always, “what do we do with the people that are already, fill in the blank?”

Imagine a large vehicle with each wheel pointed in a completely different direction. That is Council. Some will work very hard to keep things going but because they are only one wheel they are never going to get any traction. Some are just there because it’s cool. Not purposefully hindering the vehicle but because they have their own direction and won’t turn in any one direction other than theirs… still doesn’t help. So the whole thing makes a lot of noise and tries new things but ultimately it just spurting and revving and spinning tires going nowhere but spinning in place.

Don't get me wrong, there are people on Council that really care. And they try! Some of them at least LOL :lol:

At least that is the Council I knew for years and years. Who knows, maybe things are different. But looking at the forums and the announced proposals and changes… I’d say not.

I'll echo what Kit has said above, and also agree with the assessment Wescli is making. We are volunteers who care about this place, but there is only so much we can do as individuals. Most of us also care very much about improving the world around us and making a difference in our own spheres of influence outside of this place. And we have jobs and personal lives and our own struggles. Where we fail, others have failed before us and others will struggle in the future. It can be painful, embarrassing, and demoralizing, but we keep trying anyway. I guess there is something to be said for perserverance.

Thanks for all the comments.

So I have a question and please dont take this the wrong way. Its designed to maybe let everyone know more about the job that councilors do. I hear all the time about how councilors are always so busy "putting out fires" that they often times don't have time to undertake other duties. So what exactly are these fires? Can you give some examples? I just find it hard to believe that between 13 (now 12) councilors there is so much work with these fires that other stuff is neglected. 12 people is a LOT and I know that there are tons of support staff as well with librarians and sysadmins and greeters and liasons etc.. so what are all these fires about?

Ooooh! Maybe this is a good time and place to ask if we can have an "Ask Me Anything Live Chat" perhaps with our Education Admin? I realised we didn't discuss who we'd like to ask for in the IP Study Hall this time (I forgot! Sorry!) and there hasn't been a date/session proposed for this month yet. (Happy to set that up as and when, with the green light from Alexandre). I am sure each councillor/role has it's own fires, so perhaps hearing from one perspective at a time is better than have everyone write about every decision council has to make? Will be a friendlier way to answer, in back-and-forth discussion rather than the forum... It allows for better understanding of complex roles.

I wanna know what these folks do too. I want to know about the fires and the boring admin, and the half-finished ideas no-one has time for. I just, don't think the answer in a forum post will be satisfactory.

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: Thanks for all the comments.

So I have a question and please dont take this the wrong way. Its designed to maybe let everyone know more about the job that councilors do. I hear all the time about how councilors are always so busy "putting out fires" that they often times don't have time to undertake other duties. So what exactly are these fires? Can you give some examples? I just find it hard to believe that between 13 (now 12) councilors there is so much work with these fires that other stuff is neglected. 12 people is a LOT and I know that there are tons of support staff as well with librarians and sysadmins and greeters and liasons etc.. so what are all these fires about?

TL;DR Version: It is hard to organize twelve people across time zones and from various cultures and backgrounds in order to complete what should be simple tasks. We (Councillors) need to be more efficient and trust each other to make sound decisions independently in order to better serve our membership. This requires better organization and clear duties that we have yet to establish fully.

ELABORATE Version:
That's a fair question(s). Here's my own personal experience of it.

Being a Councillor is often like trying to herd cats. It isn't so much about having too much work to do, but actually organizing and delegating the jobs needed to be done. Between the twelve of us, we are overseeing aspects of training like reviewing IP journals, approving Apprenticeships, creating lessons, etc. There are new membership applications to review and approve and then there is the training of our own students. There is forum moderation and various chats we try to participate in. Then there is the actual administration of the website. Some jobs are exclusive to certain Councillors, but other jobs are handled by whomever decides to take it up at the time or whomever is available. It may sound strange, but having more Councillors actually sometimes makes the situation harder because everyone assumes someone else is handling something, or we have a hard time getting feedback from everyone in a timely manner because of distance, time differences, and life getting in the way. At the risk of being critical, I will also say that the majority of the daily "work" of the Temple is being done by the more active Councillors while some others remain in the background and do very little.

None of these are "fires", per se. The thing is, when I log on to the site intending to post a lesson or read a journal, I often get caught up in conversations going on in the forum that are drawing a lot of negative attention. Or I'll wake up to fifty messages about rules being broken and trouble in a forum thread that needs to be handled immediately. I'll spend time reading and rereading posts and formulating my own answers while trying to represent myself and the Council fairly. While writing a response, I'll get a message on skype asking me how I think we should handle it and then another conversation going on in WhatsApp among other Councillors with different opinions about the conversation. Eventually someone steers us back to the Council Forum where we can all discuss it in one place as a group (well, whomever happens to be available at that time). Once we've argued and disagreed and maybe decided to react to something, the actual post in question is often three pages longer and gone a whole new direction. So we start over... Sometimes we're too late to the party to do any good, or the issue just disappears when we get distracted by something else.

It really comes down to our motivations. It is a lot easier to get caught up in the things that we react to emotionally. As Councillors, we sometimes feel attacked and want to rush in to squash any criticism and defend our friends. In the moment, this feels more important than reviewing a journal or working on a Pax Templi document, so we dive into conflicts and swing ban hammers and argue symantics until we have wasted another opportunity to do real positive work. At least this is how I see my behavior and I don't think it is unfair to apply it to some others as well.

I understand how this might seem like lame excuses coming from people who volunteered for the job and had a choice in committing to it, but what seems like one small complaint or request from an individual member is actually one of a hundred small complaints or requests that we have to prioritize every day. We're not very good at this as a group, and we need to work on it. Even that is difficult when we're not always sure which Councillor is finally going to grab this issue by the balls and take charge. Too many worker bees without a boss directing us. It is a work in progress, and the progress is slow. It is often so slow that people eventually give up and leave. And we begin again.

That's my take on it, as honestly as I can share it without placing too much blame unfairly or focusing too much on the negativity. I hope this is helpful in some way.

Twigga wrote: Ooooh! Maybe this is a good time and place to ask if we can have an "Ask Me Anything Live Chat" perhaps with our Education Admin? I realised we didn't discuss who we'd like to ask for in the IP Study Hall this time (I forgot! Sorry!) and there hasn't been a date/session proposed for this month yet. (Happy to set that up as and when, with the green light from Alexandre). I am sure each councillor/role has it's own fires, so perhaps hearing from one perspective at a time is better than have everyone write about every decision council has to make? Will be a friendlier way to answer, in back-and-forth discussion rather than the forum... It allows for better understanding of complex roles.

I wanna know what these folks do too. I want to know about the fires and the boring admin, and the half-finished ideas no-one has time for. I just, don't think the answer in a forum post will be satisfactory.

For reference, maybe this will help focus the AMAs by Councillor based on the topic.

Clergy Stuff - RosalynJ, Atticus, Carlos
Membership Questions - MadHatter, Br John
IP Questions - MadHatter, Kit
Education/Degree Questions - Alexandre Orion
Duties of the Knight Corps - Adhara
Security/Rules - Senan, JLSpinner
Site Admin - Ren
Organization/Charity/Church Legal Questions - Br John, Atticus
Temple History - Neaj Pa Bol, Br John, Ren

All of us in Council should have a basic knowledge of each of these areas, but some questions are very specific or better answered by the Councillor most familiar with the topic in question.

I'll try to make myself available for a chat session to answer as many question as I can, or at least take down a list and direct the questions to the right people.

We got a green light from Alex for this month, just working on a date and then I'll kick a thread going.

Thanks for this list Senan, it will help me know where to look/who to ask for things - it's a much more usefully condensed resource than my IP Lesson Zero answers! We've already had Atticus on "After IP" and Rosalyn J on "Clergy". It will be good to hear from Alex about "Education" now.

Kyrin Wyldstar wrote: Why is there no published policy and procedure manual for apprenticeship?

Previously it was up to the Mentor and Council to manage this so the Apprentice didn't have to know or worry about any of it besides who to link up with at the beginning. The Apprentice focus was meant to be only on the task at hand, not the process. So it was generally Knight only level information about the details of making it all work behind the scenes, but since you asked.... the rather boring procedure is at;
https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/45-general-decrees-general-laws/2279-council-secretary
and;
https://www.templeofthejediorder.org/component/content/article/34-policies/2037-temple-of-the-jedi-order

Moving forward, I'd suggest the solution is to stop using the A. Div as a requirement for the Apprenticeship as that is just using old language which happened to be accurate but no longer is..... as IMO it was one of two ways to represent the point workload requirement of an Apprenticeship - but no longer does since points can be gathered within the AIP/SIP. I'd just use the point requirement explicitly as the minimum work measure, much like there is/was a minimum time measure I think (though it ain't written there?). Though of course a restructure can change all of that, so the future depends on who is in charge rather then my opinions :silly:
Or alternatively not count the AIP work to a Degree but that seems a bit unusual to me, or maybe find another work measure to serve an interaction minimum as assessment of the journal alone is a bit too subjective without some hard minimums IMO, as the Council vote provides the subjective measure enough IMO.

Edit: sorry for the edit to anyone who read the original post of mine, I used the wrong law :S