University Charter Proposal

[Andreas the Wise]

MiniTrade has Kaiseral approval to pursue a reopening of the University under an economic system. The following is a proposal for the Charter of the University under this new system.

Sir John Metzler III University Charter

Preamble
The University exists to provide education for Shirithian citizens and international visitors, and to provide training in areas of direct micronational relevance. What has long been overlooked is financial rewards for the teachers who invest their time in preparing lessons and tests. This Charter seeks to overcome this issue and provide a model of University where both Students and Teachers are motivated and interested to participate.

Courses
The University exists to teach. All previous courses will continue to be available free of charge. Most future courses will be available to students for a small fee. Each course will be provided with its own subforum, which will initially only be viewable by the teacher. Upon payment of the fee, students will be given a password to access the course's subforum. After a period of a year from the commencement of the course, the subforum will be opened the public perpetually.

Teachers may elect to run their course without a fee. They will be issued a subforum but it will not be password protected. Once a course has no fee a fee may not be added.

Teachers
Teachers will have moderatorship over their subforum. They will be able to organise the material of their course in whatever manner suits them within the subforum. Teachers will also be able to choose a small fee for their course, between 20 and 100 erb, depending on length and relevance. All fees from the course will be payable to the teacher personally, including any later entrants to the course, until a period of one year from the commencement of the course, at which point it will become free. Should the teacher cease to be a participant in the Shirithian economy, course fees will be payable to the Crown Account until the one year period is up.

Teachers will also have the ability to set assessment for the course. It is at the teacher's discretion whether credit for completing the course will be granted merely by enrolling in the course, or whether it will require successful completion of the assessment.

Teachers will require no formal accreditation for teaching, but if students feel the course is of a poor quality they can register a complaint with the Minister or Kaiser, who have the power to dismiss a teacher who is not performing satisfactorily.

Students
Any person can be a student at this university. All that is required of students is to pay the fee for the course, and to complete any assessment the teacher deems necessary to earn the credit for the course. International Students can apply to MiniTrade to organise currency exchange to pay for the course.

Guilds
Some guilds may require the successful completion of one or more courses for an individual to qualify for that guild. Courses for a guild can charge a fee of between 10 and 100 erb for the taking of the test for that course. If students fail the test, it may be retaken, and the fee paid again. The fee for tests is payable to the Teacher, and continues to be payable for as long as the guild exists, even if the course itself has been available for more than one year (and is thus free). If the Teacher ceases to participate in the Shirithian economy, any other leader of that guild can apply to be the recipient of payment for the test, and take up the requirement of grading it.
Guilds which have no course and merely a test can also register their test with the University to be eligible to charge a fee. The University will maintain a private record of all tests and answers should it be required for future administration of the test beyond it's creators demise.

Qualifications
At the present time, the only qualifications that can be gained from the University is credit for the particular courses on offer, and qualification for the various guilds. The University retains the right to provide degrees as a collection of multiple courses in the future.

Amendment
This Charter can be amended by the Kaiser, MiniInfo, MiniTrade, or the University Chancellor, should such a position be appointed.

Basically, we teach courses in password-protected subforum. Course entry requires a small fee. Taking tests for guild (managed through here) also requires a small fee. You can't get a degree from here yet but you might be able to in the future. Sound reasonable?

EDIT: Profession changed to guild.

[Allot]

Love it! Let's do it!

[Austi_Scot]

Why make the course free at any time - if it is made free in a year why not just wait it out?; why should those who later take the course get the degree for only paying that part of the fee?

Why not just leave the forum password protected and add those who pay for the course?

[Andreas the Wise]

A year is a long time in micronationalism. By then, the course may no longer be relevant, for example. The fee is so minor anyone who was interested would have taken the course a long time ago. I figure, after a year, it should become "public property", so to speak.

[Allot]

I agree with Andreas - you might even make it shorter than a year.

[Austi_Scot]

Well, I disagree!

[Andreas the Wise]

Putting aside questions about releasing material in the distant future ... is everyone happy with this to be official?

If so, Ari, can you create a subforum for "Introduction to MITO Trading" with a password to limit access, and me as moderator, and send me the password?

[Austi_Scot]

I have another objection.

I object to MiniTrade setting the prices for courses and test. It is my considered view that each teacher should set their own price. If someone doesn´t want to pay the price let the teacher decided to either bring down the price, not hold the course, or not teach that particular student.

I hate the idea of the government telling private enterprises what price they must charge, even if the government gives a range within which the private individual must stay.

There appears to haveeen no consultation about this matter, rather that one person is telling everyone else what they can charge.

[Andreas the Wise]

At the moment it's MiniTrade suggesting a broad price range. In terms of guild legislation, that's well within our power to ensure test fees aren't excessive. I also limited the fees for courses for those who worry about the economy taking over.

[Austi_Scot]

I understand and disagree.

[Malliki]

Can't these regulations be altered by the Landsraad IIRC?

[Harvey Steffke]

You're charging for classes?

That's it. This marks the first official time that the economy is beginning to infringe upon my enjoyment at Shireroth.

[Malliki]

I see you have no bank account. I also can't see any counter-proposal from you regarding this.

[Harvey Steffke]

You mean other than the obvious one of not charging for classes?

Make no mistake; I want to teach classes, not take them. But doing so for profit makes me very uncomfortable.

[Allot]

You may charge for a course. Feel free to teach pro bono if you want.

(I think. Right, Andreas?)

[Harvey Steffke]

I get no sense that charging for classes is optional in this charter. If that is true, then something would definitely need to be added to the proposal to indicate this.

[Allot]

. Teachers will also be able to choose a small fee for their course, between 20 and 100 erb, depending on length and relevance.

I believe the "will" signifies the teacher's choice to add a fee. Andreas can clarify if I'm wrong.

[Malliki]

Yes, the profit of imaginary money in a php bank account.

I agree with Allot, but maybe that's not what Andreas meant.

[Andreas the Wise]

If people don't want to charge, of course they don't have to. And Harvey - fees are diberately limited to < a standard single bounty. New Citiziens get 250 just by existing.

EDIT: Sorry, actually it *does* rather read as if you *have* to charge a fee. I'll edit it - hopefully that will make it work.

[Oroigawa Koreyasu]

Teachers will also be able to choose a small fee for their course, between 20 and 100 erb, depending on length and relevance.

Doesn't sound that way to me. Sounds like an option.

[Andreas the Wise]

Well, I specifically added:

Teachers may elect to run their course without a fee. They will be issued a subforum but it will not be password protected. Once a course has no fee a fee may not be added.