Secretary-General's Letter Secretariat Bios FAQS For IRO and Staff

VICS FAQS

 

GENERAL QUESTIONS

1. What is VICS? 
For sixteen years, the Virginia International Crisis Simulation (VICS) has been hosted by the International Relations Organization (IRO) at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. All conference events take place on the beautiful Grounds of the University, which provide an excellent, historic location for the delegates to engage in a variety of crisis simulations. While the conference has been growing in the past five years, the goal of VICS is to provide an in-depth look into the crisis style of Model UN debate while preserving the small nature of committees. With over 100 staffers from IRO and the larger University community, VICS XVII promises to be an exhilarating experience. 

VICS XVII will be held from March 22nd to March 25th, 2012. Please see the Schedule page for the tentative conference schedule. 

Hopefully we have anticipated most of your questions with the following information, but if we have missed anything, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretary-General, Anna-Sofia Yurtaslan. 


2. Who runs VICS? 
VICS is governed by a six member Secretariat: 

The Charge d'Affaires is the liaison between the Secretariat and the participants of the conference. The Charge is reponsible for all issues regarding registration, head delegate concerns, committee assignments, and collection of all VICS registration and conference fees. Any questions, concerns, or pre-conference needs of head delegates should be directed toward the Charge. Her job is to ensure your attendance at VICS XVII is as effortless as possible. 

The Director-General is in charge of creating the unique array of committees and crises for VICS XVII. While many chairs create crises of their own accord, the Director-General facilitates discussion on types and styles of crises to assist chairs in brainstorming and finalizing committees. Committee policy regarding crises, committee procedure, and chair guidelines falls under the Director-General's jurisdiction. 

The Chief of Staff is responsible for organizing the staff for the conference and room arrangements around grounds. Without the work of the Chief of Staff, the conference would lack staffers to facilitate crises and carry out all of the behind the scenes efforts. 

The Under-Secretary-General for Public Relations is in charge of planning the social events available at VICS XVII, such as the Fraternity Simulation (FratSim), the Head Delegate Soiree, and the Head Delegate Drink-Off. He will also set up the catering for the conference, as well as seek out corporate sponsorship and business donations. 

The Under-Secretary-Geneal for Logistics is reponsible for all of the materials required for VICS XVII. He ensures the timely production of placards, brochures, name badges, folders, and replacement items required at any time during the conference. 

Finally, the Secretary-General, Anna-Sofia Yurtaslan, coordinates and oversees all of the different aspects of the conference. Please contact her with any questions or concerns. 

Please read our Secretariat Biographies for more information on the VICS XVII Secretariat. 

While each Secretariat member serves a specific function, all have a broad understanding of VICS and are able to answer any questions or concerns you may have before and during the conference. Please do not hesitate to contact or talk to any of them, or any of the UVa students staffing VICS XVII. Everyone is available to make sure you and your delegates have the best conference experience possible. 

 

COMMITTEES

3. How are committees organized? 
VICS has a unique conference format that has recently been catching on throughout the college Model United Nations circuit. Rather than having a variety of different committee styles, VICS only contains small, fast-paced crises with approximately twenty delegates. Despite the sole committee type, the topics of the conference cover both conventional and truly innovative ideas that will ensure interesting crises for each VICS delegate. Past committees include unconventional ideas such as the New York Mafia and the Google Management Team. For those that prefer more conventional committees, VICS always offers appealing crises in a more traditional setting, such as a historical Russian Cabinet or the Executive Yuan of China. 

4. When will the final committees be posted? 
VICS usually releases the committees and their chairs during the winter. While it is unfortunate that they are not available prior to conference registration, there is always a wide array of committees. The Dirctor-General ensures that there are crises that vary by region, style of crises, and the degree to which the committees are traditional or unconventional. 

The Charge d'Affaires will send VICS XVII updates to the head delegates from the time when a school registers to the commencement of the conference. These updates will include the status of chairs and committees. As soon as the committees are finalized and posted on the website, the Charge will send an email update. That being said, it is worthwhile to periodically check the VICS website for any updates. 


PREPARATION AND REGISTRATION

5. How do delegates prepare for VICS XVI? 
Prior to the conference, all committee background guides will be available on the VICS website. These background guides are meant to provide a starting point for delegates to begin their own research. Chairs will supply additional articles, links, and readings which might help in this endeavor. In order to facilitate debate and real world conflict, it is important that students research not only the topics at hand, but the position they will take on those topics. 

At the same time, the amount of research usually required for non-crisis style committees is not as necessary for VICS. This is not to say that the VICS Secretariat suggests little preparation for the conference, but rather that extensive research for crisis committees tends to be less helpful than for General Assembly committees. While a certain level of background knowledge is required to understand the crisis, delegates have the capacity to create history and build off their research, and the crisis updates will contain most of the relevant information. 

6. What is VICS's policy on position papers? 
Position papers are not explicitly required for VICS. However, the final decision is left to the descretion of the chair. If a delegate's committee should require a position paper, you will be notified. 

7. How do I register for VICS? 
The VICS Secretariat tries to make registration as effortless and convenient as possible. This year, complete registration, including committee selection, is available online. Registering for VICS XVII involves just two easy steps: 

Step One: Fill out the online registration form on the Registration Page. After your registration is received, your head delegate will soon be sent an email confirmation. Please check that all of the information in the confirmation email is correct. 

Step Two: Send in your School Registration Fee of $70.00 and all delegate feels payable to the International Relations Organization to the following address:

After payment has been received, your head delegate will again be sent an email confirmation. Additionally, your school is now eligible to submit Committee Preferences and receive Committee Position Assignments. As the conference draws closer, more information will be posted on the website as well as emailed to your head delegate regarding the time and procedure for check-in and final registration at Jeff Hall. 


8. Registration Dates and Fees 
Priority Registration opens October 1st, 2011
Priority Registration closes December 7th, 2011
Priority Delegate Fees are $65.00 per delegate and are due along with the School Registration Fee by December 7th, 2011

Regular Registration closes February 8th, 2012
Regular Delegate Fees are $75.00 per delegate and are due along with the School Registration Fee by February 8th, 2012


9. What are the fees and refund policy? 
Fees
School Registration Fee: $70.00 
Priority Registration Delegate Fee: $65.00 per delegate 
Regular Registration Delegate Fee: $75.00 per delegate 

Refund Policy
The School Registration fee of $70.00 is non-refundable. Delegate Fees, however, are refundable before February 8th, 2012. If drops are made after this date, delegate fees are still owed in full. Please note, if your delegate number should increase after your initial registration, your school is held responsible for these fees just as if they were part of your initial delegation number. They must also be paid in full if drops are made after February 8th, 2012. 

IMPORTANT 
You must register and we must receive your School Registration Fee and Delegate Fees before you can submit Committee Preferences or receive Committee Position Assignments. This means that delegates will not receive an assignment until their full delegate fee is received. The attendance of every delegate is extremely important to the success of our small-sized committees. For this reason, the registration and refund policies are strictly enforced and no exceptions will be made with regards to payment. 


AT THE CONFERENCE

10. Where do we stay? 
Our Hotels Page has a list of recommended hotels in Charlottesville. Most of these hotels are within walking distance of University Grounds (about a ten to fifteen minute walk to most committee rooms). VICS does not make hotel reservations on behalf of schools; this is the responsibility of the sponsor or head delegate. However, in a few hotels, the VICS XVII Secretariat will reserve large blocks of rooms in order to help ensure room availability. When choosing a hotel, please take location into consideration as you must supply your own transportatoin to committees and other conference events. That being said, UVa and Charlottesville offer convenient and expansive free public transportation. Note that though parking is available on Grounds, it is limited and expensive.


MISCELLANEOUS 

11. I have other questions 
Please email the Secretary-General, Anna-Sofia Yurtaslan, with further questions. Additionally, it may be helpful to email the individual Secretariat member to whom your question pertains.