Harvard International Relations Council

In reverse chronological order; Davis Tyler-Dudley (2020-2021), Pedro Farias (2019-2020), Eliza Ennis (2018-2019), Toby Roper (2016-2017),

The HMUN 2017 conference had a staff of 235 Harvard undergraduates.

Staff members are organized into three groups: the Secretariat, the Senior Staff, and the Junior Staff.[5]

The Secretariat consists of the top-level officers of Harvard Model United Nations who oversee all branches and activities of the conference.

There are nine Secretariat members: the Secretary-General, who is responsible for the conference as a whole, the Director-General, who is the administrative head of the conference, the Comptroller, who is responsible for conference finances, and six Under-Secretaries-General in the various branches of the conference: administration, business, Innovation & Technology, and the three substantive organs, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council & Regional Bodies, and the Specialized Agencies. The DG, Comptroller, Administration, and Business organs comprise the executive organs, and Innovation and Technology are both a substantive and an executive organ.

The Secretary-General is elected annually in March by the Board of Directors of the IRC and the outgoing staff of the previous conference. He or she is traditionally a member of the past year's Secretariat, along with the Director-General. The remaining Secretariat members are appointed by the Secretary-General in coordination with the Secretary-General of HNMUN. For HMUN 2018, Andrew R. Chang will serve as Secretary-General and Marija Jevtic will serve as Director-General. [6]

The senior staff, like the secretariat, includes both executive and substantive staffers.

On the executive side, senior staff are the direct deputies of their respective USG. Each organ has several senior staff filling various responsibilities:

Director-General Organ:

• Deputy-Director-General: General assistant to the DG on hotel and tech-related issues. Officially in charge of the conference when the Secretariat is in meetings or otherwise unavailable.
• Senior Director of Security: Manages security staff and operations.
• Director of Technology: Manages computer labs and provides technical support.
• Director of Special Projects: Occasionally appointed to work on long term conference-related projects.

The administration organ has several directors of administration who are the immediate assistants to the USG and who respond to questions about the conference and manage conference registration, and the business organ similarly has several directors of business, responsible for ad sales and conference amenities like catering. The comptroller organ has two assistant comptrollers.

On the substantive side, senior staff consists of committee directors, who are the substantive authorities for each committee and prepare the study guides that serve as the foundational documents for delegate preparation, and crisis directors, who coordinate crisis scenarios on continual crisis committees.

The Innovation and Technology (formerly substantive support) organ includes committee directors, directors of crisis and multimedia who handle presentations, and directors of faculty relations who are the primary point of contact for faculty advisers.

Again, junior staff vary from organ to organ, and can be split into executive and substantive staffers.

On the executive side, each organ has specialized assistant directors (ADs):

• the DG organ has several ADs of security,
• the administration organ has several ADs of administration,
• the business organ has several ADs of business,

and each of these ADs assist their respective senior staff and USG with their duties.

On the substantive side:

• moderators moderate debate and enforce the rules of procedure, and
• assistant directors prepare supplemental research and assist committee directors with running each committee

The substantive support organ has similar assistants to the committee directors.

Like most Model UN conferences, HMUN recognizes exceptional delegates and schools with awards at the end of the conference. Awards are given to the delegates who demonstrate strong preparation, excellent speaking skills, adherence to national policy, and exceptional abilities of compromise and negotiation, and they are awarded by the directors of each committee. The number of awards on a committee varies by size, but each committee gives out at least one of each of the following awards:

• Best Delegate
• Outstanding Delegate
• Honorable Mention

Unlike many conferences, HMUN does not give Verbal Commendations.

Based on the number of delegates receiving awards, awards are then given to the delegations that represent the best collection of delegates.

In August 2011, over 1200 delegates from across India and some other countries (Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey, etc.) took part in the first HMUN India session, which took place at World Trade Centre, Mumbai, India. This event was co-hosted by Indian Model United Nations Society.

The second session of HMUN India took place at the Hyderabad International Convention Center in Hyderabad, India from the 16 to 19 August 2012. This was co-hosted by MUN Cafe- a brand of Worldview Education Services. HMUN India 2012 had over 900 delegates from 110 schools across 24 cities in over 15 countries. Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan was declared the Best Large Delegation at the conference.

The third session of HMUN India was recently held again at The Hyderabad International Convention Center from the 15th to 18 August. This was co-hosted yet again with MUN Cafe. The conference witnessed participation of over 1200 students from across 28 cities in 8 countries. The highlights of the 3rd session included the Speaker Series with an elite panel of speakers including the Key Note at the Opening Ceremony delivered by Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Nobel Peace Prize winner- 2007- The UN Inter-governmental panel on Climate Change. Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan retained its title as the Best Large Delegation at the conference.

The fourth Session of HMUN was yet again held at the Hyderabad International Convention Center and co-hosted by MUN Cafe. The conference saw a greater participation compared to its last session. This time the organizing committee experimented with something they called the Morning Plenary every morning for an hour wherein they re-capped what had been done the day before and showcased some of the entries for the HMUN India IMPACT awards - Videos of NGOs and groups working towards the accomplishment of the Millennium Development goals.

The Special Application committees in this session included

1. Security Council
2. Historical Security Council
3. English Civil War - Long Parliament
4. Press Corps[9]

There are three levels to the HNMUN staff structure: the Secretariat (consisting of the Director-General and the Under Secretaries General), which is led by the Secretary-General; the Senior Staff (consisting of Directors); and the Junior Staff (consisting of Assistant Directors).

Senior and Junior staff is split into two branches: an executive branch and a substantive branch. The executive branch takes care of the Administrative, Business, Finance, and Delegate Relations side of the conference. The substantive branch creates the delegates' committee experience, and is divided into the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and Regional Bodies, and the Specialized Agencies.

As with HMUN, the Secretariat oversees the administration of the conference. The Secretary-General is similarly elected, and appoints his or her Secretariat in coordination with the Secretary-General of HMUN. There are nine secretariat members: the Secretary-General, who is responsible for the conference as a whole, the Director-General, who is the administrative head of the conference, and seven Under-Secretaries-General in the various branches of the conference: administration, business, delegate relations, finance, and the three substantive organs, the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Councils, and the Specialized Agencies. [11]

HNMUN staff is made entirely of Harvard undergraduate students. The staff selection process for one year's HNMUN conference begins immediately following the previous year's conference. First, the Secretary-General for the next conference is elected by the experienced staff members of HNMUN and HMUN. The candidates for Secretary-General are generally members of the past year's Secretariat. Once the Secretary-General has been elected, former members of the HNMUN Senior Staff apply for Secretariat positions. After Secretariat has been chosen in late March, members of the former Junior Staff are welcome to apply for about 80 Senior Staff positions. Junior Staff (Assistant Directors and Committee Moderators) is then selected in the fall. Both Senior and Junior Staff are chosen by the Secretariat after a lengthy application and interview process. By late fall, the conference's staff is complete. The full staff reaches well over 200 students.

HNMUN is host to about 3000 university students from over 50 countries and so requires a large amount of planning by the Secretariat and staff hosting the event. Planning for the following year's conference starts as soon as the current one ends. Topics for debate must be chosen early so that study guides may be prepared and delegates may research their topics. Study guides are written by directors over summer and assistant directors come on board to write updates and provide support to the directors starting in October. The Secretariat works throughout the year on aspects including delegate recruiting and conference logistical planning. The Secretariat is also responsible for long-term strategic planning for the conference.

Model UNs follow the general structure of the UN but for logistical and educational reasons, the structure differs somewhat. HNMUN's structure is similar to most Model UNs but there are a few important differences.

• Only one resolution may be passed on each topic. This is meant to stress consensus and compromise between delegates. This is achieved by the fact that:
• Resolutions cannot be sponsored
• There are no "friendly" or "hostile" amendments, as there are no sponsors with whom to confer

The NGO Program is unique to HNMUN and is a fantastic opportunity for delegates to experience a wide range of issues and committees across the conference. Each NGO is allowed to visit any committee within the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and the Regional Bodies. NGOs have the option of working in a single committee or in several committees during the conference, depending on your personal comfort level and on the relevance of your NGO to the topic areas being discussed. NGOs have no voting status, but other than that, they have the same rights as any other delegate in the committee: NGOs may make speeches, participate in caucus, and lend their expertise to formulating resolutions.