Student Advocates

This article is about the Student Advocate and how the role fits within EVE University and how he serves the general membership.

The role of the Student Advocate is to provide a voice for the student body to the Directorate and Management in a fashion much like EVE's CSM in that they filter through popular issues and concerns bringing forward those that are deemed most important. The Student Advocate also acts as mediator for when those inevitable clashes between members occur. EVE University is both large in numbers and broad in the cultural and nationality scope. When an issue arises it is the goal to bring them to a friendly resolution to allow members to continue enjoying their time in EVE University.

Student Advocate

Kermit Pental About the role: The Student Advocate is a manager chosen to essentially function as a mediator, addressing issues at student level before they escalate to the point where a director should need to get involved. They are a point of contact for the student body, acting much like EVE's CSM in that they try to filter through the popular issues and bring the important ones to the attention of the directorate. The Student Advocate can also be considered the "voice" of the students, acting on their behalf in dealings with the directorate. Have you got an issue or a complaint with someone? Then the Student Advocate is the person you should speak to. About the person: Reports to: CEO and Director of Operations

What duties does the Student Advocate carry on?

The scope of the duties is to ensure that the Uni is running smoothly as possible with all members (and departments) following policies, procedures, and protocols, and not letting issues grow to the point of explosions. Those should be for pew-pew.

• I will intercede in issues you may have with another member or staff/management member.
• The Student Advocate will moderate Uni chat channels and Mumble.
• Will give input where needed to all the Divisions of the Uni to ensure your needs and expectations are being met. Note that some things I don't have any control over.

What do I do if I have a complaint?

Should you have a complaint with another member, a staff member, manager, or even a director that has not been resolved of it's own accord then I are who you want to get in touch with.

• Ensure that you have taken reasonable steps to resolve the issue yourself. Try a private convo, evemail, or forum PM with the other party. Most issues are simply misunderstandings based on someone's mood, cultural or language difference, or playstyle, and if it was in chat only the communication between you and the other party can be difficult to "read" as in what mannerisms or tones are intended. Example, one person is making a joke and believes you're enjoying/getting it, yet you don't "know" that's the intent and you've taken it personally, and vice versa.
• Contact me via forum private message, or evemail with your complaint. Be perpared to provide chatlogs and/or copies of evemails, forum PMs, or any other correspondence/evidence as this will help us get to a resolution quicker.
• If your issue is with a staff member, manager, or director, and they were simply reminding you of or enforcing Uni rules and/or policies I may not treat it as a complaint.
• Please do not discuss your complaint with others or bring it forward to other staff, managers, or directors, as this can widen the situation and make it much more difficult to deal with and bring to a timely resolution. I had cases of this in the past and what could have been resolved quickly ended up taking weeks, and no one was happy at the end of it all.
• Give me the courtesy of patience and time to get to the bottom of the issue. We all have real lives and we also like to enjoy playing EVE Online. And there may be other, more critical issues that need handling.
• In cases of complaints against someone I am not here to determine who is who is right or wrong but rather to bring the complaint issue to a peaceful and amicable resolution between the parties involved.
• If I issue you interim instructions please be sure to follow them. These are designed to keep the issue from getting worse, thus complicating and delaying a resolution.
• I will do our best to help you resolve the issue in a timely fashion.