Posted by Russell Watt in Discussion: Cadets Graduating into Academy DH Roles

Posted by Captain J Ridgley (Commandant) in Discussion: Cadets Graduating into Academy DH Roles
Good Day to you all!

I was recently having the thought about how we should fill our DH roles onboard the USS Challenger. It has been often the case (not always) that Cadets have been able to graduate into academy DH roles. While I have no real big problems with this I was also faced with the thought that this may be a way the Academy ship cherry-picks Cadets and keep them away (at least initially, as we can not assume they will apply to other ships thereafter) from the main fleet.

So my questions are simple;

A) Should Cadets be allowed to Graduate straight into Academy DH Roles.
- If ‘YES’ should they be asked to apply to another ship.
YES
Way back when I was a Cadet we were also encouraged to apply to mainstream ship(s) if we were asked to remain as a Department Head for the following mission. Those of us who were asked to remain as DHs were asked to make sure the ship was not one that staff on our ship were CO/XO on, to avoid the appearance of the Academy staff hoarding the brightest Cadets.

As a fresh faced Graduate, it was difficult to know HOW to approach ships. It seemed unfortunate that we were meant to know how to do that without guidance. So I just went into the Personnel Department and typed I was looking for ships to join. I received contact from several COs and had my pick of ships to choose from.

So yes, I think if they prove they can RP in the department and can be a good role model for the next class of Cadets, there is no reason why they can’t be promoted to DH and be the new DH. That always used to be the meaning behind the Lt JG DHs - they were Graduated Cadets from a previous mission, while the Lt DHs were more experienced players returned to provide guidance.

As a freshly graduated Cadet DH, the CO made sure I knew I could go to the CO/XO/CNS/Lieutenant DHs/GM if I needed guidance, assistance or support.

A further thought
If a graduated Cadet is offfered an Academy DH position and they can only commit to one character, I don’t feel that they should be prevented from being the DH on an academy ship if they want that.

Russell
- Former Academy Cadet, DH, CNS, XO, CO

• If ‘NO’ what Criteria should there be in place for Academy DH example - Have played in that position before, time served etc.

I want to remind everyone this is simply a discussion and action may or may not be taken as a result and for everyone to remain civil, if you disagree by all means do say so but in the right manner.

• Jake, Academy Commandant

I agree with everything Russ said, but I want to add some additional thoughts regarding some of the premises here that seem to be underlying the question.

I was also faced with the thought that this may be a way the Academy ship cherry-picks Cadets and keep them away (at least initially, as we can not assume they will apply to other ships thereafter) from the main fleet.

Absolutely nobody has any interest whatsoever in “keeping people away” from the main fleet. The entire point of the Academy is to get people up to speed on how the club works so that they can join the main fleet as soon as possible. That this is being suggested so lazily is actually rather offensive because it’s basically accusation of deliberate malice with no evidence whatsoever.

Regardless, the main problem facing the Academy in the past few months is that the main fleet has been so dysfunctional that nobody will take even take new graduates, and even if they would be willing to, they don’t have the required command staff present on the ship to handle a new person. Recent placements took much longer than normal because there was only one ship healthy enough to take a cadet who didn’t already receive one recently.

Finally, I think it the assumption that the type of cadet who is the type of person we would want to graduate to the Academy DH position would only commit to one character is a flawed one. The type of cadet who gets graduated into the DH position is supposed to be highly-skilled, high-activity player; these types of people typically are not interested in playing just a single character. More importantly, the Academy DH position involves additional OOC work compared to a typical DH position, so we want someone who has the desire and the ability to take on more than the minimum commitment to just being a member of the club. If were to pick someone to be Academy DH with the foreknowledge that they will only play that character, I would suggest that we would be making a mistake.

– Joe