Harvard Model Congress Europe

2021

Registration Guide

Welcome to HMCE!

On behalf of the entire executive board, welcome to Harvard Model Congress Europe 2021! My name is Christine Li, and I will be serving as Director of Communications for the upcoming year. As Director of Communications, I will be your primary point of contact for any concerns, questions, accommodations. Especially during an uncertain era, please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time through my email address below.

For a quick introduction, I am a current student at Harvard University studying Economics with a secondary in Government. Along with the rest of our board and experienced staff, I am extremely passionate about civic education, fostering global perspectives, and expanding civic engagement opportunities. Furthermore, democracy simulations during my high school years catalyzed my passion and academic interest in global affairs, and I am extremely excited to be a part of Model Congress to provide this opportunity for future generations. In addition to my role in HMC Europe, I am also a staffer for HMC Boston, Asia, and Middle East!

Looking forward to 2021, we are preparing for a dynamic conference that embodies cultural connectivity, substantive debate, and diversity of perspectives while also holding health and safety as our number one priority. Under sound guidance from our Co-Presidents Nyla Brewster and Melody Wang, the 2021 conference will be held virtually this year, both synchronously and asynchronously. Our conference is scheduled for March 13-14, 2021.

The registration guide below covers many critical details for the registration process this year, especially as things move remote. We want to highlight specific dates and exciting new educational initiatives for conference programming this year. Below, you will find information, such as a list of committee offerings, adjusted prices, a tentative schedule, registration portal instructions, financial aid guidelines, and a message from our Co-Presidents. The full contents of the guide can be found in the table of contents right below this.

We know this year has been anything but what many have ever anticipated. However, the need for future leaders and innovation is clearer than ever. As a team, we are committed to providing an insightful educational experience that is tailored to provide a unique education experience for students, possibly when they need it more than ever. Our Vice-President Nour Abou-Hussein and Directors of Programs, Busola Banjoh and Hannah Miller, have been working hard to ensure that the timeliest topics and the best materials available will be provided for our participants.

Thank you for your interest and commitment to our conference. We hope to see you soon, and I look forward to working closely with you and your students in the coming months!

Sincerely, Christine Li Director of Communications [email protected]

2 Table of Contents

Introductory Message……..…………………………………2 Meet the 2021 Executive Board……………..……….…4

About HMCE & HMC Worldwide..………………….…..5 Program Overview…………………………………….……….6

Domestic Programs…………………………………………….7 International Programs……………….…………………..…8

Committee Information & Briefing Topics………….9 Student Feedback…….……………………………….……..10 Registration………………………………………………………11 Registration Overview………………………………………12

Financial Aid…………………..………………………………..14

Preparing for the Conference…………………………..15 Message from the President...………………………….16

3

Meet the Executive Board

Nyla Brewster, Co-President Melody Wang, Co-President Nour Abou-Hussein, Vice President

Sam Sharfstein, Director of Christine Li, Director of Amanda Stetz, Director of Business & Aid Communications Operations & Tech

Busola Banjoh, Director of Hannah Miller, Director of Domestic Jonathan Ragheb, Director of Ed. International Programs Programs Development

Michael Raji: Chief of Staff

4 4 About HMCE & HMC Worldwide

HMC Boston Harvard Model Congress encourages young people…to participate in HMC public service and civic life. Asia This unique opportunity gives you a platform to get involved; to experience first- HMC San hand…how our government Francisco works.” — Senator Elizabeth Warren HMC (D-MA) Middle East

HMCE strives to prepare the next generation of democratic leaders and global citizens. The conference exposes delegates to the realities of the democratic process, challenging them to forge compromise while advancing the interests of their constituencies. HMCE’s rigorously trained Harvard staff members, many of whom have worked for the governmental agencies whose committees they chair at HMCE, are committed to making this learning process intensive, rewarding, and fun for the delegates. By the end of HMCE, delegates will have become well versed in the nuances of their governmental agency and will have sharpened their public speaking and negotiation skills. Furthermore, especially given the ever-growing diversity of our conference participants, we have found that delegates draw a wealth of insight from the cultural exchange the conference facilitates. In recent years, HMCE has worked with schools across four different continents and has brought together delegates from more than 20 countries. Moreover, the conference attracts delegations from different parts of the globe with each passing year, ensuring that HMCE continues to provide students with a venue for learning about cultural differences and thinking about issues from a global perspective. Interaction with diverse perspectives in this microcosm of global politics prepares delegates for their future as leaders on the international stage.

5

Program Overview

Prepped by months of preparation and research leading up to Tentative Synchronous the conference, delegates will participate in two days of Schedule* intensive debate, cooperation, and hard work. They will leave HMCE with: *Subject to change. All times below are in Madrid ▪ Increased confidence and leadership skills. time. The typical conference schedule has been ▪ An enhanced understanding of the workings of adjusted to accommodate a virtual setting. In democratic institutions. addition, as many of our staffers are in Eastern ▪ Improved public speaking skills and a better mastery of Standard Time, we have chosen to hold our English speech-making and argumentation. sessions in Madrid evening time to find an ▪ The ability to think critically and find common ground amenable time for all parties. Asynchronous programming does not have a set time, so it does among disparate views. not feature on this schedule. ▪ An awareness and appreciation for negotiation, compromise, and cooperation. Saturday, 13 March: ▪ Certificate of completion of the Harvard Model Congress Europe conference. 14:00-14:30: Opening Ceremonies

14:30 –16:00: Committee Session 1 16:00-16:30: Break 16:30 – 18:00: Committee Session 2 18:00-19:30: Dinner Conference Sessions HMCE aims to provide a comprehensive “Inside-the-Beltway” Optional: 18:00-18:15: Office Hours experience. As such, our conference is broken into multiple types of Optional: 18:30-19:30: College sessions that immerse students in different aspects of the law-making process. Panel Committee Sessions 19:30 -21:30: Cross-committee Led by Harvard undergraduate chairs, committee is where students programming spend the bulk of their time, are exposed to policymaking minutiae, debate specialized policy content, and work closely with fellow delegates. Cross-committee Programming Sunday, 14 March: Another special part of HMCE is the opportunity to develop 15:00-16:30: Committee Session 3 collaborative skills. In pursuit of this goal, we will be offering cross- 16:30–17:00: Break committee programming that links two different committees to use their different areas of expertise in influencing a large body. While 16:30 – 18:00: Committee Session 4 this does diverge from our traditional full session model, a slightly 17:00-18:30: Committee Session 5 smaller setting will provide a more engaging remote session. Mentoring/College Panel 18:30-20:00: Dinner A new feature, this event will provide students a way to directly Optional: 19:00-20:00: Seminars engage with undergraduate Harvard students and ask how they 20:00 -21:30: Cross-committee have academically and professionally pursued politics. Seminars programming We will also be introducing seminars, an optional one-hour session 21:30-22:00: Closing Ceremonies for delegates to dive deeply into a single subject topic that is relevant to modern public policy discussions to further enrich their educational experience with HMCE.

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HMCE Domestic Programs The Legislative Branch In congressional committees, delegates draft legislation and discuss, amend, and vote on bills through formal debate. These sessions allow students to experience the excitement, satisfaction, and frustration that accompany the legislative process. We listened to feedback from past years and are offering a wide breadth of domestic legislative committees this year that tackle today’s most pressing challenges. 2021 Committees: Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senate Energy and Natural Resources, House Science, Space, and Technology, supreand Senate Foreign Relations.

The Judicial Branch

The Supreme Court and District Court Committees bring the judicial branch of the US government to life. In these committees, students will be pushed to think critically about the law and develop invaluable reasoning, debate, and logic skills.

2021 Committees: Supreme Court of the United States, District Court

The Executive Branch Executive national committees will have the opportunity to work on the agenda of the 46th President of the United States. The US Presidential Cabinet will be charged with advising the President on signing — or vetoing — \ legislation in an effort to shape their agenda, while the National Security Council discusses the most pressing security and policy matters of our day.

2021 Committees: US Presidential Cabinet, National Security Council 7 HMCE International Global Institutions

ProgramsHMCE features committees dedicated to some of the most consequential United Nations programs in history. Thanks to a major programmatic update, delegates will have the opportunity to discuss complex timely international issues, like the ongoing refugee crisis, worker’s rights, and education around the world.

2021 Committees: Group of 24, Historical Committee, World Bank, United Nations Human Rights Council, United Nations Security Council, and World Health Organization

Regional Governing Bodies

HMCE is excited to offer the European Commission, and we’re excited to initiate a dialogue surrounding local issues that affect millions of people worldwide.

2021 Committees: European Commission

8 BRIEFING TOPICS FOR 2021

We are still finalizing our educational materials for HMCE 2021, but are excited to provide a sneak peek of some of the topics that will be covered at our conference:

• District Court – Organizational Liability for Dangerous Animals (Ohio Renaissance LLC v. Tommy Conway) • House Space, Science, & Technology – Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace • National Security Council – Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea • Presidential Cabinet • Senate Foreign Relations – U.S. Military in West Africa • Senate Intelligence – National Security Agency Surveillance • Senate Energy & Natural Resources – Wildland Fire Management • Supreme Court – Foster Care Regulation and Sexual Orientation (Fulton v. City of Philadelphia) • European Commission – The Effort to Fight Climate Change in Europe • Group of 24 – Fighting Global Poverty • Historical Committee – Nursing Home Regulation • World Bank – Empowering Women in the Developing World • United Nations Human Rights Council – Global Sex Trafficking • United Nations Security Council – Cybersecurity in the European Union • World Health Organization – The Path to Solving the HIV/AIDS Pandemic

9 “Participating in HMCE was truly a life-changing experience for me. I loved learning from the other delegates and all they had to say about the bills they came up with. I also learned a lot about finding common ground with others even if we did not come from the same political party. But the best part is that I got to have fun and make friends in the process!”

- HMCE 2018 Delegate

10 11

Registration

January 18th: January 4th: Guaranteed February 15th: Registration Opens Registration for Registration for Returning Returning Schools Deadline Schools Ends; Regular Registration Opens

Fees vary by registration deadline: Returning 2020 School Policy Early-Bird School Fee: €50 All returning schools who planned to participate in Before Jan. 18 Delegate Fee: €50 HMCE 2020 will be guaranteed a spot at the 2021 Regular School Fee: €50 conference. Jan. 18-Feb. 15 Delegate Fee: €100 Late School Fee: €50 Individual Registrant Policy After Feb. 15 Delegate Fee: €125 Individuals are encouraged to participate in HMCE The delegate fee is paid once per delegate. There is no 2021 and can register without school affiliation maximum number of students that can attend per using the same online process. In addition, they will school for this virtual conference not be responsible for providing a school fee.

All payments are due by February 15th, 2021. A late New School Policy fee of €25/delegate will be assessed for any payments “New” schools (those who did not participate in last received after this date. Due to the heavy fixed costs year’s conference), can request an HMCE Registration associated with a conference of our size, HMCE Portal account starting January 4th, but spots will not enforces a strict no-refund policy. be confirmed until after January 18th. These schools are only eligible to join the Regular registration Please see the Guide to the HMCE Portal and group. Online Store — available after January 4th, 2021, at www.hmceurope.org — for more detailed School Referral Policy instructions on submitting your payment. For every school that refers a school who has not previously attended an HMCE conference and 2021 General Registration Policy: registers for the 2021 conference, both the referrer To “lock in” your school’s place in one of the and the school who was referred will have their registration groups outlined to the left, you must: school fees waived. The referring school can have 1. Complete all registration info in the HMCE previously attended an HMCE conference or they Registration Portal, including School Details, can be a new school. Faculty Advisor Information, and your Delegate Roster. 2. Pay the appropriate school fee by the registration period deadline. 3. Pay all delegate fees before the February 15th deadline.

11 Registration Overview

Please see the Guide to the Registration Portal and Online Store, available after January 4th, on our website, for detailed instructions. Please contact [email protected] with questions.

Step 1: Request an HMCE Portal Account

The first step toward attending HMCE 2021 is to create an account on the Registration Portal. Visit https://hmceurope.org/portal/register.php to begin the registration process. Please allow up to 2 business days for account activation. Faculty Advisors will be contacted that their account has been activated and further instructions after the account creation request has been verified by our Director of Communications. Returning schools that already have an HMCE Registration Portal account will not need to create a new account. We have rolled over your login credentials and activate your account for you already. However, do note, that all spreadsheets will need to be filled out again.

For new schools, the date by which you complete the registration steps outlined on the previous page will serve as your “lock-in” date. That is, spots to the 2021 conference will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis according to who has submitted all of their registration info and necessary payments.

Step 2: Complete the School Details Spreadsheet

After your Registration Portal account is activated, you may log into the Portal (further instructions will be outlined in the Guide to the Registration Portal). You should use the “Update School Details” page to enter your school details into the appropriate spreadsheet.

Step 3: Complete the Faculty Information Spreadsheet

Visit the “Change Faculty Information” page to enter your faculty information into the appropriate spreadsheet. Be sure to complete this spreadsheet in its entirety, listing out all Faculty Advisors who will attend HMCE 2021.

12 Registration Overview Cont. Step 4: Submit Necessary Fees and Complete Your Delegate Roster

▪ Send a SEPA wire transfer (preferred method — see the Guide to the HMCE Registration Portal and Online Store for details) or visit HMCE Online Store at hmceurope.ecwid.com to submit the School Fee. Please contact [email protected] if you require assistance. ▪ Complete the Delegate Roster. Submit the requested information about your delegates who are attending HMCE, including financial aid delegates. ▪ Send a SEPA wire transfer (preferred method — see the Guide to the HMCE Registration Portal and Online Store for details) or visit the HMCE Online Store at hmceurope.ecwid.com to submit the Delegate Fee. ▪ All payment for returning schools must be received by February 22nd, 2021 (to account for delays in wire/fund transfers) to be guaranteed a space at HMCE.

Guidelines for this conference’s role request process:

▪ Each delegate may only preference each committee once and must submit four different preferences. ▪ All committee roles will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. ▪ Delegates from the same school should not all request the same committees. For educational reasons, no more than a few delegates from a school will be placed into the same committee. ▪ HMCE reserves the right to place delegates in committees they have not preferenced if space does not allow or if delegations do not adhere to these outlined guidelines.

Step 6: Submit Forms All delegations will be required to sign Delegate Codes of Conduct and Faculty Advisor Agreements for all Faculty Advisors. These will be distributed by early February and must be submitted by March 8th, 2021. You can find tentative copies of these on our website. Submission details will be provided in late February.

1413 Financial Aid Harvard Model Congress Europe awards need-based financial aid to select students who may not ordinarily be able to attend the conference due to financial considerations.

Through this program, we hope to expand the opportunity to participate in this unique and valuable event to a greater number of students. It is our belief that increasing the socioeconomic diversity of the conference enhances the experience for all involved. Gathering students from a wider variety of backgrounds provides the conference with new perspectives, brings novel ideas to the table, and stimulates fruitful debate. Though all students that are eligible to attend the conference are welcome and encouraged to apply to the financial aid program, the goal of the program is to make HMCE accessible to students who would otherwise not be able to attend. Thus, financial need will be the primary consideration in awarding financial aid.

HMCE will award one financial aid package this year: Full waived delegate fee

As part of the application process, applicants will be asked to: • A short essay (under 500 words) explaining their interest in the conference and their passion for politics as a whole. • A short essay (under 200 words) explaining how HMCE will benefit them/help them achieve their goals

The application is due on February 22nd, 2021. To submit the application, please include both responses in one PDF file, and attach the document in an email to [email protected] with the subject “2021 Financial Aid Application FirstName LastName” Please apply as early as possible to financial aid. The majority of our financial aid budget will be distributed earlier in the registration period, so your chance of receiving financial aid is the highest if you apply earlier.

Important Note for Faculty: Please enter ALL students into the HMCE Registration Portal, including financial aid delegates.

All registration info must be submitted and processed by your school prior to your school receiving role assignments, including financial aid applications. If your school is applying with financial aid delegates, you will not receive roles until all financial aid applications for your school have been processed and the decisions released. That means you cannot request roles until all students applying for financial aid have submitted their financial aid applications. Furthermore, you won’t receive roles until after the financial aid deadline your school chooses to apply to passes. We’ve made this change in our financial aid distribution process to be as fair as possible to our financial aid students. We do not want students paying individually for the conference to receive roles prior to financial aid students.

14 Preparing for the Conference

Key Points Delegates do not need any HMC or other government simulation experience to attend the conference! Our highly trained staff will ensure that delegates understand all HMC- specific practices and processes at the beginning of the conference. However, preparation only improves the delegate experience. The most important thing for delegates is to understand briefings thoroughly and be prepared to speak about them at length. Some other helpful strategies for delegations to use for preparation include: ▪ Public Speaking and Parliamentary Procedure practice ▪ Group discussions of the briefings ▪ Review of the structure of US government (the three branches, etc.) ▪ Maintaining an awareness of US and world news Asynchronous Programming There are many strategies that Faculty Advisors have found successful for preparing delegates for the conference. No one strategy works for all delegations! It takes time and effort to develop best practices. However, we also understand the unique nature of a remote conference, and as such, our POs are spearheading additional asynchronous programming, such as written guides on conference activities, instructional videos, and more. Example topics include bill- writing, public speaking, politics research, and etc. While exact programming is not yet final, we are committed to providing innovative preparation and learning activities for students to accommodate various time zones, personal commitments, and COVID-19 restrictions. If you need any tips for preparing a delegation, feel free to reach out to Christine Li, [email protected].

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Message from the Presidents

Dear Delegates, Parents and Faculty Advisors:

It is with great enthusiasm that we welcome you to Harvard Model Congress Europe 2021! Our names are Nyla Brewster and Melody Wang, and we’re incredibly excited to welcome you to the 2021 conference.

To begin, Nyla is a junior at Harvard from Boston, MA studying Social Studies and Computer Science. In the past year, Nyla served first as HMCE’s Presiding Officer for International Committees and later as Vice President. She has also been a staffer for a number of other HMC conferences in Boston, Singapore, Tokyo, and later this year, Dubai. On campus, she is also involved with the Social Innovation and Change Initiative along with Harvard Consulting on Business and the Environment. Along with Melody, Nyla is extremely excited to deliver an amazing HMCE conference for 2021!

Melody is a junior at Harvard originally from Atlanta, GA, studying Government with a Language Citation in Mandarin Chinese. She previously served as the HMCE 2020 Director of Communications and staffed the HMCE in 2019. Outside of HMC, she’s involved in the Harvard College Consulting Group, the Institute of Politics, and has staffed conferences throughout Boston, SF, and Tokyo. Education and public service have been focal points of her college experience, and she’s so excited to be working alongside Nyla to put on an incredible educational experience for all delegates from all walks of life.

This year, the rest of the HMCE Executive Board and I look forward to working alongside you. Our team of nearly 40 committee chairs has begun preparations for this conference, and our outstanding 2021 Executive Board is committed to cultivating a transformative educational experience for every delegate. You also may have noticed (or will soon notice) some of our Executive Board’s other work for this conference: over the past few months, we have worked hard to introduce new committee offerings tailored to today’s rapidly changing world, create an educational materials library, and plan to offer a Delegate Social that allows for more social interaction outside of committee time. All of these changes were made with you — the Delegates, Parents, and Faculty Advisors of HMCE — in mind, and we hope you are as excited about them as we are.

Last year, our conference faced unprecedented circumstances during the COVID-19 global health pandemic, resulting in the cancellation of the conference. We know this was a disappointment to all, including our executive board, staffers, as well as students who were excited to attend the conference, but we want to ensure you that with our upcoming conference, public well-being and financial accessibility remain at the helm of our conference priorities, alongside maintaining a strong educational experience for all delegates. Our Executive Board is working diligently to put on a safe and meaningful conference, and we look forward to seeing you all virtually in March 2021.

To those returning, we are grateful for your continued dedication to this conference. To our new HMCE members, we are excited to welcome you to the family.

With gratitude, Nyla Brewster & Melody Wang

HMCE 2021 Co-Presidents 16