Parent+Letters

Welcome!

On this page, parents can learn more about
 * their child's responsibilities as a member of the MUN Club
 * the conference calendar for this year
 * the funding plan for traveling to conference
 * how to pack for a conference

The MUN Coordinator at HIS is Thomas Robinson. Several teachers have joined the program; they travel to the conferences and help the students prepare for the trips: Jack Light, Robin Urban, and Mary Rooth. Mr. Robert van der Eyken is a huge supporter of the program. He has not only traveled to conferences with our students but served as the director of a very large program in Monterrey, Mexico.

Mr. Robinson can be contacted through this address: hismun@scischina.org.

For more information about MUN in general, parents should visit the MUN program description page. For more information about a specific conference, parents can visit the conference web-page given in the table or the page in this wiki dedicated to that conference.

At the bottom of this page are posted copies of all letters to parents and trip permission slips. You do not need to be a member of this wiki in order to view pages or download documents.

What are my child's responsibilities as a member of the MUN Club?

 * 1) Every Tuesday, the MUN club meets from 3:15 pm to 5:00 pm. Attendance is mandatory. At the meetings, club members practice debating, learn how to do research, and discuss world affairs.
 * 2) Outside of the meetings, students are expected to continue researching their assigned country, the debate topics, and the efforts of the United Nations.
 * 3) In the weeks leading up to the conference, all students are expected to draft a resolution addressing one of the conference issues. This will require access to the internet. Some of the research will involve communicating with students from other schools who plan to attend the same conference.

The Conference Calendar for the 2012-2013 School Year
November - West Lake MUN January - Concordia International School Shanghai MUN February - ACAMIS Middle School MUN at Nanjing International School March - BEIMUN hosted by the International School of Beijing April - Robert College International School MUN in Istanbul, Turkey May - SUZMUN at Suzhou Singapore International School

Funding an MUN Trip
Funding the trip to a conference is guided by two principles: These two principles are standard policies for MUN trips in all schools.
 * 1) MUN trips are not intended as fund raisers. All monies collected from parents are used to cover trip expenses.
 * 2) The students on the trip cover the costs of two teachers who act as chaperones and school representatives.

The table below lists the typical fees associated with an MUN trip.
 * Item || Description ||
 * Registration Fee || All conferences charge a registration fee for each participant, including the teacher. The registration fee is used to cover the costs incurred by the conference host. Sometimes the registration fee includes conference meals. The registration fee can range from 200 RMB for a smaller conference to 1175 RMB for the BEIMUN conference. ||
 * Hotel Costs || Students pay equal shares of the entire hotel cost. Often, student prefer share a room three ways to lower the cost of the trip. The MUN Coordinator makes the hotel reservations and usually a conference has arranged a discounted rate through a local hotel. Hotels usually include a breakfast, though at some smaller Chinese hotels the breakfast is an extra cost. ||
 * Travel Costs || Students also pay an equal share of the total cost. Since all of our trips our in China, we use some combination of bus, train, and plane to reach the destination. ||
 * Supervision Fee || The two traveling teachers are given a small stipend for assuming twenty-four hour responsibility of the students. ||
 * Sightseeing Fees || Each MUN trip includes one day devoted to exploring the city or country in which the conference is taking place. Occasionally, evening activities are also included. Students are involved in choosing which activities interest them. Entrance fees are paid by the families. ||
 * Spending Money || Students will need a small amount of money each day to purchase their dinner and any snacks or other personal items. On a typical conference day, students will be as busy as on a school day. There will not be a lot of free time. On the other hand, they are usually quite hungry at the end of the day, often snacking before or after dinner. Also, on the day devoted to cultural activities, students have often enjoyed buying small food or gift items. ||


 * What to bring on a trip to an MUN Conference**

The following is a list of items that are needed by each student on an MUN trip.
 * Passport || Hotels require a passport from each guest. Also, if the students are flying, the passport is needed for claiming each students e-ticket. Passports will be collected by the teachers before the trip and returned at the end of the trip. It is best to bring the passport to school the day before you leave, so that there are no last-minute emergencies. Submit passports to Ms. Peggy. While at school, passports are kept locked in the safe. ||
 * Suggested 75 RMB per day spending money. || This amount is quite generous, but prevents students from having emergencies. Conferences provide lunch on each day. Dinner is usually provided one night of the conference, but students will need money to pay for dinner on each other day. Breakfast is included in the hotel payment for BEIMUN conference but not for the smaller trips - Nanjing and Suzhou. The hotels provide breakfast at a reasonable price of 15 RMB to 25 RMB. However, students are given the option eating at McDonald's, which costs around 30 RMB. The day before the conference is reserved for traveling, and students need money for dinner that night. The day after the conference is reserved for sightseeing. Students will purchase all three meals on that day and may need as much as 80 RMB in entrance fees for various sights. ||
 * Business attire for the conference || Male delegates are expected to wear a suit jacket, tie, and dress shoes, not sneakers. Female delegates may wear a nice blouse with with a sweater or a suit with pants or skirt. ||
 * Clothing appropriate for the weather. || Both Nanjing and Beijing will have colder weather than we are experiencing in Hangzhou. We have experienced snow during our trips to these conferences. Nanjing, like Hangzhou, has a lot of rain. Beijing is drier but can have strong, bitter cold winds in March. Ironically, it can also be very balmy in March, but that is the exception. The weather in Suzhou is identical to that in Hangzhou. ||
 * A swimsuit || This is needed only for the conference at Nanjing International School. The school has an excellent pool facility, and there is a small chance that our students will have the opportunity to use it during the weekend. So, if you really love to swim, pack your swimsuit on the Nanjing trip. ||
 * Paper and a pen, and some schoolbooks. || During the conference, students write and receive many notes. They need a good surface on which to write, so a strong binder or folder for keeping papers is very useful. Students will want to bring several copies of their draft resolution(s) and a hardcopy of their opening speech. A copy of the West Lake MUN handbook is useful because it contains phrases to be used in debate. Finally, students are reminded that they must manage their schoolwork during conference trips. ||
 * A flash drive || Students are expected to bring one or more draft resolutions to a conference, and they must have electronic copies of these documents. ||
 * Students are responsible for any electronic equipment they bring. During conference hours, students should not use computers, phones, MP3 players, etc. Usually, conferences provide computer facilities so that students can merge their documents together. Students who want to use their personal computer during the merging meetings must store their computer in the hotel room after the merging meeting is complete. ||
 * || Emergency Contact Number: On all MUN trips, the following cell phone will be used: 159-2567-4207 ||
 * || Emergency Contact Number: On all MUN trips, the following cell phone will be used: 159-2567-4207 ||

2012-2013 School Year

 * BEIMUN XX - March 13 to 16, 2013 ||
 * NISMUN, ACAMIS Middle School MUN Conference, Nanjing - March 1 to 3, 2013 ||
 * [[file:2013 NIS MUN first payment letter.pdf]] ||  ||   ||   ||
 * [[file:2013 NIS MUN first payment letter.pdf]] ||  ||   ||   ||

2011-2012 School Year

 * SUZMUN IV - May 12, 2012 ||  ||   ||
 * [[file:SUZMUN IV Introduction.pdf]] || [[file:SUZMUN IV Trip Details.pdf]] || [[file:SUZMUN IV Code of Conduct.pdf]] || [[file:SUZMUN IV Overnight Trip Permission.pdf]] ||
 * BEIMUN XIX - March 9 to 11, 2012 ||  ||   ||
 * [[file:BEIMUN XIX first payment letter.pdf]] || [[file:BEIMUN XIX final payment letter.pdf]] || [[file:BEIMUN XIX Code of Conduct.pdf]] || [[file:BEIMUN XIX Overnight Trip Permission.pdf]] ||
 * ACAMIS Middle School MUN Conference, Nanjing - February 25 and 26, 2012 || [[file:2012 ACAMIS MS MUN travel details.pdf]] ||
 * [[file:2012 Nanjing MUN First Payment.pdf]] || [[file:2012 Nanjing MUN Final Payment.pdf]] || [[file:2012 Nanjing Code of Conduct.pdf]] || [[file:2012 Nanjing Overnight Trip Permission.pdf]] ||
 * THIMUN Qatar Trip - November 13 to 20, 2011 ||  ||   ||
 * [[file:May 2011 THIMUN Qatar Intro.pdf]] || [[file:June 2011 THIMUN Qatar flight payment.pdf]] ||  ||   ||

2010-2011 School Year

 * BEIMUN Trip - March 10 to 14, 2011 ||
 * [[file:BEIMUN XVIII parent letter.pdf]] || [[file:BEIMUN XVIII Final Info to Parents.pdf]] || [[file:BEIMUN XVIII Code of Conduct.pdf]] || [[file:BEIMUN XVIII Overnight Trip Permission.pdf]] ||
 * BISSMUN Trip - March 4 and 5, 2011 ||
 * [[file:2011 BISS MUN parent letter.pdf]] ||  ||   ||   ||
 * ACAMIS Middle School MUN Conference at Nanjing International School - February 17 to 19, 2011 ||
 * [[file:2011 ACAMIS MS MUN parent letter.pdf]] ||  ||   ||   ||

September 24, 2008 Describes MUN, contains the calendar of conferences for the 08-09 school year, describes club participation.

October 14, 2008 Gives specific details about the West Lake MUN conference at Hangzhou International School. Contains permission slip.