Introduction

If you havent yet, make sure you read the reports from the DGM, GM, and FIST below!

Welcome to my first report as Headmaster! I apologize for the length of time between my elevation to this illustrious position and my report. It has been a very busy first few weeks for my office, and I wanted to get things rolling as quickly as possible. I have news on some of the projects that the office is working on.

Who is this guy?

A fair few of the people in the club know me or have interacted with me over the years. I'm a fairly long time member. I joined in late 2000 and was originally placed in CSP, House Dorimad Sol ftw! I served in quite a few House level positions over the years while in CSP. I later joined Plagueis and was asked to help build the now defunct Independent House Revan. After that I eventually drifted to Odan-Urr where I've been a major annoyance since.

I have been a part of the Shadow Academy since about 2007 when I was hired as Eclectic Pedagogue for the Astronomy course that I created. The position was eventually folded over into Flight Studies where I stayed on staff until about 2010. I re-joined the Staff around 2014, and have since been Praetor, and now I'm the big guy in edumacation. In RL I am an overly glorified sound engineer for a conferencing center.

I have always enjoyed teaching others in one form or another. In the DJB I approach teaching the same way as I do in RL. I believe that teaching is just showing the path to the student, but letting them find the answers.

Projects

Imperial Reclamation Society

One of the key things I hit on in both my Praetor and HM applications were to take a hard look at the fictional function of the Academy. If you ask a member what they picture the SA is like in their minds eye, most will tell you a library similar to the one seen in the prequel movies. This is something that I would like to see changed. While the SA will still maintain the idea that it is a repository of data and collected knowledge of the Brotherhood, it will undergo a change for further use in the club overall.

Currently within the DJB we have our warriors (GMRG), assassins (INQ), and ne’er do wells (Shroud). The idea for the Reclamation Society is for members to go out among the stars and claim new sources of power and knowledge. The fundamental idea of the SA will remain the same, that it is a learning institution, however it will expand more into a sort of post secondary education. The higher ranks will be given tasks of higher difficulty and trust. We will still be using the SA facilities on Arx, but will also expand to also have a ship with resources to assist members in acquiring the objects they seek.

Training Videos

A few months ago I was approached by one of my Professors about doing a project that involved tutorials on each position. At each level of leadership and specialized positions in the club you are given new menu options that reflect your new responsibilities. While the hiring person can explain the new tools, I believe that having a secondary resource to keep for reference will keep downtime to a minimum for the member.

My office will be working in collaboration with our Social Media Tribune to release a series of How-To videos. These videos will be hosted on YouTube on the DJB channel. Any member will be able to view these videos regardless of their respective positions. In addition to giving members the secondary resource for learning, it is my hope that members can see the work involved that each member volunteers for when they accept positions of responsibility. In the coming weeks we will be releasing videos for the positions relating to the HM offices. Remaining offices and positions in the DJB will be worked on at the discretion of the responsible leader over each position.

New Courses

Before I go into some of the ideas presented, I want to go ahead and put out my policy (soon to be added to the HM policies wiki page) on new course ideas/creation. I maintain an open door for new courses, just send me and my Praetor an email with the idea and a small proposal. Make sure you include the following things. We will not budge on these points, so dont ask if we will.

1. The course can only include content that is Canon. Anything that comes from Legends cannot, and absolutely will not be accepted.
2. Include how it would be beneficial to the DJB as a whole.
3. How does it fit into our current lore in the DJB?

Keep in mind that creating a course does not mean you will be added to the staff. It could give you a step ahead for future appointments, but nothing is promised. You will be rewarded for your efforts however.

I have been approached about courses that covers Biology and some of the Force Religions and there is work being done on these ideas.

SA Audits

I believe this is the one thing that is a staple of the Shadow Academy. The dreaded auditing of courses. Over the next few months I will have my staff performing updates to their respective departments. These updates will affect all departments in one form or another. I look forward to including information from TLJ and SOLO, a rebuild of the Department of Leadership, Law, and Communication, and two new courses in Legends to cover events from Fate of the Jedi and Legacy.

New Minions!

A few weeks ago I ran applications for the Dept. of Writing Professor. We were lucky to receive one standout application from a relatively junior member of the club. With that said, I welcome the newly promoted Knight, Jinius Griffin, to the Shadow Academy. He is being tasked with evaluating several of the courses he has for potential updates.

Conclusion

I do want to thank the DC for giving me this chance, as well as those who have helped me get to this esteemed office. I also want to apologize for the lack of contact from those who have reached out. I had some family issues arise that could not be avoided. I'll wrap this all up with the words of that Farrin guy.

The Shadow Academy is an amazing resource, created and administered by some imperfect human beings who strive for perfection. We try our best to catch and fix any and all errors before we release courses, but we're not always successful. Because of that, we will always need your help. If you spot an error, please report it to the SA Staff using this simple form; if it's a major enough error, or you spot enough, you'll be rewarded. With cookies. And an SA team thankful for pointing it out.

In Darkness -
Daniel Stephens,
Headmaster of the Shadow Academy