Criteria and Standards For Staff Applicants

Age : 33 Posts : 718

Brought up in the discussion, Staff Plz, the idea of a baseline criteria for staff applicants struck me as a good one.

The idea is this:

There should be a written criteria of the basic expectations held for those who wish to apply for staff. If they meet these basic criteria then there should be no reason to bar them from being granted Trial Mod status unless the current staff team is full or they have already been banned from serving as staff due to past violations of staff rules/standards.

I'd like to propose the following prototype for what these criteria might look like and welcome everyone to comment on what they feel should be added, omitted, or if it looks good as is.

Staff Applicant Criteria

The criteria for staff applicants is broken down into three categories. Activity, Knowledge, and Communication. So long as an applicant is able to meet all three of these criteria and there is an open position, they will be granted "Trial Mod" status. But before we get into these criteria, lets go over the concept of this "Trial Mod" as it differs from how trial mods were handled in the past.

Trial Mods:

Activity: Staff whom never log in aren't very useful to the forum. Thus, a minimum level of activity is expected of new staff applicants. In order to apply for staff you must log into the forum and post something at least three days out of the week on average. In addition, you must have maintained this level of activity for at least one month.

Knowledge: There are a lot of Rules on US and staff is expected to abide by them. If a staff member doesn't know a rule by heart, they should at the very least know where to find it quickly. A short 5 question test will be given to all applicants at a time convenient for both staff and the applicant. This test can be taken via the chat box, skype, or pms. But it must be completed in real time and has a time limit of thirty seconds per question.

Communication: It is vital that staff members are able to communicate ideas and concepts clearly. They must be capable of writing complete sentences and proper spelling. However, they must also be capable of communicating in a professional manner. No l33t speak, excessive cursing, rampant use of slang, or history of violent outbursts. If an applicant is known to frequent any of these traits, they must clean up their act and go a full month without any incident before any applications will be accepted.

There you have it, the humble first draft of a prototype. Please speak up if you have any opinions regarding it. I've included the code below in case anyone wants to copy it and made edits for their own draft. This discussion will go on for one week before being put to a poll. The time limit before the poll goes up can be extended if new versions are added close to the end of that deadline to ensure there is plenty of time to discuss all revisions before going to a poll.

Code:: [center][b][u]Staff Applicant Criteria[/u][/b][/center]

The criteria for staff applicants is broken down into three categories. Activity, Knowledge, and Communication. So long as an applicant is able to meet all three of these criteria and there is an open position, they will be granted "Trial Mod" status. But before we get into these criteria, lets go over the concept of this "Trial Mod" as it differs from how trial mods were handled in the past.

[spoiler=Trial Mods]A 1 month test period where players hoping to join the staff team go through a process in which they gradually take on more responsibilities and powers as time goes on.

[i]Week 1[/i] - During the first week, the trial mod's only power and duty is Pre-Grading. They are expected to post on applications as if they were grading them, however these gradings lack the authority to count as a true approval or denial. They exist to let the forum see them in action and get a feel for how well they understand their responsibilities while grading content. Fully fledged staff will follow these gradings with a full grading of the applications in question and comment on whether or not the trial mod did a good job. In this stage, it's okay to make mistakes, but trial mods are expected to learn from them quickly.

[i]Week 2[/i] - The second week is where all the trial mods efforts from the first week are put to the test. Mistakes made on their Pre-Gradings are no longer expected. [b]If they must be corrected by a full staff member three times they will be removed from Trial Mod status.[/b] Trial Mods who are removed in this manner must wait 1 month starting from the date of their removal before they are able to apply for staff once more. In this time, they are expected to brush up on their knowledge of the rules and systems should they seek to apply once more.

[i]Week 3[/i] - Those who reach this stage are finally given mod powers as well as the authority to truly approve and deny content. The point of this stage is to test their ability to follow through with all the behind the scenes work associated with mod duties. Locking applications once they are finished. Moving threads to the appropriate boards as needed. As well as generally completing gradings in a timely manner and maintaining required activity. [b]If a mod fails to follow up on these duties OR is corrected for grading mistakes three times they will be removed from Trial Mod status.[/b] Mods who are removed in this manner must wait 1 month starting from the date of their removal before they are able to apply for staff once more. The three strikes from the previous week reset meaning Trial Mods gain a whole new set of strikes for this week.

[i]Week 4[/i] - The final stage of Trial Mod is much like the third stage. However at this point preparations for their full promotion are made. During this time, Trial Mods will discuss with staff what their final designation will be(Creations Mod/Eval Mod/Universal Mod) and what avatar they'd like to represent themselves in the staff widget should be. Upon completion of this final week, they will be added to the widget and an announcement detailing their promotion will be made. Past this point, mistakes on gradings will no longer be tallied or count against them and they will only be removed from staff in the event of abuse being discovered or at their own request.[/spoiler]

[b]Activity:[/b] Staff whom never log in aren't very useful to the forum. Thus, a minimum level of activity is expected of new staff applicants. In order to apply for staff you must log into the forum and post something at least three days out of the week on average. In addition, you must have maintained this level of activity for at least one month.

[b]Knowledge:[/b] There are a lot of Rules on US and staff is expected to abide by them. If a staff member doesn't know a rule by heart, they should at the very least know where to find it quickly. A short 5 question test will be given to all applicants at a time convenient for both staff and the applicant. This test can be taken via the chat box, skype, or pms. But it must be completed in real time and has a time limit of thirty seconds per question.

[b]Communication:[/b] It is vital that staff members are able to communicate ideas and concepts clearly. They must be capable of writing complete sentences and proper spelling. However, they must also be capable of communicating in a professional manner. No l33t speak, excessive cursing, rampant use of slang, or history of violent outbursts. If an applicant is known to frequent any of these traits, they must clean up their act and go a full month without any incident before any applications will be accepted.

Age : 32 Posts : 1178

I like it. At times like these, I am glad I opened my big mouth. This is proof, good things happen when I complain about things. Children are born, balloons fly happily, dolphins tumble and staff gets slightly better. It's been a good day for me, and therefore, a good day for the world.

Spoiler:

Age : 31 Posts : 1490

Solved.