Roles and Expectations
Introduction: What is Global Issues Network
The Global Issues Network (GIN) was born out of a combination of urgency and foresight for the sake of future generations and the health of the planet. In 2003, a group of teachers and administrators at the International School of Luxembourg were discussing the challenges facing youth today. It was at this time that these same educators had been audience to Jean-François Rischard’s recently published book, High Noon: Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them (2002). Rischard’s book was a road map to solutions that underscored the urgency for immediate action. With a mission to empower young people to collaborate locally, regionally, and globally in order to create project based sustainable solutions for our shared global issues and to recognize and nurture youth empowerment.
Since its small grass roots beginning, the Global Issues Network has grown rapidly to become a region-strong global network of empowered GIN student changemakers, spanning the globe across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America, South and Central America. GIN continues to support and grow sustainable youth-led empowerment that now includes an active body of alumni in universities and beyond. Our GIN students grow to become lifelong learners who understand the imperative of staying involved and taking action.
The GIN Student Admin Team is an international course run by GIN that recruits a select group of students at each GIN school. These students are expected to work together using collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation, in order to build a sustainable future and expand the Global Issues Network. The GIN Student Admin Team opens possibilities for leaders to express themselves and obtain success in diverse areas.
What does it mean to be a Global Citizen?
- To have a passion for creating, developing, and fostering sustainable solutions within their local-global community
- A lifelong commitment to learning, grow your knowledge and understanding of one’s self and our shared world
A Student Admin Role
As Student Admin, you will be responsible for representing GIN and empowering students at your school as GIN School or Local Network community organizers.
The GIN School Community Organizer will:
- Actively solve global issues through their school and within their education system
- Address global issues by tying them to local issues and sharing these understandings with their community
- Address global issues in education and their school systems
- Education: Creating connections between local and global issue systems in curriculum.
- Systems & Institutions: Advocating and working towards sustainable and equitable best practices in facilities management and school policies.
- Support and Student Safety: Onboard educators as GIN Mentors who will support students and projects every year.
- Build a student led GIN Team, that ideally will take form as a GIN Club.
- Teach and share GIN Best Practices at their school.
- Empower stakeholders (students, teachers, parents and more) at your school to join schoolwide or specific Project Team GIN initiatives.
- Create sustainable systems of support for GIN Students and Programs that ensure that students have:
- support from year to year
- The ability to pass their projects on to younger students to grow and maintain impact.
The GIN Local Network Community Organizer will:
- Build a student led GIN Local Network composed of local schools in your country.
- Each GIN School in the Network should be a GIN School with a 3 year action plan or in the processing of becoming one. Schools will be required to complete their first draft and begin implementing their 3 year strategic plan within the first 6 months of joining the Local GINetwork.
- Schools in the network will hold each other accountable and support each other in reaching their network goals in alignment with GIN Best Practices
- As a local network, build a Local Network 3 Year Action Plan that collaboratively addresses a joint issue and builds a shared solution and supports empowerment of community networks.
- Empower stakeholders (students, community leaders, NGOs and more) to join community or specific Project Team GIN initiatives.
- Create sustainable local network systems of support for GIN Students and Programs that ensure that students have:
- support from year to year
- The ability to pass their local projects on to younger students to grow and maintain impact.
- Global citizenry
- Honorable leadership
- Empathetic, community-centered collaboration
- Lifelong learning
- Equitable sustainability
- Environmental justice
- Community advocacy through civic engagement
- To have a passion for creating, developing, and fostering sustainable solutions within their local-global community
- A lifelong commitment to learning, grow your knowledge and understanding of one’s self and our shared world
Expectations of our GIN Student Admin Team
Be prepared to collaborate in teams.
- Have prior experience with or are willing to learn:
- Time management
- Team management and support
- Collaborative project task break-down and delegation
- Design & Systems Thinking
- Encouraging personal strengths and supporting personal challenges
- Communicate clear expectations
- Deliver with professionalism
- Understand your work as your GIN legacy and that your contribution on this team will empower future generations of GIN Student Leaders. This means we ask you to deliver a quality of work that embodies:
- Local-global citizenry
- Team Collaboration & Partnership
- Self-Empowerment
- Real Understanding & Real Challenge
- Student-Led
- Empathetic Action
- Educator-Mentored
- Local-Global Interconnectedness
- Measurable Project Impact
- Ongoing Community Dialogue, Feedback, & Collaborative Learning
- Transparent & Inclusive Sustainable Development
- Community-Centered Empowerment Model for Sustainability
- Environmental Sustainability
- Lasting Sustainable Change
- Understand your work as your GIN legacy and that your contribution on this team will empower future generations of GIN Student Leaders. This means we ask you to deliver a quality of work that embodies:
Hold a belief in their team as capable with respect and trust; actively lead from behind. Encouraging personal strengths and supporting personal challenges
Actively communicate clarifications, concerns, ideas, and difficulties.
Driven to rise to the challenge.
Interest in critical feedback, suggestions for improvement, and collaborative problem-solving.
Passion to create, develop and foster sustainable solutions at a local-global level.
Lifelong commitment and drive to learn and grow your knowledge and understanding of self and the world around you.
Qualities
- Must be able to dedicate an average of 4-6 hours a week dependent on the project.
- Contact us to learn which age groups are eligible for different leadership roles on our program volunteer teams.
- Students will advocate for themselves when they feel they cannot commit to the timeline suggested.
- Students will ask clarifying questions upon delivery of assignments.
- Students will work with GIN Student Admin Directors, Youth Directors and/or Department Heads to resolve commitment conflicts and create realistic deadlines.
- All team members must have an active Gmail account to communicate within the GIN Student Admin Team and with GIN Staff, as well as to receive updates, instructions, materials, tools, and resources from GIN Youth Directors. All files will also be shared through Google Drive and G Suite.
- If you do not have one through your school network, please create one.
- All GIN Student Admin Team members will be asked to use or create a Slack account for important announcements, collaboration, and quick communication.
- Note: if your school or country does not ascribe to the use of Slack, please communicate this and we will work to create systems and protocols for updating and reviewing Google Docs and emails.
- Internet connection.
- A computer.
- A Google Account.
GIN Student Admin Team Members may be asked to meet (on Skype or Google Meet) in small groups or with the whole team.
Note: Given the international nature of our team and time zone differences, the GIN Staff will do its best to find a schedule that works for everyone as long as needs are communicated in a timely manner. We are here to support and empower you, meet you where you are, and problem-solve with you.