Thanks Olivier, I am copying the GNSO Council on my response to you, so that they are informed and can in turn inform their respective groups and communities. I am also copying the other SO and AC Chairs as I believe the concept of an ICANN academy is relevant to all of them. As an initial comment, I want to thank ALAC for reaching out and for laying down the groundwork on this concept. Although I think the idea of a WG on the academy is great, I am surprised however that the mandate for this WG should be "to finalize a proposed curriculum" for the academy. It feels like we are getting slightly ahead of ourselves if that's the case and that the WG should start by looking to see if the academy should happen at all. I understand that ALAC thinks it should and has already worked hard on it, but surely the other communities should also be given a chance to either sign on or sign off before ICANN as a whole moves ahead on this. Thanks, Stéphane Le 21 avr. 2012 à 16:49, Olivier MJ Crepin-Leblond a écrit :
Dear Stéphane,
During the ICANN meeting in San Jose, the ALAC presented the proposal for an ICANN Academy, a program for people selected by the various ICANN communities and the NomCom to be more effective when they take their position and that would complement other ICANN capacity building activities. As part of that presentation, I announced that we would be inviting all ICANN communities to participate in the further development of this proposal.
The initiative for the ICANN Academy was initially conceived by At-Large members as a comprehensive stand-alone project, which would include a variety of educational offerings for all ICANN participants. On review of various options and based on the existence of the current ongoing other efforts such as Fellowship Program, Newcomers’ Tracks and Lounge, ICANN staff expressed an immediate need to provide a capacity building program for the future leaders of ICANN, those whose term starts at the end of 2012 AGM in Toronto. The ALAC formed a Working Group to develop a program to respond to this specific need and organized it as a pilot operation.
The first draft of this pilot program for new ICANN leaders was presented recently at the ICANN meeting in San Jose. While the feedback was favorable, it also supported that there was a growing need for learning opportunities also among other constituencies
The At-Large community views the ICANN Academy as an ICANN project initiated by At-Large that needs further community support in order to realize its full potential. As a result, we wish to invite members of other advisory committees, the supporting organizations and the various constituencies in the GNSO to join us in the Academy Working Group, to contribute actively in furthering the concept and curriculum.
Therefore, I kindly invite you to consider the inclusion of some interested members of your community in the Academy Working Group to finalize a proposed curriculum and the faculty for this pilot operation, and to continue later on developing the aspects of the comprehensive project together with ICANN Staff. It is absolutely vital that at least one person from your constituency takes part in the designing of the academic program. Just as the best source of information about ALAC matters is an At-Large community member, we believe that the best source of information for your constituency's work is someone from your constituency. This will ensure a *fair and balanced point of view* expressed to Academy participants - a foundation feature of the ICANN Academy. I look forward to hearing from you about a volunteer from your community to take part in the working group as soon as possible, but certainly before 30 April 2012.
Warmest regards,
Olivier Crépin-Leblond, ALAC Chair