Promotions Policy

The Promotion Cycle

Promotions to Operational Staff and Administrator will be conducted according to the following schedule:

Each period will begin on Sunday and end the following Sunday

Winter Promotions:
Second Full Week of February - Voting Period

Spring/Summer Promotions:
Second Full Week of June - Voting Period

Fall Promotions:
Second Full Week of October - Voting Period

See "Promotions Schedule Table" for ideal schedules for the next three promotion cycles. This table is to be updated by MAST after each round of promotions.

Upon staff consensus or upon Administrator consensus, promotions may occur outside of this cycle. Conducting regular promotions is a responsibility of MAST.

Mandatory events in each promotion cycle are:

• MAST will notify Captains that nominees should be submitted as well as notify Captains of any team members subject to the Junior Staff Promotions Reform a minimum of three weeks prior to the start of voting.
• Captains and Administrators will have a minimum of one week after being notified to put forward their nominees for promotion.
• MAST will notify those subject to the Inactivity Policy a minimum of two weeks prior to the start of voting.
• Nominations will be announced to staff and the community via forum posts open to comment two weeks before the start of voting.
• Promotion voting will last for a period of one week.
• Promotion results will be tallied and announced on the thread as soon as possible after the closure of voting.
• MAST will update all relevant pages on the Staff Site.

Promotion votes for staff candidates will last a period of one week.

Voting Procedures and Rules Per Nomination Type

Operational Staff:

Operational Staff and above may vote for promotion of Junior Staff to Operational Staff. All "Yes" votes are counted in favor, and all "No" votes are counted as opposed. Candidates must receive a greater number of "Yes" votes than "No" votes to gain promotion to Operational Staff. For a promotion vote to successfully pass, Quorum of active staff must be met as defined by the Site Charter, with abstentions counting towards Quorum. Candidates may not cast a vote for themselves.

Mod Tools

Obtaining Mod Tools:
At any time, acting Team Captains may put forth one or more of their team members of Operational Staff rank or higher as candidates for the role. Admins may at any time put forth one or more candidates for the role for the purpose of aiding in staff duties requiring the role.

Nominating Administrators or Acting Team Captains will inform all Administrators and Acting Team Captains of their intent to nominate Moderator tools candidates.

Nominating Administrators or Acting Team Captains will create a discussion thread detailing:

A. Their candidate(s)
B. Why the candidates require the Moderator tools role.

(Teams may merge their nomination threads if they so choose).

The discussion thread will remain open for one week and will be open to all staff. Following the conclusion of the thread, a voting thread for the candidates may be created by the nominating administrators or captains.

Nominating Administrators or Acting Team Captains will create a voting thread detailing:

A. Their candidate(s)
B. Why the candidates require the Moderator tools role.

(Teams may merge their nomination threads if they so choose).

The thread will remain open for one week.

While the thread is open O.S.+ will be able to vote on whether or not each candidate should be given the Moderator tools role.

Requirement for a candidate to receive the Moderator tools role is a simple voting majority, with a quorum equal to that required for policy implementation (currently 30%).

In a situation with multiple candidates a voter may choose to cast a vote on the election of all, some, or none of the candidates.

Candidates may not vote in their own election.

Renewing Mod Tools:

When MAST informs Administrators and Acting Team Captains of upcoming Winter Promotions, MAST will also inform Administrators and Acting Team Captains of the upcoming Renewal thread.

When MAST requests a list of Operational Staff candidates for Winter Promotions from Acting Team Captains they will also ask Acting Team Captains for a list of their team members with the Moderator tools role whose role will be renewed. Acting Team Captains may only request Moderator tools renewal for members of the team of which they are Acting Team Captain. Multiple teams may request the renewal of Moderator tools for the same member of staff.

When MAST creates a Winter Promotions thread they will also create a Moderator tools Renewal thread. This thread will contain two lists:

1. The list of staff members to have their Moderator tools role renewed. This will also include which teams authorized the renewal.

2. The list of staff members to have their Moderator tools role removed.

Acting Team Captains and Admins will have until the conclusion of Winter Promotions to issue corrections in the O5 thread. MAST is responsible for editing the lists upon being informed of these corrections.

Immediately following the conclusion of Winter Promotions, Administrators MUST remove the Moderator tools role and associated permissions from every staff member whose Moderator tools role was not explicitly renewed.

In the event that Winter Promotions do not occur on a given year, the Moderator tools Renewal process should occur on the dates of the most recent Winter Promotions.

Administrators:

Administrators will raise and discuss possible candidates within admin chat and discuss objections in order to come to a consensus before bringing candidates forward for nomination. A nomination for promotion to Administrator will only pass if:

• A 75% majority of active Administrators vote in favor.
• A 60+% majority of participating Staff vote in favor.
• A majority of active Administrators have participated - including abstentions.

Candidates may not cast a vote for themselves. Following a failed Admin nomination, a candidate may only be nominated again after one year from the start of the failed promotion vote.

Promotions Schedule Table:

Winter Promotions 2024
Date	Task
Jan-07	Remind all Captains and Administrators that promotions will be beginning soon.
Jan-14	Ask Captains and Administrators to submit their nominees. These submissions should include the nominees name, the nominating Team/Captain, why the nominee is being nominated, and any optional areas of improvement for the nominee. Also notify Captains and Administrators of any team members subject to the Junior Staff Promotions Reform. Ask Captains and Administrators to provide lists of Moderator Tools users who they wish to have renewed and a list of those they wish to have the tools removed.
Jan-28	Nominations are posted in a thread both on the staff site and main site for the community to discuss nominees. All those subject to the Inactivity Policy will be notified.
Feb-11	The voting thread is posted on the staff site. Voting begins. The Moderator Tools Renewal thread is also created.
Feb-18	Voting ends. Results are to be tallied, official results are to be posted, and all pertinent changes are to be made to 05 pages. All results and corrections from the Moderator Tools Renewal are also to be made to pertinent pages.
Spring/Summer Promotions 2024
Date	Task
May-12	Remind all Captains and Administrators that promotions will be beginning soon.
May-19	Ask Captains and Administrators to submit their nominees. These submissions should include the nominees name, the nominating Team/Captain, why the nominee is being nominated, and any optional areas of improvement for the nominee. Also notify Captains and Administrators of any team members subject to the Junior Staff Promotions Reform.
Jun-02	Nominations are posted in a thread both on the staff site and main site for the community to discuss nominees. All those subject to the Inactivity Policy will be notified.
Jun-16	The voting thread is posted on the staff site. Voting begins.
Jun-23	Voting ends. Results are to be tallied, official results are to be posted, and all pertinent changes are to be made to 05 pages.
Fall Promotions 2024
Date	Task
Sep-08	Remind all Captains and Administrators that promotions will be beginning soon.
Sep-15	Ask Captains and Administrators to submit their nominees. These submissions should include the nominees name, the nominating Team/Captain, why the nominee is being nominated, and any optional areas of improvement for the nominee. Also notify Captains and Administrators of any team members subject to the Junior Staff Promotions Reform.
Sep-29	Nominations are posted in a thread both on the staff site and main site for the community to discuss nominees. All those subject to the Inactivity Policy will be notified.
Oct-13	The voting thread is posted on the staff site. Voting begins.
Oct-20	Voting ends. Results are to be tallied, official results are to be posted, and all pertinent changes are to be made to 05 pages.