Units
Introduction
Definition of a Unit
A unit is a small group of Imperium Members ranging from 5-33 members. A unit is a collection of Imperium members who have common interests, availability, and have shown a desire to play together and cooperate to promote Imperium interests. A unit belongs to Imperium first and foremost, and a unit’s members and administration can change over time regardless of who the initial unit founder was.
Expectations of a Unit
- A unit is expected to designate a common play period upon creation. In order for the unit as a whole to maintain a high level of activity, it should only accept members who expect to be active during this time frame.
- A unit is expected to contribute a certain amount of time to Imperium when called upon by fleet command.
- A unit is expected to comply with all unit rules.
- A unit is expected to adhere to the Imperium CoC.
Unit Roles
Within each unit, key roles will be established. Each role will entail a set of defined duties and responsibilities. The individuals who hold these roles will be accountable for these duties and be expected to fulfill them. By assigning these roles to a single person, a point of communication to Imperium Leadership can be established.
Each member that plays a specific administrative role in a unit is responsible for fulfilling that role completely. This will improve communication, productivity, and cohesion with other units and member of Imperium as well as Leadership. If a member is struggling to fulfill his administrative duty to his unit, they will be coached by a Unit Specialist, Officer, or Fleet Commander to properly fulfill their role. Only if a member disregards his administrative role in his unit will it be necessary to relieve them of their duty and find a suitable replacement.
Unit administration has authority in regards to THEIR unit only.
The following are the ONLY official roles that will be recognized by Imperium.
Unit Administrator
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Primary point of contact for Unit members.
- Recruitment.
- Maintenance of Unit section of the Portal.
- Organizing Unit certification.
- Regular communication with Unit Support Staff.
- Primary Administrator should have a complete understanding of unit rules and help to educate their members on them.
- Enforcement of Unit Rules.
- Administrator will be responsible for the behavior of their members
Assistant Administrator
Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
- Serves as secondary point of contact for unit.
- Assist the Primary Administrator in fulfilling their responsibilities.
- Assistant Administrator should also have a complete understanding of unit rules.
Unit Member
Unit members should all have a basic understanding of the Imperium Organizational Structure and the Unit System. Unit members may be asked to meet a set of minimum requirements in order to join a unit. Possible requirements may include:
- Imperium Membership of no less than X number of months.
- Minimum forum post count.
- No/Few HR warning points for a set period of time.
Establishing a Unit
- Familiarization of Imperium Structure and Systems
- Take the time to understand Imperium’s Structure and Operational Systems(Portal & Missions) by utilizing the Imperium's Informational tools including the Wiki and Forums. Obtaining a full understanding of Imperium's systems and structure will give you an improved understanding of how Imperium is organized and by extension how you and your unit will be asked to operate.
- Submit a New Unit Administrator Application.
- The baseline criteria when considering a member for a Unit Administrator position includes length of membership, quality and quantity of forum contribution, Discord presence, and a clean conflict record. It would be unreasonable to set an exact number on some of these details because each case is different. Therefore the decision will be left to the discretion of the Unit Support Staff member assigned to the application.
- If you feel you meet the aforementioned criteria, please submit a request to form a Unit on the Portal. You should find it under COMMUNITY > UNITS > UNIT ADMINISTRATOR APPLICATION. The application will ask you for details about yourself, your unit as you imagine it, and a good time to schedule a meeting.
- The Unit Support Staff will process your request and PM you through the Star Citizen Base forums. They will schedule a meeting to go over your plans in detail regarding your potential new unit and offer advice, suggestions, and tips going forward as well as confirming your understanding of how your unit will fit into Imperium’s operational structure.
- Post Interview Results.
- If the application for Unit Administrator is denied, the Unit Support Staff will communicate to the applicant the necessary steps and/or details required to become approved in future applications.
- If your application for Unit Administrator is accepted, you may move to the next step of creating your new unit.
- Creating your Unit.
- Upon being approved for Unit Administrator, a new option will be accessible called “Create a New Unit” found in IMPERIUM > UNITS > CREATE A NEW UNIT
- When a Unit is created, the status of the Unit is automatically set to ‘Provisional’. A Provisional Unit is the same as any Unit but the word ‘provisional’ is used to note that you are in the process of acquiring the necessary elements a Unit needs. There will be no indication that your Unit is provisional in the portal as a Provisional Unit is only viewable by yourself and the Unit Support Staff until the information on your portal page is complete and approved.
- Creating a Provisional Unit and transitioning to a Unit.
When a unit is created, its status is set to provisional. This means that members can not join or see the unit until a member of the unit support staff has approved the information regarding the unit.
During this period, you must create the following required elements for a unit:- Portal Unit Page. Items to be included in portal section:
- Unit Name
A name that follows Imperium rules and does not cause conflict or confusion with the name of any existing unit or division. - Scheduled Play Time
A period that is designated by the Unit Administrator as the time they set aside for contributing directly to Imperium’s goals.
All units may be required to complete missions on behalf of the interests of Imperium at any time. Imperium agrees to a “Duty of Care” preventing abuse of this system, however the needs of Imperium will always come first. - Logo
This logo must be unique and easily differentiated from any other unit logo. - Unit Description
This will be unique to each unit and easily differentiated from any other unit description.
This should encompass your mission statement, goals, and expectations of your Unit. - Mission preference
You can select 4 Primary Interests, as well as 6 Secondary Interests that properly reflect the goals of your Unit. - Lore [Optional]
This can create descriptive flavor text for your Unit, although it cannot be used to falsely represent your units position within Imperium or its capabilities.
Unit designation (ex. TXA-901) - This is flavor text. At one point it was an organizational tool but has lost its functionality thanks to the Portal. - Motto/Slogan[Optional]
- A catchphrase for your Unit - must adhere to the Imperium CoC.
Once all information has been created within the portal, wait for a member of the Unit Support staff to review all information regarding the unit. If there is an error within the content, the unit information will need to be edited to reflect the necessary changes. Once this information has been approved by a member of the Unit support Staff your Unit status will no longer be ‘Provisional’ but ‘Active’ and members of Imperium will be able to visit your Unit page and apply to join your unit.
- When you reach 5 members, your Unit will be eligible for Unit certifications based on those of its members. Your Unit will also become eligible for Imperium sanctioned missions.
Congratulations, after some planning and hard work you have founded a Unit! Now get out there and make a name for yourselves within Imperium!
Recruitment
Once the details of your Unit have been registered on the Portal, you may begin recruitment:
- Your unit should aim for a minimum of 5 members. The organizational roles listed below need to be filled in order to be eligible to sign up for a mission as a unit. If the member minimum and roles are not filled, a unit will need to sign up for a mission individually and will not be credited with mission feedback nor be eligible for unit certifications.
- Unit Administrator
The Unit Creator defaults to the Unit Administrator Role. - Unit Assistant Administrator
This position handles the same responsibilities as the Unit Administrator and is a second point of contact for the unit. We encourage unit administrators to take their time when selecting a Unit assistant administrator and is not a requirement to fill immediately however it is imperative to select one in case a unit administrator becomes unavailable. - Unit Members
- Recruitment will be handled on the Portal. A forum thread will be made providing a basic overview of the Unit system, giving potential applicants information on Imperium’s Units. Those seeking more information about a specific Unit will find it on the Portal.
- The Unit Support Staff will aid in assisting Unit administrators in displaying the proper information about their Unit correctly on the portal.
- Units will not have private recruitment threads.
- Units will not pro-actively send unsolicited recruitment messages to other members.
- Recruitment may only be done on behalf of one’s own unit.
Unit Certification
Units will require certifications just like an individual members will require certifications. Units however need not acquire certifications in the same manner that individual members will. Instead, a Unit’s certifications are granted based on the certifications of its members. For example, if X (X could range between 60-100%, this is still TBD) of the unit members hold certification 001, the unit will receive certification 001 so long as it maintains the minimum required personnel with certification 001. Units, just like individual members, possess the ability to obtain any and all certifications based on the Unit’s members dedication and personal direction.
Still in consideration are factors such as: What % of the membership must hold a certification for it to be granted to the Unit? How long can a Unit go before losing a certification based on a deficiency of said %? As always, this system will be in flux until a proper balance can be struck.
Standardization of Units
One of our goals in revisiting the Units system is standardizing all the units to be more in-line with the structure outlined in the Imperium Manual. Standardization is being done in an effort to promote effective coordination between all units.
The following items will be standardized across all units.
- Organizational Roles
- Only recognized Organizational Roles are:
- Unit Administrator
- Assistant Administrator
- Unit Member
- Unit created Roles will not be officially recognized and they must be kept off all Unit Media.
- Operational roles (ie. Captain, crewman, wingman) are assigned during the start of each unique mission.
- Organizational Ranks
- The only Ranks that are recognized by Imperium are listed in the fleet structure. They are Fleet Commander, Sub-Commander, Senior Officer, Officer, Senior Specialist, and Specialist.
- Unit created Ranks will not be officially recognized and they must be kept off all Unit Media.
- Operational Ranks and roles for missions of higher clearance than 0 will be determined by Fleet Command, Operations, or a Divisional Officer at the time of mission creation. Level 0 missions may be created by anyone, and thus any structure may be used.
- Training/Certifications
- All official certification and training are conducted only through the Academy and Academy authorized personnel.
- Any training curriculum outside of the Academy will not be officially recognized towards certifications.
- Practical experience may count towards certifications at the discretion of Academy personnel.
- Certifications may be removed if a member fails to maintain the standards expected of him.
- Awards
- Unit created Awards will not be officially recognized and they must be kept off all Unit Media.
- Official awards related to units will be created and will be similar to awards currently achievable by individuals.
- Artwork/Media
- One Unit logo per signature.
- Representative of the Unit to which you belong.
- No Unofficial ranks or roles may appear on signatures.
- Operating Procedures
- All units should be aware of Imperium Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). These include but are not limited to communication protocols, fleet structure, space or ground (fps) tactics, etc. SOPs will evolve over time as a result of our player’s experience and Imperium Academy’s guidance. The only recognized SOPs will be developed by Imperium Specialists and taught by the Academy.
- If a units would like to make contributions based on their own experiences for possible incorporation into future SOP development they should document them and contact Primary Division Specialists or Officers.
- Portal/Forum Structures
- All approved units must have a correct entry in the portal system (see above).
- Unit support staff will make sure this information is in line with Imperium standards and advise as necessary.
- All approved units must have a correct entry in the collaboration tool (see above).
- The collaboration tool will be subject to the Imperium CoC and all other standards applicable to Imperium Forums.
Rule Violations
When recognizing issues with a Unit or one of its members, the Unit Support Staff will first advise the Unit in question. They will act in a supportive role to help the Unit Administrators in any way to correct the issue. If the Unit Administrator is unable to handle the situation, HR will step in to resolve the problem.
Behavioral Conflicts
As Imperium is accountable for the behavior of all its members, Unit Administrators are accountable for the actions of the members of their Unit.
Unit Administrators will be the first person addressed in the instance of a behavioral conflict or issue related to their Unit or its members. If they are unable to correct the issue internally after being made aware of the steps needed to resolve a given situation, an assessment will be made to decide if they took the appropriate action.
If it is deemed that they did not take the appropriate action, then they will be held equally accountable for their members actions. If on the other hand, the assessment shows that they have done their best to correct the behavior violations of their unit members but are unsuccessful, their duty as a Unit Administrator will be considered fulfilled and Human Resources will intervene.
- As one example, a Unit member spreading incorrect information about Imperium rules and operating procedures would be a case in which the Unit Administrator should step in to educate their member and ensure they are representing their unit, and by extension Imperium, in the correct manner.
Review / Appeal Process
If a unit leader or member feels that they are being treated unfairly by Unit Support staff, then they have the ability to launch an appeal against that moderation. In this event they will log a report with Human Resources detailing the specific circumstance, along with any and all supporting evidence (if applicable). This will then be considered by Human Resources and further interviews may be required to establish any information considered missing. Human Resources will then have the authority to either overrule or support the decision of Unit Support Staff. If the appealing member feels that there is bias in the person(s) reviewing the decision then they can request another authorized person in his/her place, but this change can only occur once per case.
Unit Tools
1. To improve the ability of Primary and Secondary Unit Administrators to manage their Units, the Unit system in the Portal will be refined over time to make recruitment, organization, and mission coordination as easy as possible.
2. Units will have unique forums within Imperium’s forums (and SCB). They will be uniform but the content within will be up to each unit and what they post. These forums are still subject to moderation as usual but this should allow you to post unique threads in an orderly fashion and avoid those ghastly mega threads which we have all come to loathe.