Delegate Expectations Agreement

As a non-profit student organization seeking to serve all delegates and members of its community, the Forum for American-Chinese Exchange at Stanford university (“FACES”) expects delegates to adhere to standards to ensure that delegates and other members of the FACES community are not adversely affected by an individual's actions. For this reason, FACES requires all prospective delegates to agree to the below agreement prior to confirming their acceptance to the FACES Annual Summit. Submission of a confirmation of acceptance to the FACES Annual Summit constitutes irrevocable, unrestricted, and unlimited acceptance of this agreement. Please read this agreement carefully and in full prior to confirming your acceptance to the FACES Annual Summit. Failure to follow this agreement may result in expulsion from the summit and the FACES delegate cohort, as well as possible legal consequences.

Summit expectations

  • During the Summit, delegates participate actively in all scheduled events.

The Summit schedule includes a variety of events each day, including social and academic events, group trips, banquets and discussions. The schedule will also leave unstructured time for delegates to rest, get to know each other, and explore together. However, during the times set aside for Summit programming, delegates are expected to attend and engage actively in all scheduled events. Summit programming provides a shared foundation for our discourse, a space in which our delegate class comes together as a community. Being a delegate means not only attending all scheduled events, but actively engaging with the new challenges and opportunities that each presents. 

  • FACES Delegates comport themselves amicably and show respect for cultural difference.

The Annual Summit is meant to be a challenging space. Delegates will not only collaborate, but will confront – new people, new ideas, new and unexplored uncertainties. Throughout this process, delegates are expected to support one another, especially when they are the source of one another’s challenge. Delegates who disrespect their fellows or the shared vision of the Summit will be considered to have violated these expectations.

conduct violations

  • Delegates unable to attend the fall session must withdraw from the Summit more than 30 days in advance of the Summit start date.

Delegates accept their admission offer with full knowledge of the scheduled dates for the fall session. Therefore, no absences from the fall session will be accepted. We ask that delegates send notification of a withdrawal as soon as possible so that their spot can be given to a candidate on the Summit admissions waitlist. FACES does not charge a program fee, and all food, lodging, and academic programming is provided to delegates at no cost using the organization's constrained resources. Late withdrawals adversely affect FACES's financial strength, as we typically must purchase venue space, food, and transportation in advance. We are also typically unable to replace delegates with waitlist candidates if notice is too short. As a result, accepted delegates who withdraw from the Fall Summit 30 days or less in advance from the start date of the Summit must pay a $500 program fee (the typical average cost per delegate of the Summit) within 30 days of the Fall Summit’s start date. 

  • Delegates who are unable to attend the Spring Summit will be asked to submit a detailed explanation and request for exemption more than 30 days in advance of the Summit start date.

Dates for the spring session are determined after the conclusion of the fall session. Our team does its best to schedule the spring session at a time that will not conflict with the academic calendars of admitted delegates’ universities. However, with forty delegates, unavoidable conflicts do sometimes arise. Delegates who are unable to attend the Spring Summit because of an irreconcilable conflict with their university’s academic calendar are required to notify the FACES Team immediately, and will be asked to submit a formal written explanation and request for exemption. Delegates who do not submit such a request, or who do so 30 days or less in advance from the start date of the Spring Summit must pay a $500 program fee (the typical average cost per delegate of the Summit) within 30 days of the Spring Summit’s start date. 

The FACES Team will review this request to determine whether the delegate (1) has a legitimate conflict and (2) pursued all available means to reschedule their conflicting commitment. Legitimate conflicts include major school exams, but do not include homework or school projects. Other requests for exemption are handled on a case-by-case basis, but no request will be accepted without evidence that the delegate pursued all available means to reschedule their conflicting commitment. Delegates with an unexcused absence from the Spring Summit may face revocation of their status as a FACES Delegate, revocation of their FACES-provided financial aid, and exclusion from the FACES alumni community.

  • Delegates who will be absent from one or more events during either Summit session are required to submit a detailed explanation and request for exemption more than 30 days in advance of the Summit start date.

Delegates must submit a request for exemption notifying the FACES Team of potential conflicts or temporary absences more than 30 days prior to the Summit session in question. The FACES Team treats all these requests on a case-by-case basis, and will work with the delegate to understand their needs and circumstances. Delegates are required to pursue all available means to reschedule their conflicting commitment and attend all scheduled Summit events. Frequent unexcused absences diminish the experiences of other delegates at the Summit and are a direct violation of Summit expectations. During the Summit, delegates who repeatedly miss events may be uninvited from the remainder of the Summit, may have their status as a FACES delegate revoked, and may lose FACES-provided financial aid. 

  • Delegates will respect their hosts while at Stanford and Peking Universities.

At this year’s Fall Summit, Stanford students have generously volunteered to host non-Stanford delegates in their dorm rooms. Delegates should be considerate of their student hosts and refrain from making messes, being excessively noisy, or disturbing their hosts’ studies or sleep. Delegates are encouraged to return to their hosts’ rooms by 11:00 pm each night to ensure that they are well-rested for the day’s activities. This is not a strictly enforced “curfew,” but rather a measure to ensure delegate safety and the smooth functioning of the Summit. In accordance with Stanford, FACES, and Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) policies, consumption of alcohol and recreational drugs is strictly prohibited during the Summit, even if you are of legal drinking age. Failure to comply with this rule will result in removal from the Summit, revocation of their status as a FACES Delegate, revocation of their FACES-provided financial aid, and exclusion from the FACES alumni community.

  • Delegates who disrespect their fellow delegates and egregiously violate the ethical standards expected of a FACES delegate will withdraw immediately from the Summit.

All such violations are handled on a case-by-case basis. If a delegate is determined to have violated conduct expectations during the Summit, they will be asked to leave the Summit immediately, will have their status as a delegate revoked, and will lose all FACES-provided financial aid. In addition, FACES may at its sole discretion require such delegates to pay a $500 program fee (the typical average cost per delegate of the Summit) within 30 days of the date of violation as solely determined by FACES. Delegates are fully expected to comply with all laws applicable in their current jurisdiction at all times during the Summit. FACES, Stanford University, FSI, and Peking University are under no obligation or responsibility to assist delegates who have violated or have been accused of violating the law. Delegates who engage in any illegal behavior may be asked to leave the Summit immediately, have their status as a delegate revoked, lose all FACES-provided financial aid, and and pay FACES a $500 program fee (the typical average cost per delegate of the Summit) within 30 days of the relevant session’s start date.

associated provisions of the agreement

  • Position on Delegate Status and Scholarship

By accepting this agreement, delegates recognize and understand in full that participation in FACES programs may be unilaterally revoked by FACES at any time for any reason, with any and all aid revoked to be refunded to faces within 30 days of the date of revocation. If a delegate is determined by FACES to have violated conduct expectations during the summit, they may face legal and other consequences specified and agreed to in this agreement.

By accepting this agreement, delegates additionally recognize and understand in full that applications for scholarships will be reviewed on a case-by-base basis. FACES has no obligation to provide scholarships to delegates, nor does FACES have any obligation to provide justification for the rejection of an application for a scholarship.

Any and all FACES-provided scholarships may be unilaterally revoked by FACES at any time for any reason. “Scholarship” is defined to be all monetary funds expended by FACES on behalf of the delegate, and encompasses monetary travel aid provided by FACES to delegates on the basis of scholastic merit through a scholarship application process, as well as a $500 program fee covering food, transportation, and other program costs that FACES waives for delegates by default and may revoke at any time and for any reason. In the case that FACES revokes the scholarship, delegates through this agreement agree to pay the full scholarship award revoked to faces within 30 days. Failure to comply with these terms may result in legal action by FACES.

  • Consent to Alternative Dispute Resolution

In the event of any dispute, claim, question, or disagreement arising from or relating to this Agreement, the breach thereof, or any matter related to any delegates experience with or relation to FACES, the parties involved shall use their best efforts to settle the dispute, claim, question, or disagreement. To this effect, they shall consult and negotiate with each other in good faith and, recognizing their mutual interests, attempt to reach a just and equitable solution satisfactory to both parties. If they do not reach such solution within a period of 60 days, then, upon notice by either party to the other, all disputes, claims, questions, or differences shall be finally settled by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with the provisions of its commercial arbitration rules. The mode of dispute resolution may be changed at any time with the explicit mutual consent of both parties.

  • Delegate Responsibility to Understand and Abide to Successive Iterations of Agreement

As active members of the FACES community, delegates are responsible for always understanding in full the latest version of this Agreement, and are fully responsible to the most recent version of this Agreement. The particular text of this Agreement may be modified from time to time at the sole discretion of FACES in order to best reflect the evolving FACES program. The latest version of this Agreement will always be posted on or linked to the official FACES website.
 

The full text of the Delegate Expectations Agreement can be found here in PDF form, and constitutes the official text of the agreement. The text posted on this webpage is posted as a helpful reference to the official document and is intended for informational purposes only. In the case that the text posted on this webpage and the text found by clicking the above link to the official Delegate Expectations Agreement PDF contradict, the text contained in the PDF shall prevail.