New Shadow Academy Courses

Are you interested in creating a new course for the Brotherhood? Are you interested in being a member of the Shadow Academy staff? Well, here is the guide to getting a new course added to the Shadow Academy.

1 - The Idea

First, of course, you need an idea. Look for topics that are not already covered and that there is enough information for a stand alone course. We won't have dozens of tiny courses clogging up the Shadow Academy. Here are some other things to keep in mind if you want to propose a new course:

• It should be relevant to the Dark Brotherhood, and tie into Star Wars as a whole.
• Subjects that are not directly relevant to the Brotherhood or Star Wars will need to be made relevant to the Brotherhood.
• The Marksmanship course is an example of this. The subject itself is not relevant to the Brotherhood; however, the addition of Force aided marksmanship ties the course into the Brotherhood.

Once you have your idea, go on to the next step.

2 - Proposal

Now that you have an idea, you should e-mail the Headmaster, his Praetor, and the Special Magistrate with the proposal. It is advised that you do not write out the course notes at this time, as the course may be denied. Your proposal should include the following information:

• Topic/Idea
• Reason why you think this course should be offered at the Shadow Academy.
• A short outline of what the course will cover (you don't need a lot of details here).

At this stage, the Headmaster can deny your request if it is already being worked on by someone else or if it is determined that the course doesn't suit the needs of the Brotherhood. The Headmaster may also ask you to hold off on the idea, but not actually deny it.

If the Headmaster approves the idea, you move to Step 3.

3 - Drafting

After the Headmaster has approved the course proposal, you are free to write up the course notes. Course notes should be orderly. Please include at the end of your notes the source(s) that you used. Once your draft is done, send it to the Headmaster, his Praetor, and the Special Magistrate for review. From here, there will undoubtedly be several revisions to clarify any confusing points, correct grammar and spelling, and add additional information.

All course notes must include a list of sources. Offical publications and websites that cannot be edited by a random user, such as Starwars.com and theforce.net, are preferred over Wookiepedia.

After the notes have been completed, the exam will be reviewed. You can begin writing the exam before this step, but it won't be reviewed until after the notes are reviewed.

• Exams should cover the whole course, and involve a variety of questions.
• Each question should be given an answer, and your proposed point value for the question.
• The exam will go through the same process as the course notes.

After this is done, it is on to step four.

4 - Final Review

After the notes and exam have been revised, and everything is set to the Headmaster's approval, the course and exam are sent to the Grandmaster and Deputy Grandmaster for final review. There may be other changes at this stage, depending on what the Grandmaster and the Deputy Grandmaster have to say.

5 - Coding and Posting

Once the course has been finalized, the course will be coded and posted on the Shadow Academy. You, as the course writer, will become the first EP of the course. The Headmaster, his Praetor, or the Special Magistrate will announce the course, and you'll begin scoring exams as they come in.

Some Final Notes

There is no specific time frame for the courses to be finished. And there is no guaranteed time frame. We get to things as fast as we can.

Course ideas are first come, first serve. It is one thing to talk about writing the course; it is a whole other thing to actually write it. If you have an idea, but someone else proposes it first, they get first crack at it.

All courses should be tied into Star Wars/the Brotherhood as much as possible.

When in doubt, ask!