Headmaster Report - The Quality of Life Update

Introduction

Greetings! I must apologize for putting this report off as long as I did. There were some key initiatives I wanted to push before dropping this post-GJW report. There are some other things still being worked on, like updates to the Comms 101 Website Navigation, Leadership Competitions and other courses affected by the recent site and Crescent changes.

We are also investigating possible changes to the ACS society requirements so that higher degrees will count toward lower degree requirements. Such that, for example, if you had two savants and three sages you would meet the requirements for ACS X, which currently requires five savants. Again, early stages so stay tuned for that.

UPDATE 7/23: So thanks to James magic the savant bottleneck in the ACS society ranks is gone. Now higher-level degrees will count toward the requirement for lower-ranking degrees (sages and savants will count toward maven requirements, sages will count toward savant requirements). You can find the updated requirements on the ACS society requirements page.

Without further ado, let’s start with things you might have missed in recent weeks….

Shadow Academy YouTube Videos

In case you missed it in the chaos of the GJW there is a Shadow Academy YouTube channel with a modest but growing amount of tutorial videos. I’ve started adding links to the videos in relevant courses as a supplement, not required viewing. Activities 102: Gaming is a good example of linking the videos in existing courses.

I used the war as a test case to see how people liked the videos and the reaction I got was pretty positive. I will be looking to add more video content like this in the near future so if you’re interested in helping out on the production or editing side reach out to me.

Fulfilling my dream of becoming a furry Vtuber

Here are the existing videos:

• How to RP Comp w/Wally - A walkthrough on how to set up and close a Roleplay session for a competition.

• How to Look Up Clan or Faction Possessions w/ Turel - A walkthrough on how to look up faction or clan possessions

• How to Submit Gaming Activity w/ Turel - A video walkthrough on how to submit gaming activity on the site.

• How to Add Gaming Contact Information w/ Turel - A video walkthrough on how to add or updating your gaming contact information on the site (required for all supported games)

• How to Set Up Gaming Parties in Discord w/ Turel - A video walkthrough on how to set up and manage gaming parties in #gaming-matchmaking. This is required for all gaming submissions during the war.

• How to Play Pazaak w/ Turel - A video walkthrough on how to set up and play Pazaak on Discord.

Leadership Degree Changes

I explained in more detail in a quick special report last weekend but the requirements for the Leadership degrees have been overhauled. Some of you probably got a surprise or two in your email box when this went live. The updated requirements are available on the degrees wiki page and are currently live on the site.

I have a big announcement to make and I’m going to use some slightly modified GJW artwork from the exceptionally talented duo of Kav and Seals to make it.

This artwork really is the gift that keeps on giving

That’s right, essays are dead! All courses outside of the Leadership and Writing departments are now auto-graded. For the coding, leadership and writing courses those will maintain the graded longer-form questions as those courses and those questions are practical in nature and not “put the course notes in your own words but don’t copy” questions so many love to hate.

I was exceptionally fortunate to have a former Headmaster, Farrin, volunteer to take on this project and absolutely knock it out of the park. I totaled it up and Farrin did a thorough review of 28 courses with 107,401 words of course content all while drafting 145 new questions for those courses so they could drop the essays and go auto-graded. So if you’re as excited for this barrier-removing change, please make sure to thank Farrin because none of this would be possible without his hard work behind the scenes on this project.

There’s a full list of the course changes in the chonker of a changelog in this report. As you’re exploring the essay-free courses make sure to keep the Shadow Academy Feedback Form handy as I input all these changes into the site over the course of like a day and a half so I probably made some mistakes. Also, you get a shiny scroll for helping the SA out if you report an error.

Closing

If you made it this far then first thanks for reading, second go thank Farrin for all his hard work, third remind Kav and Seals how awesome they are for the Turel meme artwork. I hope that if you take nothing else from this report know that we hear you, everything in this report was in response to member feedback regarding pain points in the Shadow Academy.

Until next time,

Turel

Headmaster of the Brotherhood

Academy Changelog

DARK BROTHERHOOD FUNDAMENTALS
Essentials 102: Progression
- Added the passing score for SA exams. (Xantros)
- Updated an exam question to reflect the new homepage. (Strix)
Essentials 103: The Brotherhood’s Galaxy
- Updated to reflect the replacement of MAA by DGM. (Strix)
Essentials 104: Structure of the Club
- Updated to reflect the replacement of MAA by DGM and EMS’ reclassification as a Tribune. (Strix)
Activities 101: Fiction 
- Removed reference to ACC qualification (Turel, reported by Terran Koul) 
Activities 102: Gaming 
- Updated examples of supported platforms in course notes (Turel, reported by Eeno) 
- Updated to reflect current Fist policies and GMRG battlepass (Edgar) 
- Added relevant links to Shadow Academy how-to Youtube videos (Turel) 
Activities 103: Graphics
- Updated plagiarism section to include Herald policy on AI-generated images (Turel, suggested by Terran Koul) 
- Updated difficulty section for clarity on regular/intermediate difficulty (Turel, suggested by Eeno)
Activities 104: Roleplaying
- Updated to reflect the new XP/Credit awards for participation as a Tier 2 activity. (Strix)
- Updated a wiki link to the Roleplaying handbook section on Roleplaying Activities (Turel, reported by Terran Koul) 
Activities 105: Vendettas
- Updated credit values and added XP values, de-darked the Council. (Strix)


DEPARTMENT OF BROTHERHOOD STUDIES
Dark Brotherhood History 101
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Dark Brotherhood History 102
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Societies: GMRG
- Updated to reflect current Fist policies and GMRG battlepass (Edgar and Turel)


DEPARTMENT OF GALACTIC STUDIES
Alchemy Studies
- Converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Astronomy Studies
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Capital Starship Studies
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Droids
- Updated course notes and exam to reflect change to droid upgrades (Strix)
Galactic Languages
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Freighters/Transports Studies
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Mandalorian Culture Studies 
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Philosophy I: Views of the Force
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Philosophy II: Cults of the Force
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Races and Species
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Starfighter Studies
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Ranged Weaponry Studies
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Martial Arts: Form Studies
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Armor and Protection
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Droids
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Galactic History 101 - The Era of the Old Republic
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Galactic History 102 - Twilight of the Galactic Republic
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Galactic History 103 - Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Galactic History 104 - Ascendance of the First Order
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Lightsabers
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Mandalorian History 101
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Personal Speeders
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Personal Starships
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Planets and Moons
- Notes fixes (Farrin)
Regions of the Galaxy
- Notes fixes and converted to Auto-Grading Exam (Farrin)
Weaponry
- Notes fixes (Farrin)

DEPARTMENT OF LEADERSHIP, LAW, AND COMMUNICATION
Recognizing Members
- Updated to reflect the transition from MAA to DGM and clarify how demotions work under the current Covenant (Strix)

DEPARTMENT OF LEGENDS

DEPARTMENT OF WRITING