Seminar allows teens, who are about to go out and experience the world on their own, the ability to learn vital leadership skills.

“The first Seminar Camp was held in 1959. This challenging, intensive programme is coordinated by the young participants. They develop their own agenda and explore global issues based on their backgrounds and interests through activities and in-depth discussions.

Seminar Camps are for 30 international participants, with the supervision and assistance of international adult staff.

Joining a Seminar Camp puts you in the driving-seat, planning and leading the program with fellow participants. Being part of Seminar Camp’s group-living environment encourages you to take a creative and cooperative approach to problem-solving and resolving differences that can arise from healthy discussion. Friendship and fun ensure that your Seminar Camp experience is lasting and positive.” (CISV’s description of Seminar camp)

Unfortunately, CISV's governing board has recently decided to consider some changes to the program that will likely affect the quality of the seminar experience for future CISVers:

1. Lowering the age range from 17-18 years old to 16-17 years old.
2. Shortening the time span from 3 weeks to 2 weeks.

Maturity & Retention

Without the proximity to adulthood, the seminar experience would severely lack one of its most important draws: its ability to help older teens discover their goals for the next few years of their lives. Currently, seminar prepares the youth that are nearly ready to graduate from being a camper and go out into the world as students, professionals, and adults to carry Doris Allen's message into their new communities, work, and passions. Seminar camps are an exciting place, buzzing with ideas, dreams, and plans for futures that are not far out of reach. Campers spend many of their waking hours discussing their aspirations for their lives and bouncing practical ideas off of one another. Once a teen turns 18, they gain an incredible freedom to shape their futures, and seminar hones participants' values, outlooks, qualities, and skills in order to make positive, fulfilling decisions with their newfound freedom. The teens leave camp with CISV's mission refreshed in their minds, prepared to create the world that they caught a glimpse of. The changes to seminar's age range would be a severe detriment to the program's power to re-energize CISVers just before they reach adulthood.

This change would also essentially cut out most 17-18-year-old CISVers, making our retention of participants who return to become leaders 4-5 years later much lower. The age range that currently participates in seminar also tends to be the group most likely to hold leadership roles in their local chapters; should seminar’s age-range be lowered, many local leaders may lose their motivation or passion for the organization, should they not be able to participate in summer programs. 

 

Time Change

The proposed time change would make Seminar a 14-day program, rather than the current 21-day model. This severely limits the overall meaning of the camp. Two weeks is not enough time to fully dive into serious issues and to build the high level of trust between participants that is typically seen at Seminar. Since the participants are 17-18 year olds, they have the needed maturity levels to really talk about significant issues that impact people around the world. To be able to have the safe space needed to really talk about these issues, trust must be built. Trust only occurs after time, by limiting the amount of time participants have together, the trust that makes Seminar a warm and educational setting will not be present anymore. Shortening the time that CISVers spend at seminar would severely diminish the profound impact that Seminar is known for.

Additionally, participants in this program are responsible for all of the cooking, planning, cleaning, schedules, etc., and most groups need the full 3 weeks in order to organize themselves and find a successful routine and comfortable balance between leaders. From a practical perspective, it is nearly impossible for participants to fulfill the goal of creating a functional, nearly self-sufficient community within a period shorter than 3 weeks. 

 

Secrecy and Suppression by Leadership

Despite the gravity and importance of these decisions, chapters, volunteers, and members have been for the most part, unaware of the proposed changes to all programs. Apart from the select few chapter members that have been consulted (mostly presidents of adult boards), CISV has been leaving participants out of the conversation. Even the few that have been active in debates and discussions over the Program Review have felt unheard and ignored. They have held a few poorly-publicized webinars, but most CISVers have remained unaware due to the bureaucracy's desire to quickly vote on these changes without much resistance. CISV seems to be actively concealing these changes, not being transparent, and leaving the grassroots volunteers that bear the weight of the organization on their shoulders out of the loop. 

You may also notice that the CISV Governing Board blocked comments on their Instagram account following a series of constructive comments by CISVers who were concerned by the changes and lacked a space to express their qualms. This exemplifies their inability to take criticism and hold meaningful conversation with JBers. 

 

We firmly believe that the proposed changes to seminar would kill the program's fundamental spirit making it nearly indistinguishable from youth meetings or other programs that, while valuable, cannot yield the same effects as seminar.  

Join us and sign our petition if you agree!