Frequently asked questions
Updated: 26 February 2010
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The Conference
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How will I get to and from the conference?
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Transportation to and from the conference will be provided by the host. In many
cases, the families have children who are also attending the conference. Therefore,
hosted students will travel with the UNIS students to and from the conference. Otherwise,
transportation would need to be arranged with the host family.
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What should I bring to the conference (the G.A.)?
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For security reasons, no large or bulky bags will be allowed into the UN. We ask
to limit the amount of items you bring with you. No food or water is allowed in
the G.A., however there is an allotted time approximately halfway through the conference
to buy lunch. For this reason, we strongly encourage attendees to have a strong
breakfast to avoid any problems.
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Is there a dress code?
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Yes, formal business, national, or traditional attire must be worn to the conference.
This excludes jeans, t-shirts and sneakers.
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What is the structure of the conference? Are the debates similar
to those in an MUN conference and do students represent specific countries?
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The structure of the conference consists of each speaker presenting their views,
with a question and answer round at the end of each speaker's address. In addition
to the question and answer sessions, there is a student panel which will debate
on a predetermined subject, along with another question and answer round at the
end of the entire student panel session. Students will represent their own personal
views during the question and answer rounds.
Hosting
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Who is hosting me and how is this determined?
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Visiting Students are hosted by the families of UNIS students, and will reside within
their respective homes for the duration of the conference. The hosting families
are organized beforehand so that each student has already been assigned to a family,
according to the family's original hosting application form. Hosting families who
have decided to host two or more visiting students will normally host students from
the same school. Curfew for the visiting students is determined by the host families.
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How do I meet my host family?
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The night before the first day of the conference, a welcoming dinner is hosted by
UNIS-UN in the UNIS cafeteria. This gives you a chance to meet and bond other students
from UNIS and around the world. The dinner starts at approximately 7:00PM and ends
at around 10:00PM. After the dinner, you will go home with your host family. Hosting
families will not attend the dinner this year, since the cafeteria is undergoing
renovation. Instead, they will pick up their hostees at the end of the dinner.
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How far away from the event sites (the United Nations and UNIS) will the host families be?
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The distances that hosting families live from both the UNIS and United Nations building
will vary, some ranging from Waterside Plaza (next to the school), to around Manhattan,
to any of the other New York City boroughs (some hosting families will even reside
in New Jersey). Distance from event sites will depend on the hosting family assigned.
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How will the students get from the hosts' homes to the United Nations building?
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Conference attendees will normally travel to the UN building with their hosts by
their respective means. Monetary needs will either be supported by the host families
or brought along with the visiting student.
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Will they be bused to the school (UNIS) and to the UN building?
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Visiting Students will not have any need to go to the UNIS building for the hours
before the conference. Hosted Students will go straight to the UN
via thier own means with their host families, whereas students and their teachers
who reside in hotels will proceed straight to the UN on their own. Students need
only to go to UNIS for the Welcoming Dinner and for the Neel Bagh dance.
Transportation
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Will transportation be provided by UNIS-UN to and from UNIS, the
UN, or the host families' homes?
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No, transportation will not be provided specifically by UNIS-UN. How you get to
and from the host families' homes and UNIS is determined by your host family and
in some cases, your school. The UN is easily accessible through public transportation,
and due to the amount of traffic around the UN, we advise that you do not drive
to the UN.
Social Events
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If we choose to have all our students in a hotel, may some students
still attend the welcoming dinner?
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Although we usually allow this if you ask at least one week in advance, we are unable
to accommodate non hosted students in the cafeteria this year, since it is undergoing
renovation and has been downsized temporarily.
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Are there any special events planned by UNIS?
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The only event planned by UNIS is the Neel Bagh Dance. The Neel Bagh Dance takes
place on the first night of UNIS-UN (Thursday, March 4th) in the UNIS cafeteria
from 7PM - 11PM. However, hosted students are to be picked up at 8:30PM.
The cost for the dance at the door is $13. If students pay in advance,
the cost for the dance is $12 for conference attendees and $10 for UNIS students.
All proceeds from the dance benefit the Neel Bagh village in India.
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Will teachers and extra students (outside of the six to be hosted)
go directly to the UN building?
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Yes, teachers and extra students along with their respective schools/groups are
to go directly to the UN on the days of the conference.
