UWC Candidate Pack

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About UWC UWC (United World Colleges) is a global education movement with a mission to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Central to the ethos of UWC is the belief that education can bring together young people from all backgrounds on the basis of their shared humanity to engage with the possibility of social change through courageous action, personal example and selfless leadership. To achieve this, UWC schools and colleges all over the world deliver a challenging and transformational educational experience to a deliberately diverse group of young people, inspiring them to become agents of positive change, in line with UWC’s core values: • international and intercultural understanding; • celebration of difference; • personal responsibility and integrity; • mutual responsibility and respect; • compassion and service; • respect for the environment; • a sense of idealism; • personal challenge; • action and personal example. As an international educational NGO with schools and colleges and UWC national committees (for student selection and fundraising) all around the world, and UWC International as its coordinating and governing body, UWC is a federal organisation. The UWC International Office is the executive arm of UWC International and is based in London, UK, and Berlin, Germany. Today, UWC has 18 schools located in the United Kingdom, Singapore, Canada, Eswatini, the USA, Italy, Hong Kong, Norway, the Netherlands, India, Costa Rica, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Armenia, China, Thailand, Japan and Tanzania. Each school and college has its own distinct character and identity, influenced by its host country, the specific setting, cultural context and its community. While the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), a qualification that UWC played a major part in developing, is at the core of academic life at each UWC school and college, a UWC education goes above and beyond the requirements it sets. With a deliberately diverse student and staff body at each UWC school and college - with members from many different national, socio-economic, cultural, linguistic, political and educational backgrounds - UWC recognises that the curriculum has to allow for as many interpretations and perceptions as there are students in the programme, so that the students feel able to represent their own history and perspective authentically. At UWC, students don’t just learn how to be great at passing exams; they learn how to communicate across cultural boundaries; they develop the skills to be a changemaker; they design and engage in initiatives that transform their lives and the lives of those around them for the better. UWC students are selected domestically in more than 155 countries through UWC’s unique, volunteer-based national committee system. Selection is based on demonstrated promise and potential to fulfil the UWC mission. In accordance with the UWC ethos that education should be independent of students’ socioeconomic means, and to ensure real diversity, UWC runs the world’s largest scholarship programme in international secondary education, with over 80% of students selected by UWC national committees receiving a scholarship. This creates a major financial challenge: an annual funding need of about $100 million USD per year across the UWC movement. A significant portion of this is met through fundraising, with most of the responsibility resting with UWC schools and colleges and some UWC national committees, with UWC International also increasingly active in this area. Funding partners include governments, foundations, corporations, individual benefactors and, more and more, UWC alumni. UWC also runs shorter educational programmes - conducted at the campuses of its 18 schools and colleges and beyond - increasing the number of people who can have access to a UWC educational experience. UWC fosters a lifelong commitment to social responsibility and, to date, it has inspired a worldwide network of almost 60,000 alumni, who go on to become leaders in politics, NGOs, social enterprises, community movements, charities, business, and more.
UWC International UWC International (formally “The United World Colleges (International)”) is a registered company and charity in the United Kingdom, and registered as a gGmbH in Germany. It is the organisation at the centre of the UWC movement and its many different stakeholders, and its functions embrace leadership, oversight, accountability and support. Its role is to coordinate between the different UWC stakeholders, to set the global direction and strategy for the UWC movement, to approve new UWC schools, colleges, national committees and educational programmes, to be in charge of UWC’s global fundraising, engagement and communication projects, and to ensure the adherence of all stakeholders to jointly agreed policies. UWC International’s structure deliberately reflects the broader UWC movement. All the UWC schools and colleges form part of its governance, with national committees also being represented. This builds structure around the concept that in a federal organisation the legitimacy of the ‘centre’ comes from acting on behalf of the ‘whole’. UWC International has three components: • The UWC International Board has executive responsibility for the governance of the organisation and meets three times a year. It comprises up to 16 members, who are the Directors and Trustees and are elected by the UWC International Council. Members on the UWC International Board include UWC college/school Heads and Chairs, the Chair and vice-chairs of the Committee of the National Committees as representatives of UWC’s national committee system and members at large. While numerous Board members are UWC alumni or current/former staff members, other Board members are not and add specific skills, know-how and perspectives. All Board members act on a volunteer basis. • The UWC International Council elects the members of the UWC International Board and discusses issues of strategic, developmental and philosophical significance. It has up to 80 members meet at least once a year and act on a volunteer basis. These include the Heads and Chairs of UWC schools and colleges, and national committee representatives, as well as alumni and other members of the wider UWC community. • The executive arm of the International Board is the UWC International Office, based in London and, since October 2019, also in Berlin. It executes the strategic decisions set by the UWC International Board and is the administrative heart of the UWC movement. The team at the UWC International Office coordinates UWC’s different stakeholders, supports UWC schools, colleges and national committees alike in their activities and is the driver behind different initiatives across the UWC movement. The UWC International Office is headed by the Executive Director, who reports to the Chair of the UWC International Board. UWC International is funded primarily through annual fees paid by UWC schools and colleges, calculated through a formula that takes account of relative financial strengths. In the course of 2021, the UWC governance model will be adjusted to accommodate some growth within UWC International and to develop more cohesion across the UWC movement by increasing the level of transparency, ensuring timely communication, and building trust among different constituents. The new Executive Director will have an opportunity to look at this complex international educational organization with a pair of fresh eyes, question the status quo and come up with creative ways to address the “pain points” that have been identified within the UWC movement - and will be able to count on the support and consultancy of different constituents, including the very talented and motivated group of professionals at the UWC International Office.
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UWC Candidate Pack

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