1.  Registration will commence on a given date to be decided by the retreat committee. 

2.  No applications postmarked before the advertised registration date will be accepted.  Any such applications will be returned.

Reason: There must be a start date in order for the process to be fair to all applicants.

3. No applications may be sent requiring a recipient’s signature.  All such applications will be refused and must be re-submitted. OVERNIGHT MAIL IS NOT NECESSARY AND WILL NOT INCREASE CHANCE OF ACCEPTANCE.

Reason: It is unreasonable for the registrar to be expected to be available 24/7 for overnight deliveries.  Plus, it is unfair to members who may not be able to afford the more expensive overnight delivery.

Acceptance

4. In the event that applications to attend the retreat exceed the number of places available, the acceptance of applicants will be determined by lottery.  Within the lottery, preference will be given to applications in order of postmark, as more fully described below.

5. Certain individuals will be exempt from the lottery process provided that they comply with other requirements of this paragraph.  The retreat registration team and the president will prepare and review a list of such exempt individuals.  These applicants shall be first on the registration list IF their applications are postmarked no later than the date on which the number of applicants equals or exceeds the number of available places.

These categories of exempt individuals shall include:

i. Officers of WRW

ii. WRW retreat committee chairs and certain retreat volunteers as determined by the registration committee and the president

iii. Members who volunteer in a significant ongoing and/or monthly capacity

“Significant” means:  Members who spend at least 24 hours a year (or 2 hours/month) volunteering for WRW.  During the first year of this policy, the 24 hours requirement will be calculated on a pro rata basis from the date this policy is adopted until the beginning of retreat registration.  Work already completed toward current year programs will be counted toward the hours requirement. 

iv. Notwithstanding the lottery, at least 5% of the registrants must be new members (who joined within the last WRW fiscal year and on/before August 31), provided a sufficient number of new members apply.

Reason:  New members should be encouraged to participate and volunteer, and attending the retreat is a good way to see the chapter in action. New members receive no other perks, so this is a generous courtesy.

Reason for Exemptions: Those attendees who are needed to work on the retreat and those who spend a significant amount of time volunteering need to be included before chapter members or others who wish to attend.  Still, these individuals must honor the spirit of the application process in order to be eligible for this privilege, i.e. getting applications in before the postmark date on which maximum attendance capacity is filled.

6. In registering applicants, priority shall be given based on the date of POSTMARK. On the date that all spaces are filled applicants that have not yet been assigned spaces will be accepted if space becomes available based on the lottery/waitlist process defined below.  To be considered valid, however, entries must be received within seven business days of the date they are postmarked. 

Reason: The US mail service does not always function perfectly and within reason, no applicant should be penalized if her application is delayed by mail.  Also, mail delivery may vary according to geographic area. This makes it unnecessary for anyone to send an application by overnight mail.

7. The membership chair shall provide a list of all members who renewed or joined WRW on or before August 31 to the registration team.  Members who renewed or joined by August 31 shall be given priority over any members who renewed or joined after August 31.  Non-members shall be given lowest priority.

8. The registrar may, after consultation with the retreat committee and the president, grant exception to registration deadlines in the event of a problem out of the control of the applicant, such as, but not limited to, a weather-related delay, accident or family emergency.

Lottery/Waitlist

9. If registration fills to maximum capacity, anyone registering beyond maximum capacity shall be waitlisted.

Reason: Site policies are subject to fire codes and WRW is not permitted to exceed a given number of attendees.

10. To determine priorities within the waitlist, applications, excluding those on the list of exemptions, received ON the postmark date that registration fills to capacity shall be placed into a lottery and drawn at random.  A separate lottery for waitlist order shall be held on each day after maximum capacity is reached.  Anyone on the exemptions list whose application is postmarked AFTER the day capacity is reached will be put on the waitlist.

In this situation, it is possible that one person may be accepted while her preferred roommate is not.

Reason: This ensures that anyone registering on the postmark date for which registration fills receives a fair chance at acceptance.

11. In the event that maximum capacity is exceeded on the first postmark date for registration, all applications postmarked on the first day shall be entered into a random lottery, excluding those on the list of exemptions. 

FAQ:  How are applications received and processed?

1. All registration envelopes are grouped by postmark date and opened at the same time. 

2. Exempted applications are taken out first, followed by the 5% for new members.

3. The remaining applications are opened at random and no order is assigned to any envelopes within a given postmark date.

4. All remaining applications are processed

5. The same procedure is followed for each postmark date thereafter.