2008 Woodie Awards
Leadership Recognition awards devalued by selection process
Josh Begley '10
Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Commentary
In February, I received an e-mail informing me that I had been nominated for one of the eleven awards presented at the annual Leadership Recognition Ceremony that took place last Wednesday. According to the e-mail, the nomination was "a testament to your hard work, dedication, and your positive influence on the Wheaton Community." Unfortunately, given the flawed nature of the LRC Awards nomination and selection process, that "testament" rings hollow.
There are a few problems with the process. First, though the nomination form does prevent a single individual from nominating the same person more than once, there's nothing to stop a student from having all of his or her friends nominate him or her for an award, essentially stuffing the ballot. This is particularly troublesome given that the large pool of candidates for each award is first whittled down based on the number of nominations each candidate has received.
Second, once a student has been nominated for an award, he or she is asked (per the instructions of the notification e-mail) to fill out a form "in order for the Leadership Recognition Committee to know more about you." That sounds benign enough on its own, but as the e-mail further explained:
"It is crucial that you complete the form attached and also include any pertinent information such as resumes, letters of recommendation and/or other information you feel would help the committee find you the best person for the award."
In other words, "Congratulations, you have been nominated!" gives way to "Tell us how great you are, and if you're the best at doing so, you'll get the award!" According to a friend of mine on the LRC Awards selection committee, many students take the committee up on this offer, striving to make it crystal clear just how fantastic they are by submitting extensive resumes and multiple letters of recommendations, including ones that date back to the candidate's middle school years. Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous? (For what it's worth, I'm not, in fact; I've talked to many other students who share my views on this issue.)
There are a few problems with the process. First, though the nomination form does prevent a single individual from nominating the same person more than once, there's nothing to stop a student from having all of his or her friends nominate him or her for an award, essentially stuffing the ballot. This is particularly troublesome given that the large pool of candidates for each award is first whittled down based on the number of nominations each candidate has received.
Second, once a student has been nominated for an award, he or she is asked (per the instructions of the notification e-mail) to fill out a form "in order for the Leadership Recognition Committee to know more about you." That sounds benign enough on its own, but as the e-mail further explained:
"It is crucial that you complete the form attached and also include any pertinent information such as resumes, letters of recommendation and/or other information you feel would help the committee find you the best person for the award."
In other words, "Congratulations, you have been nominated!" gives way to "Tell us how great you are, and if you're the best at doing so, you'll get the award!" According to a friend of mine on the LRC Awards selection committee, many students take the committee up on this offer, striving to make it crystal clear just how fantastic they are by submitting extensive resumes and multiple letters of recommendations, including ones that date back to the candidate's middle school years. Am I the only one who finds this ridiculous? (For what it's worth, I'm not, in fact; I've talked to many other students who share my views on this issue.)
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Leo Gayne
posted 5/03/08 @ 5:13 PM EST
Dear Josh,
Let me begin by thanking you for your recent commentary in the last issue of the Wheaton Wire. Your thoughts on the Leadership Recognition Committee and the award selection process are valuable in our tireless effort to improve the event. (Continued…)
Joshua Begley
posted 5/06/08 @ 5:10 PM EST
Dear Leo,
To begin with, I'd like to address your good point that "it is irresponsible to only share one side of the story with our community." I don't know whether or not you have been wondering if I purposely waited until the year's final edition of the Wire to have my piece published, but either way, please know that this was not the case. (Continued…)
Leo Gayne
posted 5/08/08 @ 2:44 AM EST
Dear Josh,
While the end of the school year brings the thoughts of summer and being away from Wheaton, I find it encouraging that you and I can have this dialogue and remain focused on improving a long standing tradition at our college. (Continued…)
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