It’s not only posters and candy for the students who must interview in order to be appointed to a position in Mira Costa’s Associated Student Body. The ASB Board Members conduct all interviews by asking the same questions to help ensure each election interview is fair and unbiased. Asking everyone the same questions is a way to avoid favoritism and ensure that no one candidate has an unfair advantage over another because questions aren’t catered to any one student.
There are three ways that students may be appointed to the various positions on ASB, which include running to be a class officer, running for a class representative or interviewing for a commissioner job. Those who have been in ASB previously may run to be on the ASB board, but it is required that they have served one year previously for Secretary or Treasurer and two years for President or Vice President.
Members of the incoming and outgoing ASB board for the current school year are in charge of conducting interviews for those who to choose to apply this way, Co-Commissioner of Elections Breegan Knudson said. If a student does not win the election by running, they are given the option of interviewing into another position. This is beneficial for students because it gives them chance if they do not win the election the first time and are still able to be in the ASB program for the following school year.
All students running for ASB must complete a packet that requires extensive information, including self reflections, signatures from teachers, references for positions, and a signature from the attendance office to ensure that they have not received any truancies Co-Commissioner of Elections Tracy Thompson said. This is beneficial because packets allow students to take the time to write the things they believe are the most important for the ASB board to know about them before the high pressure interview process.
There are concerns that it is difficult to prove there is no bias in the interview process because it is not a win by the popular vote; however, it is the role of ASB to make sure they are conducting interviews in a fair and equal way, Thompson said. The interview process is a great way for students who may not necessarily have the confidence to run against others or who may not have won the popular vote, to still have the opportunity to be a part of such an important program on campus.
The board uses these packets to help make decisions about a candidate during the interview process, Thompson said. There is a greater chance of the candidate feeling more comfortable with someone they are familiar with conducting the interview, which includes the members of the ASB board who happens to be their peers. The ASB board is able to recognize qualities in their own peers that are able to benefit the program, therefore it is an advantage to be interviewed by the board rather than a teacher.
It is difficult to eliminate all biases, but the ASB board takes every possible precaution in order to make the elections fair to the best of their abilities, Thompson said. Without the efforts made by members of Costa’s ASB many of the events on and off campus would not happen, so selecting the candidates they see best for the jobs is vital in order to make sure all members are dedicated to the program.
All decisions about each candidate must be unanimously decided upon by the members of the ASB board, Keefer said. Being interviewed by other students may increase the amount of social bias in the interview process. Since there is no popular vote allowing them to be instilled into office, it is difficult to ensure the interviews are fair.
Although there is no way to ensure there is no bias within interviews, asking all students the same questions allows it to be more generalized. This makes the process as fair as possible for all students because it does not favor any students in particular.
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