Taken from the FRC Blog, 9/20/13:
http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...s-list-changes
Quote:
Something New – FIRST Dean’s List Changes
Blog Date: Friday, September 20, 2013 - 13:37
We’ve got some important changes to the FIRST Dean’s List process for the 2014 Season.
It’s important that students being selected for FIRST Dean’s List be able to take full advantage of their selection. We want these students to be able to list their selection for this prestigious award on their college applications, and we want their selection to motivate them to even greater accomplishments with their teams through the following seasons. For these reasons, while in the past, teams could nominate any high school student on their teams for FIRST Dean’s List, starting in the 2014 season, nominations will be restricted to Sophomores and Juniors.
Also, the feedback we’ve received has indicated that it’s very hard to pick FIRST Dean’s List Finalists from the written submissions alone. So, as a pilot for the 2014 Season, we’re introducing an interview component to the selection process. All FIRST Dean’s List nominees at Regionals will participate in brief interviews with a panel of judges at the event. For Districts, as no Finalists are selected at the District competition level, nominees will participate in brief interviews at the District/State Championship level where their selection takes place. Interviews will not take place at the FIRST Championship level, because of the because of the number of individuals that would need to be interviewed. However, the judges selecting the FIRST Dean’s List Winners at the FIRST Championship will have access to interview notes from the earlier interviews that took place when the Finalists were selected.
Another advantage of these interviews is that it will give all nominees an additional challenging experience at events. As I’ve said before in this blog, I believe people grow when they’re given something to push against. All nominees, along with those selected as Finalists, will receive feedback on their interviews from the judges.
FIRST Dean’s List nominees will not need to prepare any kind of presentation for the interview, and interviews will last no more than five minutes. We’re working through additional details at this time.
I want to emphasize that this is a pilot for the 2014 Season. As well as stretching our nominees, this will also stretch our judging and space resources, and there’s a chance we may find that the cost of this change is not worth the benefits we receive.
I’ll blog again soon.
Frank
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I don't know how I feel about this. To me, it sounds like they are thinking too much of, "oh, this award would be great for college applications!", instead of focusing on giving it to who really earns it, no matter what their age. I've heard of teams submitting freshman, because they have more dedication and commitment than some upperclassmen. The award should be given out to students who earned it for their continuing hard work, instead of giving it out to "motivate them" even more. I have a few very good friends who have earned the Dean's List Finalist Award, and from what I've seen, if they have been doing so much to be given the award, they already have plenty of the right motivation. Some students don't even really gain the motivation and show their best effort until their senior year, and now it would be too late for them to get rewarded for it. I know there were some members on my old high-school team who we were waiting until their senior year to submit them for Dean's List, because we felt they would step it up even more so than they already had. From my own experience, I felt barely involved at first in freshman year, and only became more so during my sophomore year. It wasn't until my junior and senior years that I began to breathe-eat-and-sleep FRC. I honestly can't really see how a sophomore could be submitted for such a prestigious award, but there is a lot I haven't seen.
But, I trust that like altering Chairman's, this decision was discussed by many, so I assume it is for the best then if multiple officials agreed on it. And I
do like the new interview portion of it now.
What I
would like to see, however, is modifying Dean's List the same way Chairman's was - selected candidates would be eligible to win at any regional they attend, not just one.