New member application

[Jeff Waegelin]

We basically allow people to do what they want, as needed. Everyone has a primary responsibility, but if their group is not working that day, they can work on something else if they are needed. We have a pretty small team, though (less than 20), so we can get away with it.

As for applications, I may be able to get a copy of ours. I'll have to ask our captain for it, but I'll try to get it soon. We basically ask a few questions like "Why do you want to join" and "What can you contribute to our team", ask what the person's interests are, whether they can provide their own transportation home and to Visteon on weekends (not necessary, but we ask anyways). We also ask for 2 teacher recommendations. It's not perfect, but it helps us filter out the few people we really don't want. Most applicants get accepted, so its not really that important.

[Jferrante]

Most teams that use applications seem to be trying to determine who to allow to join, and most of these teams seem to do so because there robotics team is also a class with a limited size. Last year my team (506) decided to try applications. We were a purely after school club so did not have a restriction in size and most of the members who stayed from beginning to end were willing to put in at least some work on a fairly regular basis. We didn't use the applications to turn anyone away and anybody who wished to join could. So why did we use em then?

We needed to be able to understand who could work and how much work they could do. We wanted to know that we could count on project leaders to be present at all meetings so that there was someone that always knew exactly what was going on with each system and subsystem. We also wanted to know if anyone had skills that could help us. Why have someone who has never sodder'd before take a guess as to how its done when we have someone that can teach them the propper technique to build stronger, longer lasting connections.

I dont have our application handy, but since I was the one who wrote many of the questions i'll can still remember most of em, I'll list em below as a reference to anyone interested (exluding the obvious name, grade, etc (we didnt ask for GPA)).

have you been on the school robotics team before?*
what fields would you be most interested in working in?*
what fields would you be most interested in being a leader in?*
what previous experience do you have?
what other clubs/activities will you be participating in durring the robotics season?**+
can you work on weekends/vacations?* **
can you work late (after the last buses leave)?* **
how many hours a week can you promise (on average)?**+
Is there anything you would like to add (please be brief)?

* multiple choice answer
** used to determine dedication/availibility (should this person be given crucial projects or be made a project leader)
+ cross-check question (if there in X clubs can they truly give Y hours?)

total we had about 10-15 questions not counting name, grade, etc. A few people did decide not to join because they were to lazy to fill out the application.

[Andy Baker]

The TechnoKats use this "info sheet" for all incoming members, even veterans. It's pretty simple. Change it for your own needs and use it as you wish.

(see attached Word doc.)

Andy B.

[Jessi]

hey, my team does applications. the one on our website is from two years ago but its still good. so if you go to cyberblue234.com and click on downloads it should be there. personally i like the application thing. the team also has to go through an interview process, and the old members have to do it also. i think that should help if you still need something. let me know.

jessi

[Dan 550]

What's better than applications? Fund raising! With a large group of new members having joined after an open members call, hit every member with a fund raiser quota that is equal. Say you have fifty members and need to raise ten grand by December 9th and it's now September 10th. That comes to each member having to raise $200 in 90 days. That's only $2.22 a day! In a candy sales fund raiser, if each member sold 5 bars a day at $1 each, and the sale makes one full turn per bar (that's a sale at double the purchase price), the sale would be more than successful. That is, in a perfect world, it would.

[Aaron Lussier]

I would like to thank every body who responded to this thread It has really helped my team get a feel for what to put on the application

[D.Stephenson]

871 doesnt have one....

[Chris Nowak]

Hmmm...we don't have an application either. Unfortunately, our team is primarily run by the leaders(engineers and a teacher). Not to say thats terrible in this situation, but we have no "managers" team, although I wish we did. If we were to have an application to consider people for entry (ludicrous anyway just because we have like 25 people) then the leaders, who(most of them), unfortunately, place almost no trust in the students IMO, would have to review them and while we know they would be impartial they wouldn't know the applicants as well as the students would.

In my opinion, the ideal solution is to kick people out if they cause trouble or don't work. That might sound harsh, but only through experience will you know if a person is truly good to work with. I also would say that no one should be kicked out because of their competence with the subject matter unless it would pose a serious problem(such as training animators taking away from the project). In the spirit of FIRST, anyone can fit in somewhere. Also, i agree that a minimum GPA requirement is good. Grades reflect a lot. If you can't keep them up reasonably, you shouldn't be allowed to come.

[Mike Martus]

At Chief Delphi we have used the application and interview process from the very start 8 years ago.

The application will allow you to gather important information about the person and facilitate the team selection process.

Our team has several basic requirements a student must meet before they apply. These are verified on the application.

They must have at least a 2.5 grade pt avg. cummulative
They cannot have any "E" in any class, any time.
They must have good school attendence
They must not have any discipline referrals
They must have three recommendations from current teachers
They must have a parent recommendation and commitment to participate and assist the team

After the information is checked the student is given an interview by the coaching team. Here questions regarding personality, effort, time and skills to bring to the team are discussed. This takes about 10 to 15 min each student. Time and effort well spent.

At that point the coaches review and decide who makes the club phase. This all happens in the spring following the nationals. In the fall we open up applications for 9th graders and new students that come to the school.

We have students that transfer to our school just to apply to the FIRST Team.

I will post the application in the white papers as soon as I can.

As do the Techno Kats #45 we also have a Team Hand Book. I will also post the generic version so that it can be a starting point for other teams.

[Brandon Martus]

Check the white papers for the 2003 Chief Delphi Handbook.

[Ryan Foley]

Hmm, applications.
They do sound like a really good way of filtering out those members who are there when its time to drive the bot, but not when its time to work on it (aka the slackers). I know Timberlane has never used one. Our team has never been more that 20 and for the 2000 and 2001 years we barely had any slackers, so we took everyone who wanted to join so we could get a decent size team.

[mtaman02]

If theres one thing I've noticed its not only Chief Delphi have a Top Ranked Web Site. But the member selection of their team is also Top Ranked. If I had to start a new team myself. I would look at Chief Delphi's format of doing things to do it. I've seen there spirit @ NYC FIRST! Regionals 2001 and give them respect for their way of controlling such a large team.

[Cory]

Wow, you must have a HUGE robotics program! At my school, we are lucky if three people want to join any given year. Our team currently consists of maybe seven dedicated members, and another ten people who like to go to events with the team, and be recognized, but put forth no work.

[Aaron Lussier]

Originally posted by Brandon Martus
Check the white papers for the 2003 Chief Delphi Handbook.

I suggest every body check out there hand book it has a lot of good info on how a big team should be run, if you want to be like Delphi.

[Rob Colatutto]

i read that handbook they have, and it seems like they are very restricting with some of thier rules and applications to join the team....