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ASB Club Commissioning Process
Club Commissioning
Process
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Rejected Clubs
Rejected clubs share their experience with the commissioning process
LISA ZIVANIC
writer
The process of starting a club is complicated. Each year, dozens of determined students pitch their dream idea, kicking the club commissioning process into motion. To clarify their selectivity, the Associated Student Body (ASB) has held several informational meetings regarding the club commissioning process. However, for some students, transparency concerns for their prospective clubs were still left unresolved.
Richa Nalli, the president of a prospective fashion club, described the process as intense, explaining, “At first, it seemed really stressful, especially because [ASB was] making it cutthroat and very competitive, which I did not expect it to be. But then again, it was understandable, it’s a big school.” Nalli added that “when [ASB] mentioned only 3% of the clubs get accepted towards the end of the year,” she felt particularly intimidated.
Since the specifics of the process are closed off to students outside of ASB, none of the prospective clubs were informed of the specific details comprising the club selection process. Many clubs are displeased with this, wishing for more transparency. This lack of clarity leaves some clubs wondering about the potential biases that may occur in the club commissioning process.
Many leaders in rejected clubs find there to be a surplus of STEM clubs on campus.
Said Alisha Sankhe, president of prospective club, Tino Writers, “There’s a lot of niche STEM clubs. [...] They could definitely merge, but they’re not being merged and the non-STEM clubs are the ones being merged or cut out entirely.”
However, it is impossible to determine if there truly is a bias towards STEM due to how unclear the clubs selection criteria are. Noted Bellemy Morgan, president of a public dialogue organization (PDO) “What we’re most upset about is the lack of clarity on things. We don’t know what factors they were really testing us on, or what their final determination [was].”
Nova Midwinter, vice president of the PDO, felt that the process was “incredibly opaque.” When the organization’s previous advisor left their teaching position at CHS, Midwinter felt that the ASB deadlines and requirements for a new advisor
were ambiguous.
Added Morgan, “We [had] an advisor and then Instructor Choe told us ‘No, it can’t be a first year teacher’ when we’d never heard that requirement beforehand.”
Another primary concern about clarity brought up by the South Asian Heritage Association (SAHA) and the PDO was that they were both rejected for their similarities to existing clubs.
SAHA was found to be too similar to Dhadkan, a Bollywood fusion dance team. However, students have noted it is different from SAHA, because it embraces South Asia as a whole, whereas Dhadkhan primarily focuses on India. Said Rhea Bhatia, co-president of SAHA, “ I feel like we should have been provided with some sort of reason that relates to just us. Not ‘you can’t be here because someone else is already here’, because I thought the whole point of ASB was to make campus bigger, more inclusive [and] more diverse.”
However some students did not even receive an explanation of why their club was rejected, leaving them to question what they did wrong. Said Nalli, “When they give you the email saying ‘I’m sorry, your club didn’t make it’ […] [I was wondering] What could I have worked on? Was it one of the questions? Did I not say [something] properly?”
There are solutions to the issues with transparency. A more comprehensive timeline and explanation of the requirements for a club to get passed would add clarity and improve transparency. A rubric based on stated selection criteria would also help prospective clubs understand the reasons behind their rejection.
In light of the lack of approval, SAHA and the PDO have continued to hold meetings and run as unofficial clubs
Said Midwinter, “We don’t want to just let down our member base because the commission made a decision.”
Club Commissioners
Perspective from an ASB club commissioner
AVINASH PANDIT
online editor-in-chief
As one of three ASB club commissioners at Cupertino High School, senior Max Wang is responsible for evaluating all new club applications and ensuring that the selection process is fair. In a year where over 70 prospective clubs applied, Wang’s role in ASB proved to be difficult.
The first step of the club application process is a written application, where the clubs demonstrate their reasons for forming the club and how it would contribute to the student body. Using a predetermined rubric, the club commissioners assign each club a score.
Said Wang, “Our guiding question for the new club process is ‘how will this club continue to benefit students and serve a passion that is not already being served?’”
If the club passes the first stage, they are granted an interview with the three club commissioners, where they are asked general questions about the motives for creating the club. After a significant number of clubs are rejected in the first two rounds, the club commissioners conduct another round of interviews with the club advisor and one or two ASB members. In this round, the questions asked are more specific to each club. The advisor demonstrates how invested they are in the proposed club, and the club officers describe how they plan to impact the student body for an extended period. The extra ASB members are present in the interview to ask follow-up questions and offer an outsider perspective.
“This year, we found that the third round was most helpful because we had so many voices to consider, and we were confident that the clubs that passed this round would succeed in the future,” said Wang.
Although when asked about potential biases in the overall club process and who was the most biased, Wang responded, “Everybody. Club commissioners are biased, but that’s unavoidable. We try our best to mitigate biases, but there are just times where I think personally, and this isn’t just a rare thought; if someone who wanted to start a new club is close with the commissioners, there would be some advantage that they’re granted.”
In the final round, each of the clubs is presented to the student senate, where they hold discussions and vote on the final decision. In what is often the most controversial round, said Wang, “There’s just a lot of exchanging of hands in this information, and I would say it’s hard to keep the bias, I guess, removed.” Summarizing Wang’s opinion, he feels like the student senate is more prone to individual biases due to its large size than the ASB club commissioners are. A group of 20 or more people will have more potential conflicts of interest and more connections with prospective clubs.
Said Wang, “This year w e had a number of conflicts that were not very morally well-grounded.” In an attempt to try and get his club passed, a student senate member consistently questioned one of the club commissioners trying to seek an unfair advantage.
Said Wang, “There should be stricter penalties or rules on what information you are allowed to seek out.”
When asked if there are currently any procedures in place to prevent preferential treatment, Wang’s response was short and straightforward, “No.”
Although the club commissioners see bias and admit it is a substantial problem, there are feasibility issues in solving all of them. Said Wang, “We have three club commissioners, Ms. Nguyen [Cupertino High’s financial analyst], and Instructor Choe. There are essentially five people left to manage 73 new clubs.”
ASB Advisor
Instructor Choe, the ASB advisor, offers thoughts on the process
VISHAL SHENOY
writer
As the ASB advisor at Cupertino High School, Instructor Choe performs many roles related to student affairs. His primary role in the club approval process is to guide the three Club Commissioners. This includes helping them set goals and giving them advice to best achieve their desired outcomes. In many situations, he provides context to decision making since Club Commissioners typically switch every year. According to Instructor Choe, the guiding principle for the club approval process is to achieve “the most amount of good for the most people.” The application is very thorough in order to set up clubs for future success. ASB wants to ensure that clubs will continue to thrive after its founders graduate. “[Clubs] will start strong with the founders who have the passion for it, and then once the founders leave … then those clubs lose a lot of interest, lose a lot of members, and their activity starts to dwindle,” said Choe. He added, “The planning and rigor fine-tunes how clubs successfully operate.” Tino uses other schools as a benchmark for how many clubs and which types of clubs should be passed. This is done through the calculation of club to student population ratios. “In terms of our relationship with other schools, we are not on the lower end. We have been looking at how many clubs other schools have had... to see where their management is, the diversity of [their club] scene,” said Choe. Cupertino High School has a ratio of 27.1 students per club, which is the median ratio out of the five FUHSD high schools.
The club approval process is democratic. Compared to previous years, interviews are held with multiple ASB members and the Student Senate, a group of four representatives from each grade level, has the final input on whether a club is passed. Around five to six clubs pass each year but there is no cap on the number of clubs which can be approved. However, a majority of clubs are rejected by the Student Senate.
When questioned about his awareness regarding student concern of bias in the club approval process, Choe said, “I think it has been brought up in very small instances, but never as a serious concern,” elaborating that, “I am not sure it is feasible to fit [a process with less bias] in a school year. We have a narrow window of time to make sure clubs have enough time to set-up”. He expressed worry about not “giving [clubs] a thoughtful chance at moving forward unless there is the criss-crossing examination,” which can become predatory and contain bias.
Instructor Choe acknowledges that the club approval process is far from perfect. While many students have great ideas, there is simply not enough space to approve every worthy proposal. Furthermore, many existing clubs do not match current student interests. Instructor Choe proposes experimenting with “temporary” clubs in addition to the disbandment of clubs which do not have strong membership.
“I think it would be great if we could do [a club] for two years. As long as it is made very clear that at the end of those two years, it is done. And that is hard because those students at the end of those two years might want to keep it going. We can go in and out with a bunch of clubs that better match [the student interests], and the ones that people like will stay over time if they can approve themselves,” Choe suggested. INVESTIGATIONS | 23
