A Selection Committee is a group of people tasked with reviewing candidates for a particular role. Whether the goal is to find the best candidate or to prevent bias, these committees can help make an objective decision that maximizes the effectiveness of the process. However, it is important to keep in mind that these committees can still be subject to bias if the members are not properly trained. To help minimize this, the University offers a free online module on Selection Committee that can be used to train committee members to identify and address potential bias.
1. Ensure committee members understand the position and its duties.
It is a good idea to include at least one committee member who has already been in the role being filled. This will allow them to offer a unique perspective and avoid any potential bias from the committee’s own experiences. This will also help them to assess the skills and qualifications of the candidates more effectively.
2. Use a random ordering of evaluation and discussion to prevent bias.
Selection committees can suffer from bias if the nominees are evaluated or discussed in the same order each time. This is called presentation bias, and it happens when the nominees who are evaluated or discussed earlier get more attention than those later in the process. A solution is to use a random ordering when evaluating and discussing applicants, so that all the applications are seen by all committee members at roughly the same time.
3. Ensure committee members have completed an online selection committee chair training and understand the importance of confidentiality.
Choosing the right people to serve on your selection committee can be one of the most important decisions you’ll make, as it will impact the quality of the final decision and the overall success of your process. Ideally, you want to choose committee members who are experienced in your area of the business and can provide a wide variety of perspectives to the discussion. They should also be committed to maintaining a confidential environment in line with the University’s code of conduct.
4. Identify and discuss any potential conflicts of interest with committee members.
It’s a good idea to have a conflict of interest policy in place so that committee members can disclose any potential associations they have with the applicant and recuse themselves from the discussion if necessary.
The next step is to review the list of teams and try to find ways to avoid rematches between teams that have already played each other. For example, the committee may move a team up or down its true seed line to avoid any conference rematches in the first round of the tournament. They’ll also attempt to separate conference teams so that they can’t meet until the regional final. This is especially important if the top seeds of each conference are all in the same region. For example, it would be a disaster if the top seeds of the Big Ten and Pac-12 met in the final four this year.