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Empire America Mission adopts written-score then oral-interview tie-breaker for applicant rankings
Summary
At a Sept. 23 special meeting, the Empire America Mission voted to resolve ties in applicant rankings by using candidates' written test scores first and oral-interview scores second; staff said the change will be added to test documentation and applied when finalizing lists.
The Empire America Mission voted Sept. 23 to use candidates' written test scores as the first tiebreaker and oral-interview scores as the second when resolving ties in applicant rankings, members said at a special meeting called at 4:15 a.m.
The procedure was adopted to resolve a number of tied scores in the current applicant pool — staff flagged multiple ties, including two three-way ties — and to provide a clear, repeatable method when preparing final ranked lists for contact and further processing.
“Fairness wise … I agree with the commissioner Jackson. If we're willing something first, I would use the written first,” said a member during debate, arguing that written scores reduce the chance that an oral interview can be gamed. Staff said the change would be included in the testing documentation and applied when ranking candidates. “I have the names,” a staff member said when asked whether staff could implement the rule and contact applicants.
Members discussed other potential tie-breakers, including a military-preference point that appears in the existing score sheet. A staff member and members noted that applying the military point would resolve only a small subset of ties and that using written and oral scores in sequence would eliminate nearly all current ties; one member said only a single situation would still need a tertiary tie-breaker under either order.
A motion to adopt the written-first, oral-second tiebreaker was made and seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote; no opposition was recorded in the meeting transcript.
Members and staff agreed the rule should be documented and that the testing process would be updated so that candidates know the tie-breaking procedure before being invited to interviews. The meeting record shows the change will be incorporated into future test materials to reduce the chance of repeat ties.
The meeting adjourned after the vote. The body announced its next meeting for Oct. 14 at 4 p.m. in the city council chambers.
