The Proctor Problem

As the end of the academic year approaches and the seniors prepare to leave their dorms for the final time, thought must be given to who will lead the dorm as proctors in the coming year. The proctor selection process is currently underway in many dorms and has already been completed in some. This process consists of the faculty and current proctors assessing the merits of applicant uppers for the positions, and determining the next year’s proctor team. While the faculty obviously have the final say, the proctor’s opinions are regarded highly and the decisions are generally made by consensus with them as well as the other dorm affiliates. Input by other residents of the dorm is requested and collected via survey where students can give their own thoughts on each of the candidates.Complaints have arisen this year as well as in previous years about the fairness of this process. One criticism is that allowing the current proctors to play a role in the decision-making process gives an unfair advantage to their friends. An additional argument is that all students in the dorm should play a larger role in the selection process and should elect the proctors themselves.While it is true that the current process has led to the occasional unfair election of proctors, by and large it is a good system. I don’t believe that it would be beneficial to the dorm to have the faculty choose the proctor team with minimal input from the students. These proctors will be the mentors and leaders of the dorm for the next year and it must be ensured that the other students will be okay with these people in this position of power. I think that the survey and rating system devised in Webster North is a perfect way to collect student opinion and ascertain which applicants would work well with the students of the dorm. Furthermore, the current proctors perhaps know the candidates far better than the majority of faculty and may have important knowledge about the candidates that the faculty don’t know which could affect their decision. I am therefore in full support of current proctors playing a large part of the decision process.Although it may seem like a good idea to involve all students in the decision process a little more, this change could also have adverse affects. Although soliciting more input would improve the process by giving the faculty a more complete picture of each candidate and helping them ascertain each one’s pros and cons, this could lead to the proctor choices becoming somewhat of a popularity contest. It could mean that the person chosen to be proctor isn’t necessarily the best person for the job, simply the one with the most friends in the dorm.For the last two years I have seen no problems with the proctor selection process within my dorm or any others. Complaints have been made but it seems to me that it is a perfectly good system that generally allows all candidates a fair chance and selects the best people for the job.