Application Selection Process
Application to Leadership Chenango is open to all citizens who live or work in Chenango County.
Download the 2011-2012 Leadership Chenango Application
Class members are selected on their own merit from written applications submitted to the Leadership Chenango Selection Committee. The Committee will interview candidates.
In selecting participants, the Committee should consider the following:
- Evidence of leadership capabilities.
- Interest in community affairs.
- Desire to expand personal voluntary involvement.
- Personal insight into Chenango County.
Much consideration should be given to the selection of a group which represents a cross-section of Chenango County, i.e.,
- Business (industry, retail, service)
- Professions
- Government (village, city, county)
- Education
- Labor
- Service and Community Groups
- Non-Profits
- Ethnic/Minority Groups
- Male/Female
Consideration for Selection
The Selection Committee shall determine the distribution of scholarship assistance, keeping in mind; however, that a minimum amount of scholarship dollars are currently available.
If the applicant is unable to meet the attendance requirements, he or she will not be considered.
Strict adherence to all requirements of the application form and process within the appropriate deadlines is necessary. All information and signatures must be in order before a nomination can be considered or reviewed by the selection committee. Incomplete applications will be disqualified.
Information about who has applied for Leadership Chenango is to kept in strict confidence. Announcements of those selected are made only after the applicants have been notified and accepted to their place in the Leadership Chenango program.
Successful candidates will exhibit the following characteristics:
- Commitment, motivation and interest in serving Chenango County in volunteer appointed or elected leadership roles.
- Potential for advancement to leadership position.
- Willingness to commit the time and energy to complete the program and have the full support, if not self-employed , of the organization they represent.
- Demonstrated achievements relative to age and experience.
Stages of the Selection Process
- Applications are submitted to the Chamber by a pre-determined deadline.
- The Selection Committee reviews each of the applications individually and rates them on the applicant rating sheet.
- A decision is then made regarding interviewing applicants. To this point, all applicants have always been interviewed. It was discussed that at some point, there could be too many to interview and some cuts would have to be made before the interviews. If this were the case we would use the applicant rating sheet as the basis for this cut. The application package sent to the applicants includes those dates to which they must be prepared to come in.
- Applicants are notified when and where to come for their interviews. Usually we interview on two days.
- Interview sheets and applicant rating sheets are all tallied and a master sheet is prepared for the whole committee to review. This master sheet lists all applicants in order of their total points. The Committee then looks at geographic representation, scholarship requests, age, balance, etc. in making the final decision on those to be in the class.
- Assemblyman Cliff Crouch will call all of those selected to congratulate them and ask if they accept their place in the class. We usually do not send letters to those that are not selected until after Cliff has called all of those selected, so we can fill a slot with an alternate if necessary.
- After telephone calls have been made, letters are sent out immediately to those who were not selected.
- The new class is invited to an orientation and kick off dinner as a way to meet each other and find out more about the program. Selection Committee members will also be invited to this dinner.