It’s our policy to not discuss the specifics of people’s applications with other people besides them. I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to give more detail about why you were rejected publicly, so it is hard to really reply to the substance of this post, and share the other side of this story.
This of course is correct as a default policy. But if Constance explicitly said she wants to have this conversation more publicly, would you comment publicly? Or could you comment in a private message to her, and endorse her sharing the message if she chose to?
I did explain to Constance why she was initially rejected as one of the things we discussed on an hour-long call. We also discussed additional information she was considering including, and I told her I thought she was a better fit for EAGx (she said she was not interested). It can be challenging to give a lot of guidance on how to change a specific application, especially in cases where the goal is to “get in”. I worry about providing information that will allow candidates to game the system.
I don’t think this post reflects what I told Constance, perhaps because she disagrees with us. So, I want to stick to the policy for now.
Hi Amy,
I think it’s hard to justify a policy of never discussing someone’s application publicly even when they agree to it and it’s in the public interest. This is completely different from protecting people’s privacy.
I worry about providing information that will allow candidates to game the system.
This seems to me to be a recurring theme regarding CEA procedures. I encountered a very similar approach from another CEA staff member regarding a completely different, high profile topic that was discussed on the forum. (This was in a private message, so I won’t share it at the moment).
And it’s a valid thing to worry about—but it also means trading away accountability. If CEA can’t be transparent, how can community members evaluate its impact or feel comfortable relying on support/funding/events that CEA makes available? In this tradeoff, it personally seems to me that CEA is way too far on the opaque side.
Hi Amy, I think it’s hard to justify a policy of never discussing someone’s application publicly even when they agree to it and it’s in the public interest. This is completely different from protecting people’s privacy.
If you read Amy’s reply carefully, it sounds like she told Constance some of the reasons for rejection in private and then Constance didn’t summarize those reasons (accurately, or at all?) in her post. If so, it’s understandable why Amy isn’t sure whether Constance would be okay having them shared (because if she was okay, she’d have already shared them?). See this part of Amy’s reply:
I did explain to Constance why she was initially rejected as one of the things we discussed on an hour-long call. [...] I don’t think this post reflects what I told Constance, perhaps because she disagrees with us. So, I want to stick to the policy for now.
FWIW, based on everything Constance writes, I think she seems like a good fit for EAG to me and, more importantly, can be extremely proud of her altruism and accomplishments (and doesn’t need validation from other EAs for that).
I’m just saying that on the particular topic of sharing reasons for the initial rejections, it seems like Amy gave an argument that’s more specific than “we never discuss reasons, ever, not even when the person herself is okay with public discussion.” And you seem to have missed that in your reply or assumed an uncharitable interpretation.
But if Constance explicitly said she wants to have this conversation more publicly, would you comment publicly? Or could you comment in a private message to her, and endorse her sharing the message if she chose to?
Strong agree with all of this. ‘Gaming the system’ feels like weaksauce—it’s not like there’s an algorithm evaluators have to agree to in advance, so if CEA feel someone’s responded to the letter but not spirit of their feedback, they can just reject and say that in the rejection.
I’m still trying to figure out how to best use the comments on this forum, but I did make a reply with a clarification on what you said about me not being interested in EAGx. I just want to comment it again here to make sure that it is seen.
“I also want to mention that I am actually open to going to EAx conferences and was just talking to Dion today about my desire to go to EAxSingapore next year. I think I might have said I wasn’t able to go to EAGxVirtual because it is the same weekend as the AVA Summit, which I am a speaker for. It might also have been that I didn’t have a desire to travel so far for a conference at that time and all the EAx conferences that were listed on the events page would have required me to fly since I’m in the US on the east coast. EAxBoston had already passed at that point so the only conference left on the list that would have been readily accessible to me in terms of location was EAG DC. This might have been construed as a lack of interest in attending EAx events in general, but I assure you this is not the case. I do not have an exact memory of what was said, but hopefully, this provides some clarity.”
This of course is correct as a default policy. But if Constance explicitly said she wants to have this conversation more publicly, would you comment publicly? Or could you comment in a private message to her, and endorse her sharing the message if she chose to?
(Good luck with EAG DC in the meantime.)
Thanks for the suggestion, Zach!
I did explain to Constance why she was initially rejected as one of the things we discussed on an hour-long call. We also discussed additional information she was considering including, and I told her I thought she was a better fit for EAGx (she said she was not interested). It can be challenging to give a lot of guidance on how to change a specific application, especially in cases where the goal is to “get in”. I worry about providing information that will allow candidates to game the system.
I don’t think this post reflects what I told Constance, perhaps because she disagrees with us. So, I want to stick to the policy for now.
Hi Amy, I think it’s hard to justify a policy of never discussing someone’s application publicly even when they agree to it and it’s in the public interest. This is completely different from protecting people’s privacy.
This seems to me to be a recurring theme regarding CEA procedures. I encountered a very similar approach from another CEA staff member regarding a completely different, high profile topic that was discussed on the forum. (This was in a private message, so I won’t share it at the moment).
And it’s a valid thing to worry about—but it also means trading away accountability. If CEA can’t be transparent, how can community members evaluate its impact or feel comfortable relying on support/funding/events that CEA makes available? In this tradeoff, it personally seems to me that CEA is way too far on the opaque side.
If you read Amy’s reply carefully, it sounds like she told Constance some of the reasons for rejection in private and then Constance didn’t summarize those reasons (accurately, or at all?) in her post. If so, it’s understandable why Amy isn’t sure whether Constance would be okay having them shared (because if she was okay, she’d have already shared them?). See this part of Amy’s reply:
FWIW, based on everything Constance writes, I think she seems like a good fit for EAG to me and, more importantly, can be extremely proud of her altruism and accomplishments (and doesn’t need validation from other EAs for that).
I’m just saying that on the particular topic of sharing reasons for the initial rejections, it seems like Amy gave an argument that’s more specific than “we never discuss reasons, ever, not even when the person herself is okay with public discussion.” And you seem to have missed that in your reply or assumed an uncharitable interpretation.
Amy’s comment was in response to Zach asking:
And I was refering to that hypothetical.
Strong agree with all of this. ‘Gaming the system’ feels like weaksauce—it’s not like there’s an algorithm evaluators have to agree to in advance, so if CEA feel someone’s responded to the letter but not spirit of their feedback, they can just reject and say that in the rejection.
I strongly disagree, [edit: deleted a sentence]. Happy to talk about this via DM, will send you a DM with my thoughts.
edit: DM sent
Please do, I’d be interested to hear your take :)
Hi Amy,
I’m still trying to figure out how to best use the comments on this forum, but I did make a reply with a clarification on what you said about me not being interested in EAGx. I just want to comment it again here to make sure that it is seen.
“I also want to mention that I am actually open to going to EAx conferences and was just talking to Dion today about my desire to go to EAxSingapore next year. I think I might have said I wasn’t able to go to EAGxVirtual because it is the same weekend as the AVA Summit, which I am a speaker for. It might also have been that I didn’t have a desire to travel so far for a conference at that time and all the EAx conferences that were listed on the events page would have required me to fly since I’m in the US on the east coast. EAxBoston had already passed at that point so the only conference left on the list that would have been readily accessible to me in terms of location was EAG DC. This might have been construed as a lack of interest in attending EAx events in general, but I assure you this is not the case. I do not have an exact memory of what was said, but hopefully, this provides some clarity.”
Understandably not comfortable sharing why Constance was rejected yet seemingly not at all uncomfortable with calling her a liar anyway.