Each Homecoming Queen candidate will submit an application via a provided link that includes their resume and general qualifying information (GPA, credit hours, etc). Additionally, they will submit answers to four candidate essays. Candidate Essays will be graded by a Faculty Essay Committee of five individuals. Recruitment of faculty will occur among the faculty senate membership and each college through nomination. Nominations will also be requested from students. No college, organization, department or affiliate group will be represented by more than one individual, but alternates may be derived from the same college to fill slots if someone is unable to complete their duties. Faculty will receive the set of essay responses, which will be de-identified and referenced only with an Applicant Number. Scoring will be based on an essay rubric. The combined total points will be provided as part of the applicant’s Preliminary Round Score.
2023 Application
- Current resume (to be provided to interview team; will not be scored)
- Statement of Intent (to be placed on website for Top 5; Will not be scored)
- In 250 words or less, please write a statement of intent describing your passion for seeking candidacy and serving as the UA Homecoming Queen
- Essays (see questions and rubric below)
Applications will open on Tuesday, August 22, 2023.
Homecoming Queen Application
Essay Questions
A set of essay topics have been determined, requiring a candidate response for each deriving from the Pillars of Homecoming Queen topics (500 words maximum per essay question):
Service
How do you serve the Tuscaloosa/UA community and why have you chosen to do so?
Leadership
Vivian Malone once said, “There will come a day in your life where you must act for others…and you must be ready. You must be bold, have courage and walk through a door that leads to opportunity for others.” How do you believe you have displayed the message of this quote in your time at UA?
Character
Describe a time when you worked with/interacted with someone different from you and what you learned from that experience?
Scholarship
What makes you intellectually curious and what about your time at UA and your major of study has helped fuel that?
Essay Rubric
Individuals from the Faculty Essay Committee will utilize the below Essay Rubric to score each essay question. Each section can be scored up to four points, for a total of 20 points per scorer. With five scorers, the essays are worth up to 100 points total.
Service
- Excellent (4) – Strongly and definitively addresses service in two or more examples or directly connects detailed knowledge of service to their practical experiences and how it shapes their community.
- Above Average (3) – Meets all of the Average criteria but only some of the Excellent criteria.
- Average (2) – Addresses minimally how they serve UA through at least one example or connects basic knowledge of service to their practical experience.
- Below Average (1) – Meets some of, but not all, the Average criteria.
- No Credit (0) – Fails to address in writing how they serve UA and exhibits honesty, reliability and dependability or why they do so through informal and/or organized manners.
Leadership
- Excellent (4) – Demonstrates a strong nuanced understanding of creating opportunities for others through their own action or in living out a legacy of leadership through specific examples and receptiveness of their peers.
- Above Average (3) – Meets all of the Average criteria but only some of the Excellent criteria.
- Average (2) – Discloses information on creating opportunities or in living out the legacy of the quote without any nuance.
- Below Average (1) – Meets some of, but not all, the Average criteria.
- No Credit (0) – Does not disclose any info on how they have led to create opportunities for others or failed to address how they live out the quote to be a positive example to peers.
Character
- Excellent (4) – Articulates clear, detailed and personalized examples of their actions of positive character and explicitly ties those to their experience at UA.
- Above Average (3) – Meets all of the Average criteria but only some of the Excellent criteria.
- Average (2) – Offers adequate perspective and provides examples of their actions of positive character and indirectly ties that to their experience at UA.
- Below Average (1) – Meets some of, but not all, the Average criteria.
- No Credit (0) – Offers no perspective on interacting with others or fails to define their actions of respect, fairness, trustworthiness, caring and citizenship through their examples.
Scholarship
- Excellent (4) – Reflects critically and provides clear and defined understanding on how scholarship guides their UA experience with explicit nuance and detail.
- Above Average (3) – Meets all of the Average criteria but only some of the Excellent criteria.
- Average (2) – Provides basic clarity of how scholarship guides their UA experience without any nuance.
- Below Average (1) – Meets some of, but not all, the Average criteria.
- No Credit (0) – Lacks clarity in defining how scholarship guides their UA experience and why that is important to their journey.
Writing Ability and Structure
- Excellent (4) – Essay has strong structure and no grammatical errors.
- Above Average (3) – Meets all of the Average criteria but only some of the Excellent criteria.
- Average (2) – Essay has adequate structure and few grammatical errors.
- Below Average (1) – Meets some of, but not all, the Average criteria.
- No Credit (0) – Essay has no structure and poor grammar.
