President Election

President Election is the formal event, usually taking place late-Winter Quarter, where the President of the UCSD Tzu Ching Officer Cabinet is voted upon.

Details
President Election is normally held towards the end of Winter Quarter, during an Officer Meeting. This gives the newly elected President the chance to review Officer Cabinet applications during Spring Break/early-Spring Quarter and make their selections. It also allows them to shadow the current President as they carry out their normal duties during Spring Quarter before they hand the position over. Holding President Election at the same time as Officer Meeting saves officers the trouble of having to attend a separate event solely for election, and ideally promotes the largest turnout of attendees.

It is important to remember that a President elected at President Election does not immediately become the acting President. The current President continues their duties, in the same position as always, until the end of Spring Quarter. However, most events/responsibilities that were done by the President in Fall and Winter Quarter should now be done with both the current and new President as partners (such as Officer Training and Spring Orientation)

Voters
The President is voted for among prospective candidates at President Election by UCSD Tzu Ching officers, as well as general members who are in attendance. Alumni and advisors are not part of the voting process.

Candidates
Candidates are UCSD Tzu Ching Officers who meet the requirements for serving as President and have expressed interest in applying for the position by completing an official application.

Structure
The following is an example of how a President Election may be structured:
 * 1) Set-up: Presidential candidates are seated in the front of the room, facing the rest of the attendees
 * 2) Introduction: The current President, who typically moderates the event, officially presents the candidates and allows them 30 seconds to a minute to give their opening speeches/introductions
 * 3) First round questions: Afterwards, the President may begin the election/interview process by asking the candidates some pre-selected questions. These questions should aim to briefly familiarize the audience with the candidates' personalities and goals.
 * 4) *Examples of these questions include "What is your previous experience with Tzu Ching and Tzu Chi?", "Why did you choose to apply for President?", and "If you were to be elected, what are some improvements you would make to the club?"
 * 5) *For the sake of fairness, candidates should take turns being the first to answer questions. For instance, if Candidate A answers Question 1 first, then Candidate B should be the first to answer Question 2, and so on.
 * 6) Open floor Q&A: Attendees are allowed to ask their own questions to the candidates one by one. Questions should be addressed to, and answered by, all candidates. It is advisable to enforce a time-limit for candidates to respond to questions, as unrestricted responses can often unintentionally drag on.
 * 7) Closing: Once all questions have been answered, candidates may be allowed 30 seconds to 1 minute to give closing statements, after which they will be asked to leave the room to give the group time for discussion.
 * 8) Group discussion/review: after candidates have left the room, attendees are allowed some time to share their thoughts about the candidates' responses and qualifications. This helps the voters address any concerns they have about the candidates' answers and vote with confidence.
 * 9) Voting: Different methods exist on how voters can indicate their choice from the Presidential candidates. When choosing what method to use for voting, make sure that the format of voting is known to attendees in advance of the event in order to avoid confusion/debate on the day of.
 * 10) Paper slips: have everyone anonymously write down their votes on paper slips, then gather them up. Candidate with the most paper slips with their name on them wins the election.This method allows for near-complete anonymity (the tallyer may possibly recognize people's handwriting). It has been argued that using the paper slip system goes against Tzu Chi principles, using paper when not necessary. There are two ways to approach counting the votes: reading the name written on each paper slip one by one as they are counted or silently counting the votes.
 * 11) Closed-eyes/raised hands: have everyone close their eyes, put their heads down on their desks, put one hand over their eyes -- whatever it takes to temporarily block their vision. List out the candidates one by one, and ask voters to raise their hand when their choice of candidate is called. Count the number of hands (votes) for each candidate as they are raised. This method solves the "paper problem" seen above in the paper slips method, but also sacrifices some anonymity, as the person who is appointed to count votes would obviously know who votes for who. There is also the potential for "peekers". These problems can hopefully be addressed by having alumni/advisors (who would not be voting) count the votes, although that too means that someone would know who votes for who.
 * 12) Announcement: When votes have been counted and a winner has been decided, have the Presidential candidates come back in to the room and announce the newly elected President. If the President wishes, they can make an acceptance speech to everyone at this point.

2013-2014 President Election
The 2013-2014 President Election occured on April 4th, 2013, in the Student Service Center Conference Room 260. The election began with a single candidate preparing to be interviewed by the rest of the Officer Cabinet - Suyeu Kuo. In order to give the event some more activity, it was suggested that those who applied for Vice President could also go through the Q&A session. The Vice President candidates would not actually be running for President, but would answer the same questions. This would give the attendees two answers to each of their questions as opposed to just one, and would also help Suyeu more clearly understand the expectations that someone who is applying for the Vice President position has for their President. Christine Diao thus decided to participate in the running. After a lengthy Q&A session, Suyeu was officially declared the 2013-2014 President.

2014-2015 President Election
On March 7th, 2014, UCSD Tzu Ching held its 2014-2015 President Election in the Thurgood Marshall College Room. Two candidates were in the running for Presidency: Eric Horng and Christine Diao. The current President, Suyeu Kuo, moderated the election. The actual election process quickly began with questions from Suyeu, followed by a Q&A session from the rest of the officers, alumni, and general members in attendance. During the Q&A session, some of the officers felt that the candidates were taking a bit too long responding to questions, which was causing elections to drag on a bit; therefore, it was decided that a time limit of one minute per candidate would be instated to keep things running smoothly. When the Q&A session ended and candidates were asked to leave the room, another debate suprisingly and quickly sprung up about the voting process on whether votes should be written down on slips of paper or if voters should just raise their hands while closing their eyes. Some officers and alumni argued that it was important to keep the process anonymous, while others suggested that simply raising hands could save paper - a consideration well in line with Tzu Chi principles. After a few minutes of spirited back-and-forth between a seemingly split Officer Cabinet, a majority became evident, and everyone agreed to proceed with the paper slip method. Votes were counted without reading names out loud. When votes had all been counted, candidates were invited back into the room, and Christine Diao was announced as the new President.

Past events

 * 2014 President Election: https://www.facebook.com/events/678099312233869/?fref=ts