Q: What kind of person may volunteer to serve on a THSC Vetting Committee? Someone who:

• homeschools, has homeschooled, or has been homeschooled themselves.
• is aligned with THSC’s legislative objectives related to protecting and expanding family rights and homeschooling freedoms in Texas.
• is not difficult to work with in any capacity.
• is active in a church congregation and committed to the authority of Scripture as God’s inspired Word.
• has voted consistently and, ideally, Vetting Committee members will have voted consistently in local elections (ie: school board, city council).
• Is able to understand, appreciate, and, when necessary, respectfully disagree with different worldviews.
• can represent THSC values even if their own personal convictions lead them to vote differently in certain elections.

Q: What does the time commitment look like for serving as a volunteer on a THSC Vetting Committee?

• For Primary Elections, some Vetting Committees may meet five times over the course of five months while other Vetting Committees may meet one time over the course of five months. This is primarily based on a number of factors:
  • Some districts have long-time incumbents where contested races are less likely.
  • Some districts are more affiliated with a particular political party and so contested races are less likely.

Q: How many people typically serve on a THSC Vetting Committee?

• Our goal is to fully build out our Vetting Committees by having 5-8 committee members so that when 1-2 members must miss due to competing schedules, the interview can proceed because there will still be 3-5 other members who can be present to represent a THSC Vetting Committee.

Q: What time of the year do the Vetting Committees begin to interview candidates?

• For the Primary Elections, the Vetting Committees begin to interview candidates in September and continue until mid-December. This is due to the candidate filing deadline in early to mid-December.
• Late-arrival candidate interviews may happen in January.
• In the case of special elections, interviews will start based on the timeline of the election.

Q: How are the candidate interviews set up? Who arranges when the Vetting Committee will interview a candidate?

• THSC sends out questionnaires to candidates and candidates are required to complete the questionnaire within a certain timeline.
• THSC receives the completed questionnaire from the candidate.
• THSC sends the completed questionnaire to the members of the Vetting Committee as well as the Chair.
• It is expected that each Vetting Committee member reviews the candidate’s questionnaire one full day prior to the interview.
• THSC interfaces between the Chair, the committee members, and the candidates to schedule the interviews.
• THSC provides our Vetting Committee members at least 1 week in advance to prepare to interview a candidate, so that the members can make arrangements to be there. NOTE: In some instances, one week may not be possible and the Vetting Committee may receive shorter notice depending on the urgency of the election process timelines.

Q: How are candidate interviews conducted?

• All candidate interviews are in person by default. The interviews are held in a location that is private such as an office space, a room at a church, or someone’s home in lieu of a restaurant or coffee shop. Public places are intentionally avoided to ensure confidentiality.
• In areas such as the Rio Grande, we permit Zoom interviews namely due to the vastness of the region.

Q: Are the candidate interviews AM or PM and what days?

• Most interviews are in the PM. There are some committees who have the flexibility to vet candidates during the day as well. Most candidate interviews take place on a weekday evening. Occasionally, there may be weekend vetting. Such decisions rest with the Chairperson who knows when their Committee can meet.

Q: How long do candidate interviews last?

• Candidate interviews may take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, but never longer than 1 hour. The Chairperson is responsible for facilitating the interviews in such a way that he or she is respectful of everyone’s time. A Vetting Committee can interview 6 candidates in 1 evening for 30 minutes a piece. This is a normal protocol.

Q: Are the interview questions scripted or ad-hoc?

• THSC Vetting Committees reference:
  • an Interviewer’s Guide to launch from as they question the candidate. This resource is provided by THSC through iVoter Guide.
  • the candidate’s responses to the questionnaire that they receive.
  • Prior to any candidate interview, a candidate must have already fully completed and submitted their questionnaire to the THSC Elections Team. The Elections Team then emails the questionnaire to the specified Vetting Committee.

Q: Are the preliminary and introductory statements with the candidate scripted?

• They are not scripted. The Chairperson is the one who greets the candidate, allows the members to introduce themselves to the candidate, and then the Chairperson oversees the flow of the meeting, ensuring the meeting is fully productive in a timely manner.

Q: Are there any ad-hoc questions that can be asked of the candidate during the interview?

• The Interviewer’s Guide, the candidate’s questionnaire, and any background information provided by THSC are compasses for asking questions. The Vetting Committee is expected to ask any probing or ad-hoc questions to find out more about the candidate.

Q: How do I communicate the results of the interview? Is there a checklist? Is the interview recorded?

• Each committee member must be willing to provide a written candidate assessment to the THSC Elections Team via Google Forms or email within 24 hours of the interview.
• The members must make their own assessment without attempting to persuade or dissuade one another regarding their assessment of the candidate. We want each member to make their own assessment because we truly value the suggestion and voice of each member. Conversation that takes place during the interview should never be discussed with non-committee members or non-THSC staff members.
• THSC values honor, honesty, and integrity and so regardless of whether we agree with the candidate’s views or not, our commitment is to honor the candidate because they are valuable even if our views are different from theirs.
• Finally, the interviews are not recorded. Each Chairperson has a checklist and is very familiar with the process s/he needs to complete and is very articulate with expressing to the committee what s/he needs from each member to submit forms and paperwork to the THSC Elections Team.

Q: What is the atmosphere of the Candidate Interview?

• Interviews are conducted to be respectful, casual, and substantive.
• Each interview is confidential. Regardless of the answers that the candidate gives, each vetting member is on the Vetting Committee because they treat each individual with respect even in the face of strong disagreement

Q: Can more than one family member serve as a volunteer on the THSC Vetting Committee?

• Absolutely. We have several husband-wife couples and even couples and adult children. We value the multi generational perspectives.

Q: I’m ready. What do I do to get started?

• Email elections@thsc.org with the subject line: Interested in joining a THSC Vetting Committee. Share with us your name, city, your affiliation with homeschooling, and why you are interested in serving as a volunteer on a THSC Vetting Committee. We will be more than happy to help you get started on qualifying to join a committee.