Hello everyone!

Today, we’re introducing a new feature to JudgeApps. Many roles and levels within the Judge Program require an application, including verification of certain pre-requisites, such as events judged, reviews written, or exams passed. In the past, this has been verified using ad-hoc processes, such as unverifiable Google forms, or manual verification by the few users with access to the necessary data in JudgeApps. This new system will improve these processes by allowing for centralized verification of all sorts of prerequisites.

We’re calling this system Checklists, because that’s basically what it is: First, the JudgeApps admins create a list of requirements, and then, qualifying users can check off those requirements. Once the requirements are met, the user can submit the whole checklist to the relevant group of reviewers. The reviewers can easily view how the requirements were met, including the scores on any relevant exams, the contents of any relevant reviews, and so on. The reviewers have the ability to discuss the checklist, and vote to accept or reject. Once a decision has been made, the checklist can be accepted or rejected, and the results, along with a comment, are communicated back to the user.

This system has already been tested by the L3 judges as part of the recent GP Head Judge application wave. Going forward, it will continue to be used for the twice-yearly GPHJ applications to verify review, exam, and event prerequisites. Today, we’re also putting it to use for the L3 Application Process – as announced today by Nate Hurley, this is the new way for all L3 candidates to track their prerequisites and to submit the first step of their application. The checklist is available to all current L2 judges at https://apps.magicjudges.org/checklists/.

• Who can see the information I enter? Each checklist has its own set of reviewers. For the L3 Application, that is the Verification Committee.
• What can they see? Those users can see everything that you can see when you’re editing the checklist. For example, that is the names/dates/locations of Events you submit, but not the Cover Letter you used when applying; or the score you got on an Exam, but not which questions you got wrong. Note that the full text of Reviews is shared.
• What if I don’t meet each requirement? The Checklists module will use green/red indications, as well as checkmarks and x-marks, to indicate whether it believes you meet the requirements. If you have any red indications, or any “x” marks on the summary, then you should review that section to ensure you have provided all of the information you intended to. However, you are able to submit a Checklist even if it isn’t fully “green”. This should only be done if you have some specific exemption to one of the requirements, because the reviewers will reject your Checklist if they are not able to verify that you meet each requirement.
• What happens after I submit? The team responsible for reviewing your Checklist goes to work. They will ultimately either Accept or Reject your checklist. That decision will be communicated to you, along with any comments that the reviewers provided.
• What if my Checklist was rejected? Assuming that there wasn’t a deadline that already passed, you’re welcome to update the checklist and submit it again.

We’re always working to improve the user experience of JudgeApps and help to support the needs of the Judge Program. If you’d like to help, check out our recruiting information.