State Officer Elections

2024-2025 Selection Process- Area Level      

• Any eligible student may apply for the Area’s State Officer and participate in the student’s respective Area’s selection process. Should an area decide to limit districts to a specific number of candidates the procedures outlined in this document should be followed at the district level.

• Candidates may not "give away", hand out, or use any items/gifts/business cards etc.

• Texas FFA Constitution Article X. Section F. The state officers shall hold the State FFA Degree at the time of their election at the state convention and must be active members for the duration of their term in office. A candidate may be eligible to run for state office through the second convention after their graduation from high school.

• On the first business day immediately following each Area’s Convention and no later than May 22, 2025, the Area’s solitary State Officer’s name and contact information must be submitted via email to Ashlee Laird (ashlee@texasffa.org).

• Each Area’s State Officer shall be a candidate for State President and State First Vice President.

• Each Area will select its State Officer by using a standard rubric and scoring spreadsheet which will be developed and distributed to the Area Coordinators and the Area Election Officials by December 18, 2024.

• The Area Executive Committee may appoint an Area Election Official to assist the Area Coordinator in the selection process, and must submit that name and email by January 15, 2025 to Ashlee Laird. Individuals may not serve as the Area Election Official if an individual from their chapter or a relative is a candidate.

• The Area Coordinator and Area Elections Official for each Area will be tasked with administering the selection process in their respective Area no later than May 22, 2025.

• Upon completion of the selection process, all documents used in the selection process (applications, rubrics, scoring spreadsheet, etc.) must be submitted via email to Ashlee Laird by 5 pm the day following the selection process.

Process Procedures   

• All State Officer candidates will participate in the following at the Area Level: Resume & Application, Test, Interview, Writing Prompt, Member Engagement, Round Robin, and Speech.

• Application/Resume: All candidates must complete an application and resume to run for state office. These will not be scored. The state election committee will review and use to formulate questions.

• Test: All State Officer candidates for each Area will take the written knowledge exam at the same date, time, and location determined and communicated by the Area Coordinator.  This process is worth 15% of the total interview process score. All candidates will have 90 minutes to complete a written exam with 60 multiple choice questions.

  • The written knowledge exam will be developed by Q-Bank and each Area will be given access to the exam link on the day that Area’s State Officer candidates take the written knowledge exam. The exam will consist of questions from the Official FFA Manual, 2024-2025 Leadership Guide, 2024 Ag Issues Briefs, and 2024 Farm Facts, and Gray’s Parliamentary Guide. No two Areas will have the same written exam.

• Interview: All State Office candidates will participate in an interview with the Area Level State Election Committee.  This process is worth 15% of the total interview process score.

  • All State Office candidates will be given the opportunity to participate in a personal round introduction.  This round will NOT be scored but will provide the opportunity for all candidates to introduce themselves and for the Area Elections Committee, defined below, to derive questions for the interview portion.

  • All candidates should be asked the same set of questions during the interview, clarification/follow-up questions are permitted. These questions shall be created by the Area Elections Committee upon the conclusion of the Personal Introduction Round.

• Writing Prompt: All candidates shall have a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 60 minutes to complete a written essay on a topic relevant to agriculture, FFA or the Texas education system. The purpose of the essay is focused on student’s ability to convey knowledge and understanding in a different way than allowed through multiple-choice questions. Each year a theme will be identified (follow-up pertaining to: member engagement, round robin, personal interview). This will be graded by the state elections committee. This process is worth 5% of the total interview process score.

• Member Engagement: All candidates will participate in a Member Engagement Round. The prompt will be determined in December and shared with areas. This process is worth 10% of the total interview process score.

• Round Robin: All candidates will participate in a Round Robin interview with 3 adult interviewers. The interviewers can be business & industry, educational administration, FFA support group, past state officer, or agricultural university rep. Each candidate will be asked a series of questions about agriculture, FFA and the Texas Education System. Various resources may be studied in advance such as: Farm Facts, Ag Issue Briefs, and Leadership Guide. This process is worth 15% of the total interview process score.

• Speech:  Each candidate for state office shall be given the opportunity to present a campaign speech before the delegation at their perspective area convention in accordance to the provisions of this policy and give an impromptu response to thought questions developed and asked in accordance to the provisions of this policy. The popular vote of the delegate body shall comprise 40% of the candidate’s score.

  • In the event of a tie after voting, the tie shall be broken by a Run-Off Speech and Vote. Each of the tied candidates shall present a one-minute run-off speech and the delegates shall cast ballots. The winner of said run-off election shall win the tie.

  • Speech Length
    - 2.5 minutes for initial speech
    - 1 minute for Thought Question
    - 1 minute for Run-off (if applicable)
    
    

• Speech Guidelines

  • Candidates will not use any props or other materials. Audience participation by the general corporate audience without reference to any individual is not considered use of a prop. Having a specific member or group of members identified by proper name participate is considered to be use of a prop.

  • Candidates will choose the style of microphone desired for their candidate speech at the designated stage practice and will be given an opportunity to test the microphones.

  • Candidates may use a podium or walk the stage area but may not kneel, squat, be seated on stage, or leave the stage during their candidate speech. The entire presentation must begin and end on stage. 

• The candidate from each area who receives the highest combined test, interview, round robin, member engagement, writing prompt and vote score shall be declared the state officer nominee from that area.

Area Level State Election Committee   

• Each Area shall determine an Area Elections Committee by February 1, 2025. 

• The name and contact information for each member of the Area Elections Committee will be indicated on this Google Form (link) which shall be completed no later than 5 pm on February 1, 2025.

• The Area Coordinator for each Area, with the assistance of the Area Elections Official, appointed by the Area Executive Committee, shall be responsible for appointing the members of the Area Elections Committee.

• The state election committee for the area level process is comprised of no less than 7 individuals (a total of 9 individuals is recommended), with at least 1 student officer representing each District within the Area. 

• The Area Elections Committee will have no less than 1 and not more than 3 industry representatives.  Aside from industry representatives, no other adults may serve on the Area Elections Committee. You must have 3 industry reps for Round Robin and need to be the same people on your Elections Committee.

• The Area Interview Process will be administered by each Area Association to determine their final nominee for state office. 

• The Area Selection Process includes the following: Test, Writing Prompt, Round Robin, Interview, Member Engagement, Writing Prompt, and Application/Resume. 

• Scores from this process do not carry over to the state level round for the final area state officer candidate. 

• Area Associations must use the Texas FFA supplied rubrics, approved testing provider, and score calculators for the state officer interview process.