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NPTE
Bylaws 2008. 1
Article
I: The Organization. 1
Article
II: Purpose of the Organization. 1
Article
III: Board of Trustees. 1
Article
IV: Tournament of Excellence Rankings. 2
Article
V. Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence Bids. 6
Article
VI. NPTE Tournament Rules. 10
Article
VII. Amendment and Maintenance of Bylaws. 15
The 2008 changes are
highlighted in gray.
The board is still discussing a few more changes.
This organization shall
be known as the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence or NPTE.
The purpose of the
National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence is to provide an opportunity
for the finest parliamentary debate teams from a variety of schools to
participate in an annual championship parliamentary debate tournament.
Section 1. The Board
of Trustees.
A. The Board of Trustees
shall be comprised of a President, a Vice President, and three (3) At-Large
Members.
B. Board members are expected
to serve at least two years but shall serve until resignation or removal.
C. Whenever a vacancy
occurs, the Board shall select a replacement by unanimous vote. If each Board
member shall have had an opportunity to present a candidate and if none of
these candidates shall have received a unanimous vote, then Board members
shall rank the candidates 1 (first), 2 (second), 3 (third), etc. and the
candidate with the lowest aggregate ranking shall be invited to join the
Board.
D. Unless having been
removed by vote of the Board, outgoing Board member(s) shall have a vote in
the selection of their replacement(s).
E. Board members may be
removed at any time by the majority vote of other Board members.
F. Students engaged in
parliamentary debate competition or intending to engage in any competition at
the undergraduate level in the future are ineligible to serve on the Board of
Trustees.
Section 2. Duties of
the President
A. Conduct and tabulate
all votes in accordance with these bylaws.
B. Serve as Tournament
Director at the yearly National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.
C. Serve as
representative of the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence at
meetings of other organizations.
D. Ensure tabulation and
publication of team rankings in accordance with these bylaws.
E. Issue invitations for
the annual National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence in accordance with
these bylaws. Monitor bid acceptance and report results to Board members.
Section 3. Duties of
the Vice-President
A. Serve as a voting
member of the Board of Trustees.
B. Maintain and operate
online forum and/or mailing list as meeting place for Board discussions and
votes. Add subscribed members to the mailing list as required by these bylaws
and instructed by the Board of Trustees.
C. Maintain and operate
online web site and forum for the dissemination of NPTE information, NPTE
tournament invitations, NPTE tournament results, NPTE tournament rules and
procedures, as well as solicitation of public input.
D. Function as tab room
director at the annual NPTE tournament.
E. Function as President
when President is recused, constrained, or
unavailable or when so authorized by consensus of the At-Large members of the
Board of Trustees present.
Section 4. Duties of
At-Large Members
A. Serve as voting member
of Board of Trustees.
B. Provide services
assisting the President and/or Vice-President as determined by the Board of
Trustees.
Section 1. Eligibility
to Earn Points
A. Enrollment Criteria.
1. Students must complete at least
one credit hour of class at the school that the student represents at the
NPTE during the Fall in order to earn points during the Fall (August 15-Dec.
25).
2. Students must be enrolled in and
not have withdrawn from at least one credit hour of class at the school which
the student represents at the NPTE to earn points for tournaments during the
Spring (Dec. 26-until when points are no longer counted). If the student
graduated at the conclusion of the Fall semester of the relevant academic
year, the student may earn points for tournaments attended during the spring
semester immediately following their graduation.
3. Students who transfer from a
school where they competed at an interscholastic tournament in any form of
debate during the spring previous to their transfer (Dec. 26-Aug. 14) may not
count their first two NPTE point counting tournaments at their new school in
the fall semester (Aug. 15-Dec. 25) immediately after they transfer except if
they transfer from a two year to a four year school, as part of a program
recognized at the previous school, or due to military service.
4. Students may not transfer points earned
at previous schools unless those points were earned at a two year school and
the student is now competing at a four year school, the student shifted
schools as part of a program recognized at the previous school, or due to
military service.
B. Students in open
division at a qualifying tournament meeting the above enrollment criteria
shall be eligible to earn NPTE points so long as both members are from the
same school. If a team is composed of one eligible and one ineligible
debater, the eligible debater shall earn half that team's points; the
ineligible debater shall earn no points.
C. Teams with members
from different schools who meet the enrollment criteria may earn points only
if:
1. One or more of the
debaters is from a school that does not normally do NPDA/NPTE style debate
and should demonstrate that an attempt has been made to find a partner there
anyway.
2. Neither of the
debaters can have qualified for the NPTE in a previous year unless the
program in which that debater qualified has been ended.
3. The team must register
as a hybrid when the team begins to compete together. Failure to notify us
before points are entered for a tournament will nullify the results of that
tournament for points.
4. The team needs final
approval of 3/5 of the NPTE Board even if the first three criteria are met.
5. The team can debate
both of its own schools at the tournament, since it counts as a "special
school." Thus hybrid XY can debate X and Y.
D.
We expect coaches to inform the NPTE board of any transfers to their school
that are not normally permitted without loss of points or eligibility under
NPTE eligibility rules by December 1 for transfers in the fall (Aug.-Dec.)
and February 1 for transfers in the spring (Jan.-Apr.). The Vice-President
shall post notice of this expectation each semester before these dates.
E. Any challenges to a
team's eligibility to earn points or to participate at the NPTE must be made
by December 1 for issuance of first round bids or by February 1 for issuance
of second round and at-large bids. Anyone can make such a challenge by
e-mailing the Vice President. Challenges made after these deadlines shall
have no effect on points nor on participation at the
NPTE.
Section 2. Qualifying
tournaments must meet all of the following criteria:
A. Must be an open
division with at least
1. 4 preliminary rounds
2. 8 teams with no more
than 40% of the teams being from one school
3. semi-final elimination
rounds
4. a
minimum of 3-judge panels in all elimination rounds.
B. Must not use
undergraduate students with remaining competitive eligibility for judges in
more than 10% of the rounds.
C.
Must be tournaments where the following is true:
1. Performance at
other tournaments may not be used as criteria for invitation or attendance.
2. Membership in groups
other than forensics associations may not be required for invitation or
attendance.
3. Invitation or
attendance at the tournament may not be restricted on the basis of race, sex,
religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, disability status, and/or military/veteran
status.
D.
Must not use "pre-seeding" (based on performance at other non-open
tournaments) for the purpose of protecting highly-ranked teams from hitting
each other during preliminary rounds in open division. If used at all, use of
"pre-seeding" must be limited to those rounds which would otherwise
be randomly pre-set. Any combination of pre-seeded,
randomly pre-set, and/or "power-protected" rounds must not exceed
one-half of the preliminary rounds at the tournament.
E. Debates at the tournament must
1. be two person versus
two person debates (except if a few teams are "mavericks" or three
person teams where only two people debate at one time).
2. use a resolution
announced no sooner than shortly before the debate occurs.
3. not use the same resolution
in more than two rounds during a tournament.
4. not use quoted
evidence as the basis for argument.
5. result in a win or
loss.
Section 3. Submission
of Results.
A. Results from qualifying tournaments may be
submitted by any person, including tournament directors, competing teams, or
other forensics organizations. To be registered in the NPTE database, results
must include preliminary round win/loss records for all teams competing in
open division at the tournament as well as all elimination round win/loss
results. Elimination round panel "split" results are
not required.
B. Results must be submitted at least two days
before the deadline for bids to be assured of being included in calculations
of such bids.
C. Results received too late for use in issuing
first-round bids shall be included when issuing second-round bids.
D. Results received too late for use in issuing
second-round bids shall be included when issuing at-large bids and final NPTE
rankings.
E. Results submitted after the deadline for
sending in results for at-large rankings will not count including for seeding
at the NPTE.
F. We will count and post the results that are
sent to us. We will not change points already posted for a team unless there
is clear proof that the results for that team were incorrect. We will not
change points after the at-large bid deadline for any reason.
Section 4. Points will be awarded for a team's
performance at a tournament in open division as follows:
A. 50% preliminary
round win record: 2 points
B. 50.1-60%
preliminary round win record: 2.5 points
(3-2, 4-3)
C. 60.1-75%
preliminary round win record: 3 points
(3-1, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3,
6-2)
D. 75.1-99.9%
preliminary round win record: 3.5 points
(4-1, 5-1, 6-1, 7-1)
E. 100% preliminary
round win record: 4 points
F. Advance to
elimination rounds: .5 points except that any team advanced into elimination rounds that was not in the upper half of the field based
on their preliminary round record shall not receive this half point.
G. Each elimination
round win: 1 point
H. Tournament winner:
1 point. If there is a close out, the higher seeded team based on preliminary
rounds is given this point.
I.
If a complete final round does not occur for any reason except a close-out
and only 5 actual debate rounds have occurred, no points shall be given for
the final round win nor for being the tournament winner.
J. Bonus Points:
1. Bonus points are
awarded to any team with a 50% or better preliminary record in open division
at the tournament.
2.
For each team over 20 teams in the open division, points will be increased by
.1 points up to 1 point.
3.
For each team in the open division whose school is located 400 or more
driving miles from the tournament location, points will be increased by .1
points up to 1 point.
4. Hybrid teams do not
count for bonus points.
5. 4 preliminary round
tournaments will receive 50% of these bonus points.
Section 5. Teams shall
be ranked as a unit. Teams that are split up stop accumulating points, although individual
members may begin accumulating points as members of new teams.
Section 6. For ranking
purposes, only results from each team's top 5 tournaments will be counted. Ties will be broken by comparing
each team's preliminary round win percentages from all recorded tournaments,
win percentage of each team's top 5 tournaments, then by random numbers, if
necessary.
Section 1. Eligibility
to Participate at the NPTE.
A. Eligibility requirements for the
NPTE:
1. Each student must be permitted to represent the
school at the NPTE by their school's registrar or equivalent, and
2. Each student:
(a) must be enrolled in at least one credit hour of
class at the school the student will represent at the NPTE during the Spring
semester of the relevant academic year
OR
(b) must have graduated at the
end of the Fall semester of the relevant academic year.
B.
Verification of Eligibility.
1. The NPTE President or
his or her designee must receive by the date of at-large bid acceptances a signed
statement from the team's school's registrar or equivalent indicating that:
(a) each student is
permitted to represent the school at the NPTE and
(b) for
each semester that points were earned or that is required for eligibility for
the NPTE, that the student was in fact enrolled, or did in fact graduate.
2.
The verification should separately state the semesters during which the
student was enrolled, and should indicate (if applicable) the date on which
the student graduated.
3.
The NPTE board shall have sole discretion to determine the validity of any
document purporting to be a statement from a university registrar as required
by this section. In making its determination, the board may consider
all relevant evidence, including but not limited to whether the school in
question has submitted false documents to the NPTE in the past.
4. In the event that a
school submits false verification, the NPTE board reserves the right to
disqualify a team, to revoke a disqualified team's results at the NPTE or in
the NPTE rankings, and to bar that school from future attendance at the NPTE.
C. No debater may
participate in more than 4 NPTEs and may not have
done any form of intercollegiate debating for more than 5 years (10 semesters
with a semester counting if a student went to two or more tournaments).
Students who were competing in debate in college in 2000, 2001, 2002, or 2003
may ask the board for exceptions.
Section 2. First Round
Bids.
A. Approximately two days
prior to the Martin Luther King Holiday, the President will issue first-round
invitations to attend the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence to
the top 16 teams on the NPTE ranking list.
B. No more than 4 teams
from one school may receive a first round or second round bid to the NPTE. In
the event that more than 4 teams from one school receive enough points for a
first round bid, only the top four ranked teams from that school receive a
bid. The remaining bid(s) will be left open for the second round bids.
C. Teams must accept
their bid in writing to the President by the day before second round bids are
announced. In doing so, they agree to pay for those teams' entry fees even if
they wind up not attending the tournament for any reason.
Section 3. Second
Round Bids
A. By Thursday, five days
after the first Saturday in February, the President will issue second-round
invitations to attend the National Parliamentary Tournament of Excellence.
B. Such invitations will
be offered in NPTE ranking order to the 22 highest ranked teams that did not receive first
round bids.
C. No more than 4 teams
from one school may receive a first round or second round bid to the NPTE. In
the event that more than 4 teams from one school would receive a first or
second round bid, only the highest ranking non-first round teams from that
school receive a second round bid so that the school receives only a total of
4 bids, first or second round. The remaining bid(s) will be left open for the
at-large bids.
D. Teams that were
offered a first-round bid and did not accept such a bid will not be offered a
second-round bid.
E. Teams will be given 12
days to accept their bid before losing their status as second round bid
winners.
F. Teams must accept
their second round bid in writing to the President by the date noted above in
E. In doing so, they agree to pay for those teams' entry fees even if they
wind up not attending the tournament for any reason.
Section 4. At-Large
Qualification Process
A. Teams that do not
qualify for the NPTE under any other method or who did not accept their first
round bid may be considered for an at-large bid to the NPTE.
B. Teams may not receive
at-large bids that would give a school more than 4 total bids to the NPTE.
However, if needed to fill 54
slots, fifth teams from a school may be given a bid, then sixth teams, etc.
C. Teams interested in requesting an at-large bid
should forward the first and last names of the debaters, state all of their
former partners during the current year, and, of course, academic eligibility
forms to the President by the second round bid acceptance deadline to assure
eligibility.
D. Teams requesting
at-large bids must guarantee that they will attend the NPTE if selected,
provide judges for all teams attending the NPTE from their school, and pay
all applicable entry fees if selected even if they wind up not attending for
any reason.
E. Teams requesting at-large bids
will be ranked on the basis of NPTE points acquired with this provision for
"half-points":
- Every team with points from FIVE
tournaments receives only their natural NPTE points (even if they didn't
break at one or more of those tournaments).
- Every team with points from
FOUR tournaments can have added one-half of the ONE best tournament result
with UP TO TWO different partners for each individual team member.
- Every team with points from
THREE tournaments can have added one-half of the TWO best tournament results
with UP TO TWO different partners for each individual team member.
- Every team with points from
TWO tournaments can have added one-half of the THREE best tournament results
with UP TO TWO different partners for each individual team member.
- Every team with points from
ONE tournament can have added one-half of the FOUR best tournament results
with UP TO TWO different partners for each individual team member.
- Teams with points from ZERO
tournaments may not add half-points except in unusual circumstances as
approved by the NPTE board.
- Teams requesting at-large
bids must identify any half-point partners in their bid request.
- Teams with points from
ZERO tournaments may not add half-points except in unusual circumstances as
approved by the NPTE board.
--Ties in ranking shall
be broken on the basis of "natural" NPTE points, points earned by
the team actually coming to the NPTE.
--Example of Half Points:
Mary and John have attended three tournaments together and earned 6, 4.8, and
4 points at these tournaments (for a total of 14.8 natural NPTE points). Mary
attended four other tournaments with another partner earning 7, 5, 4, and 2
points. She can add half the value of her top two tournaments because she and
John only attended three tournaments. So, she earns 7 + 5 = 12 divided by 2 =
6 points. John attended one other tournament with another partner earning 5
points. He can add 2.5 points (half the value of 5 points).
So, their total points are 14.8 + 6 + 2.5 = 23.3 points with 14.8 natural
NPTE points for tie breaking purposes.
F.
Teams requesting at-large bids may include in their request the following
elements which may be considered by the board in relation to Opportunity
Bids:
1. Factors that
limited debaters' ability to earn points, including institutional factors
(i.e. budget limitations, geographic isolation from parliamentary debate
tournaments) as well as personal factors (i.e. financial constraints
requiring employment in addition to school, active-duty military service,
verifiable family emergency during the course of the current school year,
high academic load, time-intensive extracurricular community service).
2. Cumulative GPA or
class standing for each debater.
3. A brief statement
from each debater arguing why the Board should give their bid consideration
in the context of the opportunity bids.
4. Two brief letters
of recommendation addressing the debaters' academic and argumentative
abilities. Neither letter may be written by any member of the debaters'
school debate coaching staff. At least one letter should be written by a
person not associated with parliamentary debate.
G. At large bids will be
issued one day after the second round bid acceptance deadline.
Section 5: Opportunity Bids
A.
Teams that do not qualify for first-round or second-round bids and where
neither debater has attended 5 or more qualifying tournaments may be
considered for opportunity bids.
B.
Teams interested in requesting opportunity bids must forward their request to
the NPTE President by the second-round bid acceptance deadline.
C.
Debaters ineligible to earn NPTE points at any point during the current
academic year shall also not be eligible for opportunity bids. Debaters who
received a waiver from ineligibility due to transfer shall also not be
eligible for opportunity bids except in the case of a normal transfer from a
two-year to a four-year school not requiring a special waiver by vote of the
Board.
D.
Opportunity bids will count against caps on total number of teams from a
single school. If this team cap is hit, opportunity bids will take priority
over at-large bids.
E.
Teams requesting opportunity bids must guarantee that they will attend the
NPTE if selected, provide judges for all teams attending the NPTE from their
school, and pay all applicable entry fees if selected even if they wind up
not attending for any reason.
F.
Teams requesting opportunity bids should include in their request the
following elements:
1. Identification of
all points earned by the debaters as part of any team.
2. Factors that
limited debaters' ability to earn points, including institutional factors (i.e.
budget limitations, geographic isolation from parliamentary debate
tournaments) as well as personal factors (i.e. financial constraints
requiring employment in addition to school, active-duty military service,
verifiable family emergency during the course of the current school year,
high academic load, time-intensive extracirricular
community service).
3. For factors other than death and serious medical or
family issues, those requesting opportunity bids should also include:
a. Cumulative GPA or class standing for each debater.
b. A brief statement from each debater arguing why the
Board should grant an opportunity bid.
c. Two brief letters of recommendation addressing the
debaters' academic and argumentative abilities. Neither letter may be written
by any member of the debaters' school debate coaching staff. At least one
letter should be written by a person not associated with parliamentary
debate.
G.
A maximum of 3 opportunity bids may be granted by the Board. No opportunity
bids must be granted by the Board.
H.
Opportunity bids may be extended to requesting teams by majority vote of the
Board. If more than 3 opportunity bids individually receive majority support,
Board members will each rank all such bids and opportunity bids will be
extended to the 3 receiving the lowest cumulative ranks.
I.
Opportunity bids will be announced at the same time as at-large bids.
J.
Opportunity bids will be seeded for the first round of the NPTE based on
multiplying by five their average points at a tournament.
K.
Teams receiving opportunity bids may, upon approval by an additional vote of
a majority of the Board, receive a waiver or reduction of all NPTE entry and
food fees. Judging requirements may not be waived.
Section 6. Alternates.
After the at-large bids are announced, the NPTE President should
request that at-large teams not qualifying indicate if they will be available
as replacement teams in case a qualified team will not attend. The NPTE
President should, as soon as possible, notify the top two seeded replacement
teams who indicated they will be available, that they may be contacted to
participate. The NPTE President should request contact information from these
teams. If a qualified team will not attend, the NPTE President should make
all reasonable efforts to immediately contact (via email and/or phone) the
highest ranked remaining replacement team so that they may participate in the
tournament.
Section 7. Bids of all
types will only be issued to a maximum tournament size of 54 teams.
Section 8. Teams
participating in the NPTE must provide 1 qualified judge per team. Schools may hire at most one
judge but must communicate that by the second round acceptance deadline.
Schools with at-large teams may not hire judges. Exceptions to this policy
must be specifically approved by the Board. Request for exceptions must be
communicated to the President no later than 2 weeks prior to the starting
date for the NPTE. Teams that arrive without the required judges may be
denied entrance to the tournament.
Section 9. NPTE entry fees
shall be established by the Board of Trustees annually and published both on
the NPTE web site and in all NPTE invitations. Fees for hiring a judge will be
set to pay for NPTE provided food, transportation (low priced plane ticket,
auto rental, and/or car gas costs), the cost of half of an NPTE hotel room,
and regular judge wages. Teams bringing extra judges and approved by the NPTE
president shall be provided with NPTE tournament food and compensated for
transportation (such as plane ticket, auto rental, gas costs with a maximum
set by the NPTE President), half an NPTE hotel room, and regular judge wages.
Section 1. The NPTE
tournament shall use the NPTE Rules for Judging and Debating.
Section 2. Judges for the
NPTE. The NPTE President shall ensure all judges used meet the following
criteria:
A. Judges must have at
least two full years experience coaching, judging, or competing in
intercollegiate debate.
B. Judges with remaining
eligibility to compete in undergraduate parliamentary debate shall explicitly
forfeit all such future eligibility before being deemed qualified to judge at
the NPTE.
C. Judges with only
non-parliamentary debate experience must agree to attend a short training exercise
about the rules and conventions of parliamentary debate prior to the
tournament.
D. All judges shall be
required to submit a judging philosophy at least one week prior to the NPTE
tournament. Schools with judges who have not submitted their judging
philosophy within six days of the NPTE tournament shall be fined $50.
E. The NPTE President may
give special consent to particular judges deemed qualified for the tournament
or, in an emergency, for judges needed to keep the tournament running.
F. Judges are required to give one team a win and the
other team a loss within one hour and 45 minutes of the time the topic is
announced. In the event that a judge refuses to render a win and a loss for a
debate within that timeframe, the tournament director shall decide the round
by coin flip and the judge or school which hired the judge shall be required
to pay for an uncovered round. The tournament director, if needed to assure
win-loss ballots and the timeliness of the tournament, shall be able to
remove such a judge.
G. Judges shall judge two
rounds past the elimination of their teams. Further, before the third
elimination round, a member of the tab room will request that judges who are
highly preferred continue to judge further elimination rounds. These judges
shall be compensated for extra rounds that they judge.
Section 3. Assignment
of Judges. Judges will be assigned on the basis of mutual preference.
A.
At least 18% of judges shall be given an A; at least 36% of judges shall be
given an A or B; at least 54% of judges shall be given an A, B, or C; and at
least 72% of judges shall be given an A, B, C, or D. 10% of judges may be
struck; the remaining judges shall be given an E or constrained.
B.
In assigning judges, the tab should give judges ranked AA first priority,
then judges given BB, then judges given CC, then AB, then BC. Before being
used, judges ranked BC will be reviewed to see if higher and mutually
preferred judges that have not previously seen either team are available.
Further, the tab shall attempt to balance panels. So, if there is an
"AB" or "BC" judge, the other judge should be
"BA" or less preferably "CB."
C.
Judges ranked DD, AC, then BD, then EE, then DE, then CE, then AD, then BE,
then AE should be given only to teams that are no longer in contention for
advancing to elimination rounds or if there is an absolute need to do so. The
tab shall seek to balance panels; for example, if there is an "AC"
judge, the other judge should be "CA" or "BA" or less
preferably "DB" or "EC."
D.
Struck judges should never be given to a team unless no other judge is
available.
E.
Judges should not judge a team more than once in preliminary rounds, once in
double elimination rounds, and once in single elimination rounds (not
counting finals).
F.
Preferences are not used in the final round however the tournament director
shall not count ballots from judges who were struck and from any judges that
were constrained.
Section 4. Preliminary
Round Procedures
A. There will be six
preliminary rounds.
B. Teams will be seeded
according to their final NPTE rankings set on the day at-large bids are
announced including half-points as explained in Article V, Section 4E.
Seeding shall be done on the basis of their 1) total NPTE points including
half points; 2) NPTE points without half points; 3) win-loss percentage.
C. Round One will be
paired High-Low so that Team #1 hits Team #54; Team #2 hits Team #53; etc.
D. Teams from the same
school will not hit each other in preliminary rounds and teams will not hit
each other twice. In the event that teams are seeded to do so during the
first round, the staff will take the next available seeded pairing and switch
the two lower seeded teams. For example, if 20 cannot hit 35, you switch with 21-34 creating 20 vs 34
and 21 vs 35. If 27 cannot hit 28, then you switch with 26-29 creating 26-28 and 27-29. The tab
program should be made to approximate this same process within brackets for
preliminary debates after round 1.
E. Round Two will be
paired High-Low with side constraints (2-0's with highest speaker points will
be paired against 2-0's with the lowest speaker points).
F. Round Three shall be
paired High-High.
G. Round Four, Five, and
Six shall be paired High-Low (within brackets of teams with the same number
of ballots and with side constraints). If a team that is still in contention
to break but has not broken yet is paired to hit a team with 2 or more ballot
wins than they have won (a "double pull up"), then the tab shall
switch pairings so that such team hits the lowest seeded team in a lower
bracket that solves the double pull up while not creating another double pull
up for a team still in contention to break (side constraints and previously
hitting teams still respected).
H. Each preliminary round
shall be assigned two judges. Judges will render separate decisions both on
the ballot and regarding points of order/personal privilege.
I. Results of preliminary
rounds 1-5 will be posted in a common area as soon as possible after each
round. Judges will be encouraged to share decisions and comments about rounds
with competitors after ballots are returned to the Tab Room. Adequate time
will be included in the tournament schedule to allow teams to view the
previous round's results and consult with judges.
Section 5: Elimination
Round Procedures
A.
All teams with more winning than losing ballots in preliminary rounds will
advance to elimination rounds. If more than 24 teams have more winning than
losing ballots in preliminary rounds, a run off round among the lowest seeded
teams shall occur after Round 6 to ensure that 24 teams advance to
elimination rounds.
B.
Elimination rounds will be in double-elimination format until Elimination
Round 5 at which point, single elimination rounds shall begin.
C.
Throughout the elimination rounds, teams from the same school will not hit
each other unless it would force two teams to debate each other again within
the double-elimination rounds or it is unavoidable. If teams from the
same school are seeded to hit each other, the lower seeded team will be switched
with the lower seeded team from the next lower pairing. For example, if seed
5 is hitting seed 10 (teams from same school) and seed 6 is hitting seed 9;
you would switch seed 10 and 9. If two teams from the same school do need to
be paired against each other, they will be required to debate.
D. Teams paired against
each other shall be required to engage in a full debate. Teams that concede a
ballot, voluntarily forfeit a debate, or clearly
throw the round shall be construed as not engaging in the full debate and
shall not receive any ballots for that debate.
E.
Judges of the elimination rounds shall not confer with each other in making
their decisions. Results of elimination rounds will be announced by the panel
immediately after the panel reaches a decision. Judges may share further
comments with competitors after ballots are returned to the Tab Room.
F. Pairing of the
double-elimination rounds
1.
Team seeding for the first elimination round will be determined as follows:
ballots won, speaker points with double high/low dropping, speaker points
dropping high/low points, total speaker
points, and then opposition win/loss record.
2.
After the first double-elimination round, teams shall be re-seeded after each
round. Seeding for the second through final elimination rounds will be
determined by (a) elimination round wins, (b) number of
elimination round ballots received, and (c) seeding at the end of the
preliminary rounds.
3.
For purposes of seeding, teams receiving a bye in elimination rounds shall be
deemed to have received a win with the minimum majority of ballots sufficient
to win the round had it been debated.
4. Pairing in the first elim will be the highest seeded team versus the lowest
seeded team; the next highest seeded team versus the team just above the
lowest seed, etc. Pairing after that will be high-low within brackets
(highest seeded 1-0 will hit the lowest seeded 1-0; next highest seeded 1-0
will hit the team just above the lowest seeded 1-0, etc. highest seeded 0-1
will hit lowest seeded 0-1, next highest seeded 0-1 will hit the team just
above the lowest seeded 0-1, etc.).
5.
If an odd number of teams remain in elimination rounds, the top-seeded team
that has not previously received a bye shall receive a bye for that round.
6.
If there are an odd number of teams in one of the brackets, then the lowest
seeded team will hit the highest seeded team (second highest seeded team if
the highest seeded team receives the bye).
7.
Teams shall not hit each other twice during the double-elimination period
unless it is absolutely necessary. To accomplish this, the lower seeded team
will be switched with the lower seeded team from the next lower pairing. For
example, if seed 5 is hitting seed 10 (teams already hit each other) and seed
6 is hitting seed 9; you would switch seed 10 and 9.
8. Each
double-elimination round shall be assigned a minimum of 3 judges.
G. Pairing of
single-elimination rounds
1.
Teams shall be seeded and re-seeded using the same procedure as for
double-elimination rounds.
2.
Pairing shall be high-low, placing the highest seed versus the lowest seed;
the next highest seed versus the team just above the lowest seed, etc.
3.
If there is an odd number of teams in the first of
these single elimination rounds, the highest seeded team shall receive a bye
into the next elimination round, regardless of whether they have had a bye
previously.
4.
Teams may hit each other again during these single elimination rounds.
5. Whenever the highest
possible judging preferences are maintained, the Tab Room will establish an
initial panel of at least 5 judges and allow each team to strike 1 judge from
the proposed panel prior to each single-elimination round.
Section 6. Final Round
procedure.
A. The Final Round will
not use a traditional panel. Instead, each NPTE participant or judge who
would not be constrained as a judge against any of the teams in the final
round shall be issued a ballot and shall be expected to complete the ballot
picking a winner and a loser unless there is a conflict of interest as noted
in B6 below.
B. The Vice President
shall function as the Speaker of the House and shall announce the following
procedure at the beginning of the round:
1. Judges must circle the
team they voted for clearly on the ballot.
2. Judges must print
their name and school clearly on the ballot.
3. Judges should know
that their ballots will be posted online along with a video of the debate.
4. Judges may not leave
the finals room until their ballot is turned in (except in emergencies).
5. Judges may not leave
the immediate area where the final round was held until the announcement of
the results in case there is a need to contact that person to confirm their
vote.
6. Judges must not be
from either of the schools competing, nor have coached, attended, or
participated at either of the schools participating for the past four years,
nor have debated with or coached any of the debaters competing. Judges must
not be involved IN ANY WAY with the preparation of either team for the final
round. Judges with strong relationships (friendships or intimate
relationships) with any of the debaters participating in the final round
should recuse themselves.
C. At the conclusion of
the round, these ballots will be tabulated to determine a winner by a true
"Division of the House." In the event of a tie, the ballot of the
judge in the room with highest preferencing by all
teams at the tournament who is not struck or constrained by either team shall
be counted as two votes to break the tie.
Section 7: Awards
A. Speaker awards will be
determined in this order: double dropping high/low points, dropping high/low
points, total points, and then z-scores for preliminary round ballots.
B. Team awards shall be
based on: (1) advancement in the elimination rounds (e.g. finals means first
or second place; semi-finals means third or fourth place, etc.); (2)
elimination round wins, (3) number of elimination round ballots received, and
(4) seeding at the end of the preliminary rounds.
Section 8. Public Posting
of Debates and Ballots. The Vice President shall post online for public viewing electronic
versions of the ballots and video of the final round debate as well as other
debates.
Section 1. These Bylaws
may be amended at any time by a majority vote of the Board of Trustees.
Section 2. The President
in coordination with the Vice President shall publish a current copy of the
bylaws on the NPTE web site.
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