CEDA 1st Vice Presidents Report, Nov. 2007 Greetings from Cold and Windy Chicago and the NCA.
The CEDA Business Meeting is scheduled at 9:30am on Friday, November 16th in the Palmer House Hilton. In keeping with the tradition and belief instilled in me by my good friend Will Baker, I think it best to make our reports public. This will provide a permanent archive, but more importantly minimize the amount of time needed giving reports at the Business Meeting so it can be used to discuss the issues that need to be gotten to in a short 90 minute period. This report will be arranged in 4 thematic units: 1. Organizational Business, 2. Status of Summer Mtg. 2008 and CEDA NATS 2009, 3. The Work and Goals of the Organization-Where Have We Been and Where Are We Going, and 4. The Working Group on Harrassment Issues in Debate 1. ORGANIZATIONAL BUSINESS: There are a number of issues that have come up during the semester that deal with how we function as an organization. Eligibility appeals, rules clarifications, rule changes, and functionality have dominated discussions of the CEDA EC over the last few months. At the CEDA EC Meeting yesterday we ruled on an eligibility appeal by Cornell. That appeal and decision is listed under the "Recent Action" link on cedadebate.org In my delving into the CEDA constitution and the standing rules of other organizations, it is clear there are problems with conflicting rules between organizations. One example is while a team may be Novice or JV eligible under the ADA rules, they may not be under CEDA rules. This either puts us in the unenviable position of deeming entire divisions ineligible for CEDA points when they do not abide by CEDA rules, or it punishes teams that do not have the means to compete in tournaments where CEDA allows exceptions to its own rules because another debate organization has written different rules. In order to clean up the language and create a continuity among organizations, rule changes need to be adopted. I also think CEDA leadership in the past has at times either overlooked our own rules or pushed them aside because their enforcement may not be popular. I furthermore believe that at times our own rigidity prevents us from acting or prevents us from acting in a timely manner. I have spent a great deal of time this semester looking over these issues and have written a number of amendments to the CEDA constitution. My hope is these amendments will not only resolve these discrepancies, but will lead to a more functional CEDA leadership. I also support the amendment written by Jeff Jarman to move from Regions to Conferences. Functionality is a large part of this. We get tied up at meetings, unable to act, when Regional Reps do not attend. The Conference Amendment will make as part of the condition of having a conference, that your conference be represented at these meetings. The amendments I have offered, and their rationales, are listed at the end of this report. Let me say, a friendly amendment will be coming to make the move-up rule completely in line with the ADA definition, and a friendly amendment will be coming to change the Novice Definition as well. 2. STATUS OF SUMMER MTG/TOPIC MTG 2008 AND CEDA NATS 2009 SUMMER MTG--I received four completed bids for the Summer/Topic Mtg in 2008. Those bids came from University of Miami (Florida), UT-Dallas, Berkely, and UNLV. I have forwarded those bids to the CEDA EC and the Topic Committee for their feedback. My hope is to have a destination chosen by the end of NCA. I want to publicly thank Dave, Chris, Greg, and Jake for submitting these bids. All are fantastic places for summer trips, all have the means and ability to host a fine summer/topic meeting, and all are great hosts. I am thrilled that we had 4 bids come in and I would encourage them all to re-submit their bids for future summer meetings. I am especially thankful that a bid came from each time zone of the continental U.S. CEDA NATS--I am also pleased tolikely have a bid for CEDA NATS 2009. I have "strong interest" from Towson University and Idaho State University. I have a commitment from The University of Oklahoma and Jackie Massey that OU is willing to host whenever we need them. That is a comforting thought for the future Presidents as OU did a great job the last time around. I have joked with Joe Patrice that if the amendment to change officer terms of office from 1 to 2 years passes, he will be stuck with another CEDA Nationals in 2009 and it is no longer my problem. All joking aside, instead of throwing this on Joe at the last minute, I am committed to working through this process to make sure the 2009 CEDA Nats is a wonderful experience for all and will work to make sure Joe's responsibilities do not drive him away from his 3rd year in office. I am hopeful that by CEDA Nationals 2008, we will have a site for CEDA Nationals 2009. 3. THE WORK AND GOALS OF THE ORGANIZATION--WHERE HAVE WE BEEN AND WHERE ARE WE GOING We have great people serving the organization in many facets. We have great people in our activity. We are not perfect and neither is our institutional structure. It is my hope that as we continue forward we are diligent to always be mindful of that and work to make the organization better. I ran for this office with the belief we can do that. I continue to work in the hopes that those beliefs become realities we all share in. I hope the amendments I have worked at writing show that commitment. But there is a lot of work to be done. When I ran for this office I had a lot of ideas that I wanted to see implemented. I hope I have been a good leader so far. Any good leader knows it takes the collective effort of a lot of good people to be successful. I remember when Sam Nelson asked the candidates what we were going to do for Novice Debate and was it important for us to grow and strengthen Novice Debate. One answer I gave was that the East helping out the rest of the country by providing guidance would be beneficial. I suggested attendance at NCA panels or Summer Meetings to provide that guidance. This past summer Andy Ellis made a great presentation to the summer meeting on the issues of program building and keeping novices. That was a great step in the right direction. I have crafted 2 amendments (below) that I think are critical to helping preserve and keep Novice healthy while fair and balanced. I think the Conferences amendment that Jarman has written will also allow schools to compare themselves to others like themselves more fairly (something I mentioned in that response to Sam in December 2005). What have we accomplished? And again none of this could have been accomplished without the help of a lot of good people. In Nov. of 2005 I put forward a list of 19 things I wanted to accomplish or see the organization accomplish over my term. (http://www.ndtceda.com/pipermail/edebate/2005-November/064413.html) So what's happenin? 1. We have brought new members on board and have stabilized some programs at risk. Our numbers arent off the charts but they are getting better, 2. I am continuing my outreach to Community Colleges and we have more community colleges debating today and I am committed there will be more every year. 3. We have opened the process of transparency (something Joe, Gordon, and I are very vocal about). 4. We are reforming the student representation procedures. 5. We have created an ad hoc tournament site committee and I plan to have this codified as a standing committee. 6. The discussion over Regional Debating and strengthening regions is having a resounding impact. 7. We still have work to do on increasing the representation of under represented groups in debate. 8. I am still working on the research for the Nations Top Admins to speak to the value of debate. 9. and 10.--we have more to do here in terms of quality of life and financial planning. 11. I am working on proposals to get more student access to the topic meetinheaded by Kathryn Rubino is doing a fabulous job. 13. We must move forward on a Natl. database of debate alumni. 14 and 15. are discussed above and an ever-present part of our conversations in the EC. 16. I have worked hard to make it to as many Regions as possible to talk to other coaches and hear their concerns and incorporate those into how I fulfill my duty. 17. The Jarman amendment has moved us ahead on the conferences idea I spoke about in 2005 and now its time to reach out to the NDT committee to discuss the structure of Districts. 18. A CEDA Exec. Director I think is still in our long-term interest. 19. I think we must continue to listed to and incorporate the ideas of the membership. A lot of issues are important and we must hear them. I think we have accomplished a lot. While the tournaments continue, and the cards get cut, and the updates are turned out, the organization continues to run in the background and in my opinion is doing so in fine fashion. We still have a lot of work to do. But I think our outlook is bright. 4. THE WORKING GROUP ON HARRASSMENT ISSUES IN DEBATE I promised to speak to this and get this on the CEDA agenda for NCA. I want to applaud Sherry Hall for her work on this issue and the leadership she has shown. Yesterday afternoon at NCA, Sherry asked for interested parties to meet to discuss the issues of harrassment in the debate community. This working group came together and after 90 minutes of discussion came away with many ideas and many tasks. Sherry can provide a more descriptive list of the tasks to be accomplished. But I wanted to comment on the people there and the importance of the work. People there----A number of people with different perspectives, different ideas, and different starting points came. I think it is important to understand the diversity represented. Sherry's call brought together ML Sandoz of Vanderbilt, Ede Warner of Louisville, Heather Walters of Missouri State, Ashley Cook of KSU/KCK, myself of KCKCC, Sarah Topp of KU, Andrew Barnes of James Madison, Tiffany Dillard of Louisville, Jan Hovden of KU, Joe Patrice of Army, Kathryn Rubino of Army, Bill Newnam of Emory and Sherry Hall from Harvard. (I dont think I left anyone out and if so, it was an unintended oversight). As Ede pointed out, a great debate panel, but as I noticed people from programs of all types, with debaters of all different backgrounds, and the participants themselves with all very different roles in the community and experiences. I thought it was great. I thought the conversation was robust and brutally honest. Importance of the work----The NDT Board and the NDT Committee the day prior had reaffirmed the AFA code and statement on harrassment. Recent discussions on edebate and CEDA-L make the timely nature of the issues involved very pertinent. What the final result will be is yet to be determined. But I do think that CEDA needs to reaffirm the values of the AFA Code. This working group is not a committee of the NDT, not a committee of CEDA, but an organized effort by someone bringing together members of the debate community to make a difference. Sherry will speak more to this I am sure, but I thought it needed mentioned in a CEDA report so that the community knows the organization is committed to working through these issues. If you are still reading, I appreciate your interest and commitment to your organization. As promised, below are the amendments I have written and their rationales. It is my pleasure to serve the members of CEDA and I hope every one of you feels as though you have a voice in your organization. Sincerely, Chief Darren Elliott Director of Debate and Forensics--KCKCC CEDA 1st VP AMENDMENTS AND RATIONALES: AMENDMENT #5: LENGTH OF TERM OF OFFICE Article V. Section 4. Replace all instances of “one year” with “two years.” RATIONALE: The people fulfilling these offices often find that once they finally get their job down they move up to the next creates an endless cycle of training without a lot of stability in any position. Other National Forensic organizations elect their officers to terms of 2 years or longer. It makes sense that we move in this direction to provide continuity and consistency. AMENDMENT #6: LENGTH OF SERVICE FOR PAST PRESIDENTS Article IV. Section 2 I. Replace “two” with “four.” RATIONALE: This would make the 2 most immediate past Presidents voting members of the EC for 4 years instead of 2. It would make it consistent if amendment #5 passes. AMENDMENT #7: REGIONAL REPS Article IV. Section 3B. Strike “at the school he/she represents”. Article IV. Section 4A. Strike “at the school represented”. Article V. Section 5. Strike “at the school the individual represents”. RATIONALE: This would allow someone to move jobs but not lose their position as an officer. People are likely elected based on who they are and not because of what school they represent. Currently if you sever ties with your institution you are not eligible to retain office according to the constitution. AMENDMENT #8: BUSINESS MEETING Article VII. Section 2. Add “and at the CEDA Summer Meeting” directly after “National Tournament.” RATIONALE: It seems silly that we cannot conduct official business during the time of year when people have the least on their plate. It especially makes sense to have business a meeting in the summer, so changes needed can be made prior to the season starting as opposed to in the middle as often occurs. AMENDMENT #9: TOURNAMENT SANCTIONING Bylaw V. Add new section: “For a tournament to receive CEDA sanctioning and qualify for CEDA points, the tournament Director must identify in the invitation what, if any, judge preference system is to be used in assigning judges. If a preference system is used, a version of a preference system must be used in all divisions (Open, JV, Novice, etc.) offered. RATIONALE: If we are going to continue to value judge preference in debate, it makes sense that the divisions that stand to gain the most from the community's "best judges" be allowed to gain from that exposure to them. Likewise, those divisions have the most to "lose" in terms of debate's potential, and should be given the same consideration as upper divisions. AMENDMENT #10: FINAL ROUND PROVISION Bylaw VII. Section 3A. Replace relevant sentences with: “Upon completion of Novice eligibility, debaters will be eligible to debate in junior varsity for two academic years, or until they advance to the final round of three open, junior varsity, or varsity tournaments, or until they qualify for the National Debate Tournament. The final round provision will only apply to those tournaments that clear teams to a full Quarter-Finals or larger bracket. An exception will be made for Junior Varsity National Tournaments. A waiver process for this section may be established by the Executive Council for extraordinary situations.” RATIONALE: The current rule makes it hard for smaller Regions to maintain Novice and JV divisions due to the move up requirement. For small tournaments that break to Semis or Finals, debaters lose their eligibility faster than those competing at larger tournaments. The current rule favors larger divisions. Changing the move up rule would create more parity across tournaments and encourage JV and Novice divisions even if they are smaller. AMENDMENT #11: NOVICE DEFINITION Bylaw VII. Section 3A. Add to the end of the first sentence: “or 50 rounds of Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the high school or college level, or a combination of 60 rounds of team policy debate and Lincoln-Douglas debate at the high school or college level.” RATIONALE: A number of high school students are competing on the National circuit in LD which is similar to policy debate and then coming to college understanding the ins and outs of debate and debating in Novice against people who have never seen a debate before, much less 50 rounds of debate. Additionally college NFA LD is policy LD and should count as policy debate rounds. Finally, with the lines blurred in contemporary college debate between policy and critical, anyone who has debated before, even in high school LD, has quite a leg up on a true Novice. LD, even when not policy oriented in HS, is closer to the critical side of the community and should count against novice eligibility. _______________________________________________ CEDA-L mailing list [email protected] http://www.ndtceda.com/mailman/listinfo/ceda-l
