Emory Board Meeting Minutes

NDCA Board Meeting – Emory – Jan. 30, 2021

Present – Brian, Kaz, Kevin, Lauren, Rosie, Scott, Shane, Shunta, Shree

Called to Order at 1:36 p.m. EST

Approval of Previous Minutes – Moved and Seconded 

Congrats to Rosie – New Key of Barkley Forum

Tournament Planning

Considerable discussion on the adding of JV and Novice divisions for this year – eventually decided not to add JV divisions, and probably not to add any extra divisions for World Schools. Also discussion of schedule for Novice divisions and about whether the numbers should be limited to allow for a two day schedule.

Also discussion about whether JV divisions would do harm to Varsity numbers.

Then there was considerable discussion about what the overall numbers were likely to look like, given that the tournament is virtual and about whether members might lose slots if there were suddenly many new schools interested in attending, but since most members renew with their tournament registration, defining members before the fees were paid would be difficult, and expecting people to pay membership dues before paying entry fees was seen a complication.

Some board members wanted to keep the JV divisions but they were not added, nor was a second year break-out from the varsity divisions.

There was also speculation on the varsity numbers and what it would me if there were more than 90 entries with more than 500 points.

Brian made a motion to offer only open and novice 

Seconded by Lauren

Passed 7-2

There was a brief discussion of capping Divisions at 90 in the Open Divisions and following the 4-3-4 model for the number of rounds per day. 

Then there was a discussion of equity officers – and strong interest in getting a person with DEI experience. There was something of a consensus that Dave H. should be making the decisions about equity officers and the rules committee since he is the tournament director.

This evolved into a conversation about whether, after the tournament director chooses the tournament staff, this list of people should be submitted to the board for approval.  Shunta had suggestions for the equity officer. 

Brian said that the tournament director has the ultimate responsibility and that the equity officer should report to the tournament director, as should all other tournament officials. After the tournament, the board can review the work done by the tournament director. A motion was made supporting the notion that potential equity officers be contacted.

Passed 8-1 – Kristy Thomas, Scott Baker, Chris Vincent

Shunta will reach out to these folks

Dave will look at all of the current rules, especially the PF rules.

Meeting with NFHS -- Brian

Delayed international actors discussion for a future year.

The NDCA should get more involved, in 2017 Aaron Vinson was our rep but we have not been especially active since then until this year at the December meeting.

Brian explained the rather complicated relationship between the NSDA and the NFHS and then described the NFHS Novice caselist process. Brian also said the Federation is making an investment policy debating and materials from $5000 to $60,000 to try to boost policy debate.

Professional Development Conference – 2021 – Health and Wellness -- Brian

Covid brought up a lot of issues: equity concerns and diversity, student retention in general and novice retention in particular, tournaments not get cannibalized, etc. Brian asked where we want the conference to go and suggested a Friday evening to Sunday evening schedule to allow for more breaks and to allow for more impact, with fewer sessions.

Shunta suggested a discussion of the new normal – post Covid and Shane suggested that it would be good to look at what the role is for online debates when face to face tournaments are possible. Brian suggested that this was a time to consider whether we should go back where we were or use this as a time for a restart.

Scott observed that biggest thing he got out of Shane’s conference was that first and second year coaches, felt left out and clueless. He also said we needed to look for ways to revitalize local and regional debate, consolidate online debate, and do other things we can to support debate, which is currently stressed.

A number of board members talked about local efforts to reach out to coaches, and about the difficulties regions were facing even before the pandemic, all situations that have gotten worse instead of better.

There was also a discussion of holding Town Hall sessions on Novices, or other issues like student health. Shane suggested that different board members could take a turn on this, and maybe host regional meetings, as a first step.

Brian observed that we spend 75 minutes of the meeting on tournament and 35 minutes on health of activity, and suggested that we should focus more on professional development. 

Since it was nearly the end of our scheduled meeting time, Shunta suggested we table the discussion of whether the tournament should be virtual moving forward until after this year’s tournament. Shunta also said it would be necessary to track down the traveling trophies and that the schools currently possessing them should probably ship them directly to the new recipients.

Unlike most years the board does not plan to meet during tournament. Instead, the board would plan to meet in May, right after conference, unless something comes up sooner which requires a meeting, to review the conference, the tournament and the budget, and to use that meeting to leapfrog into next season.

Respectfully Submitted by Sheryl Kaczmarek

MInutes Board meeting December 12/20/19 at Blake

NDCA Board Meeting at Blake – 12/20/19

Present: Shree, Shane, Shunta, Brian, Scott, Aaron, Kaz

Present Online: Kevin and Lauren

Tournament Director Issue:

The discussion began with the suggestion that perhaps the NDCA National Tournament needed an ombudsperson, in addition to a tournament director, with the suggestion being that the ombudsperson would “interface” with the public, especially folks in the LD and PF communities, since there was at least some agreement that Tim is not as good at interacting with those folks as he is with the policy folks. Several board members discussed their vision of the role of an ombudsperson, but there was no consensus on what such a person might do, and ultimately no agreement that having an ombudsperson would solve the reported perception on the part of at least some PF, LD and World Schools folks that the NDCA is only concerned about Policy debate.

There was then a discussion of the responsibilities of the tournament director – many of them related to organizational things like collecting money, ordering trophies, choosing members of the tab staff, resolving conflicts that rise above the level of the people tabbing the tournament (although there are also board member committees assigned to that task if they are needed), keeping the events on schedule, etc.

Then there was a continued discussion of the size and strength of the Policy division as opposed to the smaller size of the other divisions. Several board members gave Tim a great deal of credit for the growth and strength of policy (and anyone who spoke on that subject agreed he has done very well in that area), but there was disagreement on whether Tim ought to be considered in any way responsible for the lack of (or at best limited) growth in the other events. Several board members thought it was time for a change of directors to someone who coaches all of the events, in the name of diversity and inclusivity, while others thought that Tim’s presence or absence as the Tournament Director would make no difference in the LD, PF or World School’s numbers, and that his absence might hurt the Policy numbers.

There was then a discussion of whether board members ought to take a more active role in running parts of the tournament. Current procedures do not permit board members to tab the tournament, on the grounds that they should be free to do other jobs, and coach, and so not to give the appearance of bias, but it was pointed out that non-board members who have tabbed in the past, and Tim himself, also have competitors in the tournament, without any allegations of bias, so it was not clear what the distinction was.  It was also observed that several board members either have been, or currently are, multi-event coaches and that losing all that expertise in running the tournament might be a mistake.

A vote was taken on whether to re-invite Tim to be the Tournament Director.

Yes – Brian, Kevin, Lauren, Scott

No -- Shane, Kaz, Shree, Shunta

Abstain – Aaron

There was a limited discussion of potential folks who have coached multiple events who might be good candidates for the TD position, but then it was recommended that there be a job description for the tournament director position before anyone was approached. A vote was taken on that motion, which was unanimously passed.

INDIANA HOST REPORT

There was a much more extensive discussion of NDCA 2020 at the Glenbrooks meeting, but the update at Blake basically revolved around questions of the cost of food, location for prelims, meeting space for elims and hotel commitments. The board wants to make sure we are not contractually obligated for more hotel nights than we can use, that we do not want to charge more than $25 per person for provided meals, that rounds are not too spread out during prelims (or too far from the food) and that there are a sufficient number of elim rooms (without being too expensive for the folks from the university). These things are all being looked at by Kevin in his new role as liaison to the host site.

2021 National Tournament

There was a very brief Q & A with Scott, who is both a new board member and the site host. There were questions about the hotel and how to guarantee the rooms, which Scott said he could handle, and questions about food, which Scott said he was sure he could keep to under $25 per person. There was also a tangential question on where the NDCA bank account is, with the answer being Texas.

Website

Shunta and Shane agreed to work on updating it.

Points Formula

The board ran out of time to discuss this. There have been two lingering questions – how prelim wins are weighted vs elim wins and how the overall formula still awards far more points at the biggest circuit tournaments than at regional tournaments, when one of the original goals of the NDCA was to value and support regional debate. [Explanation added by me since there was no time to discuss either point.]

Naming PF Award

We also ran out of time to discuss this.

Letters to Schools

Lauren has sent out some letters to schools once they have teams that reach 500 points. This is a VERY big job and might not be something one person can do alone.

Spring Conference

It will be in Dallas on May 15, 16, 17. The overarching theme will be the health and wellness of debate. Additional information will be forthcoming. Brian and Aaron are working on this.

Blake Specific Controversy Involving In Round and Wiki Disclosed Material

Next to nothing could be said about this during the meeting.

How to Pay for Membership

There have been some problems with the payment portal for people who pay for membership separately from the tournament itself. The was no decision on alternatives.

Submitted by Sheryl Kaczmarek

Motions January 2020

January 31 - Motion to appoint Greg Malis at tournament director

Motion to offer Greg Malis the position of Tournament Director for the NDCA 2020 tournament

Fails 4-2-3 . Yes: Stafford, Timmons, Ivey, Manuel. No: Wheeler, Hamrick. Abstain: Jordan, Kaczmarek, Awsare

January 31 - Motion to have NDCA board serve as tournament director

Motion to have the board serve as the role of tournament director between members of the board (with the right of refusal) on an annual basis.

Passes 7-0-1 . Yes: Wheeler, Stafford, Ivey, Jordan, Kaczmarek, Hamrick, Manuel. Abstain: Awsare

January 31 - Motion for board to approve tabroom staff

Motion to have the board approve the members of the tabroom staff for the National Championship tournament.

Passes 6-1. Yes: Stafford, Wheeler, Timmons, Ivey, Awsare, Manuel No: Hamrick

October, November and December (prior to Blake) Motions and Results

October 9, 2019 - By Laws Clarification Motion

"The term for elected board members will begin at the first board meeting after an election, except in the special case of replacing board members that do not complete their term. Alternates will take office immediately following a board members departure."

This would be placed at the end the current paragraph which states --

Duties: Each fall, after the election, the Board will re-open the discussion of who would like to fulfill each duty and amend the duties to best help the organization. Depending on the composition of the Board, more than one person might hold a position.

Results: Passes 7-0 . Manuel, Jordan, Williams, Stafford, Timmons, Hamrick, Kaczmarek

Oct. 16, 2019 - Peninsula Bid Motion

I move we do not accept the Peninsula 2020 bid in the current form we have .

So just make clear. A YES vote says to not accept the current form of the bid. A NO vote doesn't accept the bid, it just keeps the current bid in discussion.

Results: Passes 6-2 — Yes: Theis, Jordan, Timmons, Manuel, Stafford, Kaczmarek. No: Hamrick, Weston.

December 13, 2019 — Motion on Tournament Director

Motion to appoint Tim Mahoney as NDCA Tournament Director for the 2020 National Championship Tournament.

Results: Fails 4-4-1 — Yes: Ivey, Hamrick, Manuel, Wheeler. No: Awsare, Stafford, Jordan, Kaczmarek
Abstain: Timmons

December 16, 2019 — Fast Track Motion: Delay Tournament Director Discussion to Blake

Motion to table voting on tournament director (i.e. voting on Aly or revoting on Tim with or without Shree) until after (or during) our meeting at the Blake tournament this weekend. Scott motion - Shunta second.

Results: Pass 7-0 — Timmons, Manuel, Hamrick, Wheeler, Kaczmarek, Jordan, Ivey

Glenbrooks Meeting -- November 2019

Glenbrooks Meeting – November 2019

Welcome from president to new and newly reelected members

Present in Chicago: Shane, Brian, Scott, Shree, Aaron, Kaz

Present Electronically: Kevin, Lauran, Shunta

Review of Jobs We Need to Assign to People

Kevin – Tournament Coordinator (person who communicates with hosts, tournament director and board)

Kaz – Internal Communications Coordinator

Shane –Web Manager

Lauren – PR Coordinator/Membership Lists/Second Name on Bank Account

Shunta – President/First Name on Bank Account

Brian – Conference Coordinator (with Assistance from Aaron)

Shree – Curriculum coordinator

Scott – Open Evidence Coordinator

Shunta – 2021 National Tournament – April 10-12th

There was considerable discussion about the 2021 tournament. Some board members were concerned about a West Coast location given the expense of travel from the East Coast (at a previous meeting an East Coast location was rejected for similar reasons). The conclusion was, however, that since we only have one bid, we need to work with Peninsula. To that end, there was a discussion about hotel costs and attrition rates. The hotel costs are likely to be a bit higher than at past tournaments because of decreased competition (Marriott/SPG merger) and location, but if there is nothing to be done about that, the board was still concerned that we not be forced to guarantee as high a number of room nights as originally demanded, especially since it is not clear if there will be as many participants as at past tournaments and given that some participants from the area might not stay at the hotel. Work with the hotel on that issue will continue and the motion to accept Peninsula’s bid was passed, with the proviso that food costs not exceed $25 per person. 

Shane will manage between meeting votes – and the clock for the votes as he has been.

Tournament Director

This discussion began with the observation that there are considerable outstanding fees to be collected from the past couple of tournaments. Since board members have not had Tabroom access in previous years, it has not been possible for them to assist the TD in collecting unpaid fees. Brian suggested that all board members should have Tabroom Admin Access, and if not, that at least Shunta as president, and Lauren, in her role as the second person on the bank account, ought to have access. There then followed a discussion of how far in advance checks could be demanded, whether fees can be paid after the tournament with presentation of a PO or whether personal checks could be used as place holders for yet to arrive school checks. There was no definite decision.

Then the discussion of Tim as Tournament Director began. Kevin said that he believed the problem with lack of participation in World Schools, LD or PF was a PR problem not related to Tim’s role as TD and that it was not his job to be welcoming to World Schools or LD, although he did say that the board could tell Tim to be nice to the folks in those events. Shunta said that people who have concerns should feel that they are being heard regardless of the event and that the issue was bigger than a question of publicity. Aaron said a tournament director needs to have respect for all the events and Shane said that even he was not taken seriously when he raised a PF concern.

Then someone raised the issue of why members of the board are not permitted to tab the tournament or act as the Tournament Director. It was pointed out that several board members run full-service programs. Aaron explained that in the pre-Tabroom era it was about avoiding the appearance of shadiness or hegemonic control and Brian pointed out that while there are a number of board members who do coach multiple events, the board is responsible for the organization, not just the tournament, and that there should be someone whose sole responsibility it was to run the tournament.

There was then considerable discussion about whether the TD should be someone who can interface with all parts of the community or whether the role is more logistical. Near the end of the discussion, Aaron said that diversity, equity and inclusion are all important and there was a general consensus that Shunta share the thoughts of the board with Tim.

Update Bylaws

Board term starts at the Glenbrooks, should be added to the bylaws.

Stuff Shane Needs to Do With Website

Officers and Positions – Old pictures out and New in

Current and Lifetime members

Update bylaws

Amendments and general records/awards from previous tournament

Conference – Health and Wellness of Debate

Brian introduced a preliminary vision of the scope of the event: integrate professional aspects, what is a good day at tournaments, how deal with equity, private vs school based programs, parents vs coaches, what does it look like to be an ombudsperson, safety at tournaments, how do we make it safe for our students and healthy for us, need to refocus on what it is, how it benefits, central hub where that conversation can happen, could reach out to NSDA, could also reach out to CEDA, can have professionals talk, council of tournament directors, best practices, look at the sanctioning of tournaments that follow healthy practices, can reach out tournament directors, no better place than to do at conference

There was also a brief discussion of how to better publicize the event and better connect coaches.

The conference will be May 15-17, 2020 in Dallas.

Updating the Hosting Document – Postponed to Blake Meeting

Specifying what the NDCA expects of a host and what it can do for the host.

Other Tournament Issues – Postponed to Blake Meeting

Naming the PF award, the Points Formula, whether or not to Allow Open Enrollment, etc.

Submitted by Sheryl Kaczmarek

Minutes from NDCA Board Meeting on 4/14/2018

NDCA Board Meeting – April 14, 2018.

Meeting called to order by Shunta Jordan at 11:05AM.

Members Present

Shunta Jordan

Sheryl Kaczmarek

Shane Stafford

Christina Tallungan

Aaron Timmons

Adam Torson

Dave Weston

Ed Williams

Business

I.                 Award Ceremony Roles

a.      Dave outlined the awards ceremony and assigned different Board members roles during the ceremony.

II.                NDCA Conference

a.      Christina talked through the current panel schedule and the Board discussed possible tweaks and additional panel participants.

                                                    i.     The sense of the Board is that more panelists are needed for the tournament practices, disabilities, and summer camps panels.

                                                   ii.     Shane is going to reach out to Chris McDonald, Byron Arthur, and Martin Zakaria about possibly participating in the Future of Public Forum panel.

                                                  iii.     Christina has not heard back from Marquis on the Racial Pathologies panel. She is going to reach out to Eli Smith and Chris Randall.

b.      The Board discussed how to structure the Summer Camps Panel. The sense of the Board is that we want to have a true discussion about best practices for camp rather than just an advertisement for the participants’ camps.

                                                    i.     The sense of the Board is that we should collect questions from coaches before and during the discussion, and have a moderator determine what questions to pose and when.

                                                   ii.     We created a shared Google document to brainstorm questions, which will be shared with the panelists before the conference. Some potential topics include camp structure (how many labs, lab leaders, instructor/student ratio, camp length, etc.), camp costs, instructor hiring practices, etc.

c.      The Board expressed the desire to live-stream the panels again. Christina will reach out to Bietz to see if he will help us execute that again. If Bietz is unable to help this year, Dave will reach out to people in his media department to see if he can secure the appropriate resources.

d.      Christina reported that she is in the process of finalizing the Reagan Great Communicator sponsorship.

e.      The Board discussed whether we want to have a reception at the Conference paid for by the organization as we have in past years. The sense of the Board is that because our hotel has a bar and restaurant in the lobby, the better option for welcoming new members is to schedule a pre-dinner reception in the bar area which the Board will attend to welcome new attendees, but not to provide food as we have in years past.

III.              Harassment Policy

a.      Shunta expressed the importance of the NDCA adopting a policy or statement about sexual harassment and other forms of harassment, and the desire to have such a policy in place by August.

b.      The Board discussed the potential content of such a policy, with a particular focus on whether it should include enforceable procedures to be adopted at the NDCA tournament.

                                                    i.     The Board acknowledged the challenge of needing to respond meaningfully to accusations of harassment while also having limited time and resources to investigate such accusations and a tournament and the challenge of adapting to the school policies and state laws of our rotating slate of tournament hosts.

                                                   ii.     The Board recognized the value of using school policies as a model, and will draw upon different school codes and the World Schools organization’s document in attempting to craft a policy.

                                                  iii.     The Board additionally recognized the value of principals and participants acknowledging a code of conduct before the tournament so that the tournament (perhaps our current tournament officials or an ombudsman) can more readily take action on violations of the policy without making a legal determination about sexual harassment or other problematic conduct.

                                                  iv.     Shunta and Adam will continue work in trying to craft a preliminary policy for the Board to consider.

IV.              NDCA Novice Packet

a.      Shunta reported that several people have expressed interest in being hired to help produce the novice policy packet for the coming season. The sense of the Board is that we should hire the people we hired last year absent a compelling reason to make a change and spend more money.

V.               NDCA Tournament Sponsorship

a.      The Board discussed whether we want to allow camp sponsorships of the NDCA tournament, and if so how they should be administered (e.g. should there be a process where any camp can buy a table to distribute their literature, etc.).

                                                    i.     The Board expressed the need to balance securing the financial viability of the tournament with the desire to avoid excessive commercialization of the tournament and to avoid creating the perception of inappropriate conflicts of interest.

                                                   ii.     The Board expressed a general preference to secure more sponsorships for the Conference so that it could subsidize the tournament rather than the other way around.

b.      The Board considered the possibility of non-camp sponsorships as a way to avoid the pitfalls of camp sponsorships but also attempt to provide more financial support for the tournament.

                                                    i.     Ideas for such sponsorships included discussion of a college fair in which college programs could provide information about their programs to prospective students. Dave suggested that we might be able to trade a table at such a fair for judging rounds from college program directors or coaches, which may help hold down our hired judge costs.

                                                   ii.     The Board adopted 8-0 that the tournament liason may explore non-camp sponsorships for the NDCA tournament, subject to the approval of the Board.

VI.              NDCA Point Formula (Tim Mahoney joined us for this discussion)

a.      The sense of the Board is that under the current NDCA Points Formula (used for tournament qualification and awarding our season-long student awards) has two primary deficiencies: It overweights preliminary rounds relative to elimination rounds, and using number of states in attendance as a proxy for regional diversity creates uneven results between regions with large states and small states.

                                                    i.     The Board discussed whether the season long awards should give greater weight to elimination rounds versus strong preliminary round performances. The sense of the Board was that this question turned partially on whether the season long award should place greater value on performances in individual debates versus having strong tournaments. The sense of the Board is that the latter should be given more weight, because elimination rounds have higher stakes and are judged by panels rather than individuals, and because tournament performance captures a variety of intangible variables we want to reward (such as mental toughness and tournament strategy).

b.      Several proposals for reforming the formula were proposed.

                                                    i.     Val MacIntosh proposed changes to the existing multipliers in our formula, and included quite a bit of data showing this would effectively address the concern about preliminary round weighting.

                                                   ii.     Chris Theis proposed a significant change to our underlying formula. In particular, the Board liked the suggestion of using either number of schools or the schools to entries ratio as a proxy for diversity rather than states in attendance.

1.      In addition, using teams as a proxy for diversity helps to decrease the extent to which only large, octofinals bids tournaments can receive the maximum diversity multiplier. Sheryl expressed that this was inconsistent with our goal of promoting local debate.

c.      Shunta is going to ask for help computing how these proposed changes to the formula would have affected past year’s results, and the Board will return to the discussion in light of what those experiments reveal.

VII.            Promoting the NDCA Tournament

a.      The Board reaffirmed the importance of what the NDCA tournament offers to the debate community. The Board discussed several ideas for promoting attendance. These included notifying teams and school administrations when people qualify to the tournament, recognizing the top five or ten teams in the season-long awards, and limiting our tournament rotation so that it always takes place in easily accessible venues.

b.      The Board recognized that one impediment to implementing our ideas to improve what we can offer is our reliance on volunteers and the limited time we each have to devote to additional responsibilities.

Meeting adjourned at approximately 2:30pm.

Newly passed motions by the NDCA Board.

Shunta Jordan made and Dave Weston seconded the following motion, which passed 8-0 by a rapid action vote on 2/26/2018.

"I make a motion that we offer breakfast and lunches for $29 and figure out a way to pay for it that is not camp funding."

In addition, Christina Tallungan made and Dave Weston seconded the following motion, which passed 7-0 on 2/24/2018.

Motion 1:

"The 2018 budget for the NDCA Conference cannot exceed $3000. This budget includes 4 - $250 stipends to cover travel expenses for out-of-town presenters who are not getting assistance from their schools, the cost of the conference session rooms, and the cost of food for a single event during the weekend. Allocation of the travel stipends are subject to Board Approval."

Motion 2: 

"The NDCA Conference Coordinator may solicit for sponsorships for the conference."  

Minutes from NDCA Board Meeting 11/19/2017

NDCA Board Meeting – November 19, 2017.

Meeting called to order by Shunta Jordan at 11:30am.

Members Present

Shunta Jordan

Sheryl Kaczmarek

Shane Stafford

Christina Tallungan

Chris Theis

Aaron Timmons

Adam Torson

Dave Weston

Ed Williams

Business

I.                 NDCA Conference Conference

a.      Christina is checking group rates at various hotels in the Chicago area. In particular she is examining whether airport hotels will be the cheapest option or whether we should locate elsewhere in the Chicago metro.

b.      Panels –

                                                    i.     There are only four panels submitted so far, so we are hoping for a few more

                                                   ii.     We would like to have panels set in mid-January if possible so that they can be advertised before the conference. We decided to set a deadline of January 15th to submit panels and then extend the deadline if folks needed more time.

c.      Christina reports that we are planning for same number of attendees as last year, but we have started reaching out to more people and hope for a larger turnout.

d.      The Board affirmed that we should seek out sponsorships again, and there is an indication that some alums are willing to donate to the conference.

e.      Christina confirmed that we will once again partner with the NSDA to count conference hours toward their professional development program.

II.                Tournament Report (Dave)

a.      Marist plans to use their catering in-house catering service, which will cost $31 per person for two breakfasts and two lunches. Marist will donate $1000 toward the meals to help with price, and Summit Debate may sponsor a meal. Other entities listed in the bid are unlikely to sponsor a meal. It is the sense of the board that given this uncertainty we should price the tournament on the assumption that there will be no additional donations.

                                                    i.     Last year the entry fees were $100 per LD entry and $150 per team entry. The year before that the entry fees were $100 per LD entry and $100 per team entry, but with a $40 meal charge per person.

b.      At Marist we will have eighty six rooms available. Tim reports that this should be enough given that we are unlikely to have radically more entries than in past years.

c.      It looks as though the tournament will be able to secure a Promo code for discounted Delta airline tickets and a discounted tickets for a Braves game.

d.      Marist plans to sell T-Shirts for tournament, selling them at cost in the range of $7-10.

e.      Adam recapped the discussion from Greenhill about the tournament.

f.       The Board reaffirmed the importance of focusing on hiring local judges in Atlanta, and promoting diversity in the judging pool.

g.      Food Fee

                                                    i.     Is it necessary to raise the food fee? Our cost looks to be $31 person compared to the $40 food fee.

                                                   ii.     The Board considered the options of offering four meals (two breakfasts and two lunches), or offering only lunches and starting the tournament an hour later to accommodate people getting breakfast on their own. Dave is going to email Tim to see if a later start time is feasible.

                                                  iii.     Ed moves that we remove breakfast from meal request and keep the $20 meal fee we already voted for. This should generate $10,000 in revenue. This motion was adopted by acclamation.

                                                  iv.     It is the sense of the Board that the meal fee calculation needs to be clear. There is a sense that it may be a mistake to include a food fee as a separate line item on teams’ invoices as some districts have a policy that they will not pay a food fee.

h.      It is the sense of the Board that we need to be more explicit in our invitation to ensure that teams are complying with the Entourage Rule.

i.       Dave is going to send an email at the end of January or February notifying schools and their principals that they have students qualified to the tournament.

j.       The Board briefly discussed the possibility of adding Congressional debate for future years, in the hopes of offering more competitive opportunities and creating another revenue source. The sense of the Board is that for the moment we should focus on growing our current slate of events.

III.              Debate Camp Survey

a.      Some questions were created relating to the debate camp survey discussed on the September Board meeting. Shunta and Aaron are going to discuss the issue further, including how to share the information collected, and report back to the Board.

IV.              Board roles

a.      Adam and Chris will switch roles for the coming year. Adam will be the Curriculum Coordinator and Chris will be the Internal Communications Officer.

V.               Rostrum

a.      Steve Schappaugh has told Shane that the next Rostrum will be focused on education, accessibility, inclusion. There is a December 15th deadline for us to submit an article for the February Rostrum.

VI.              Curriculum Packet –

a.      Shunta and Adam will collaborate to coordinate the packet after the 2018-2019 policy topic is announced. The Board expressed the desire to have better communication with people working on the novice packet moving forward.

Meeting adjourned at 12:41pm

Newly passed motion by the NDCA Board.

Please vote by 10/7/2017.

The following motion was proposed by Dave and seconded by Christina and Shunta:

"I motion that we name the NDCA educator of the year award after Chuck Ballingall."

The motion passed 7-0.

Minutes from NDCA Board Meeting 9/17/2017

NDCA Board Meeting – September 17, 2017

Meeting called to order by Shunta Jordan at 8:40am

Members Present

Aaron Timmons

Adam Torson

Christina Tallungan

Dave Weston

Shane Stafford

Shunta Jordan

Members Not Present

Chris Theis

Sheryl Kaczmarek

Business

I.                 Membership Reminder Email

a.      Shunta reported that we have very few new memberships and membership renewals. Shane is going to send a reminder email to the list serve and post reminders on social media.

II.                Public Forum Case Wiki

a.      In response to the accusation that some PF coaches who were writing down opponents’ citations were ‘stealing evidence,’ several have proposed a Public Forum case wiki.

b.      Adam moved that we create a Public Forum case wiki, which was approved by unanimous consent.

III.              New Board Member Elections

a.      At present Aaron is unopposed in his run to remain on the Board.

IV.              Topic Voting Reminder

a.      Shunta reminded the board to vote for next year’s policy topic, and reminded us that we may vote both as an institutional member and an individual member.

V.               The NSDA has solicited an article for the Rostrum on the topic of making connections and staying connected with alumni. Dave has been working on alumni relations at his school and volunteered to complete the article, which is due on October 5th.

VI.              2018 NDCA Conference

a.      After discussion of possible dates, the Board agreed by unanimous consent to keep our current weekend, which this year will be May 19th and 20th. These avoid Mother’s Day the weekend before and Memorial Day the weekend after.

b.      Location

                                                    i.     The Board discussed the possibility of hosting this year’s conference in Chicago. The advantage of doing so would be providing easier access to coaches from the Upper Midwest, which might in turn cultivate a new market for future conferences. The potential disadvantages are the costs of travel, venue, and technology.

                                                   ii.     The sense of the Board is that a move to Chicago is probably a good idea. Christina will investigate costs and report back to the Board.

c.      Topics

                                                    i.     The Board is interested fostering a community discussion about debate camp practices with particular emphasis on pedagogy and issues of race and gender.

                                                   ii.     The Board discussed creating a broader theme for the conference of pedagogical practices in debate, of which camp pedagogies might be one example.

                                                  iii.     Christina will put out a call for panel topics related to the theme of debate pedagogies.

                                                  iv.     The Board briefly discussed soliciting a presentation from members of the college debate community about debate in college, recruiting, etc. for the benefit of our member coaches advising college-bound students.

d.      Youtube Channel

                                                    i.     Shane raised the possibility of creating a Youtube Channel for recordings of the NDCA conference session. The idea was met with approval and the sense of the Board is that such a channel should be created.

VII.            Summer Institute Quality Feedback

a.      The Board raised various concerns about practices at summer debate camps, including absentee instructors, overpopulated labs with insufficient individual feedback, deceptive advertising practices, inadequate insurance coverage and logistical planning, and insufficient adult supervision. We expressed particular concern over the lack of information available to parents and coaches, the latter of whom often advise students on camp choice and may expose themselves to liability and professional disrepute by making uninformed recommendations.

b.      The Board discussed mechanisms for gathering data about camp practices and pedagogy in the form of anonymous surveys to camp students and camp directors, and then aggregating and sharing the relevant findings with the wider community. Shunt and Christina will work on a proposed approach to the survey and perhaps solicit an amateur statistician from our organization to help crunch the numbers and present the results.

VIII.           NDCA Tournament

a.      Future Locations

                                                    i.     Shunta reported that the new director at UCF wants to maintain their commitment to hosting the 2021 NDCA Tournament. Dave is going to communicate with him about requirements for hosting and verify that the venue will be ready and able to host the tournament.

                                                   ii.     Once the 2018 Tournament at Marist is in the books, Dave and Shunta will begin soliciting bids for hosting the 2022 NDCA tournament. The sense of the Board is that a host in the Western United States may be desirable given that our next several venues are in the South and Midwest.

                                                  iii.     Dave is going to reach out to our 2018 hosts at Marist to thank them again for hosting this year’s tournament, offer any support we can provide in preparing the venue for the tournament in the coming months, and check-in to see that preparations are on track per our tournament requirements and Marist’s bid. 

                                                  iv.     The Board expressed concern about the future use of food trucks at the NDCA tournament. They tend to be inconvenient, expensive, provide insufficient food, and not provide food fast enough to accommodate an efficient schedule. In the future we will advise hosts to be extremely reticent to plan the use of food trucks.

b.      Finances

                                                    i.     Shunta reported that the 2017 NDCA tournament took in approximately $24,000, primarily in entry fees, and paid out approximately $27,000, primarily for hired judges.

1.      This represents approximately a $3,000 loss notwithstanding Weber State’s substantial contribution for food and other resources.

2.      By far the most significant expense is hired judges. The tournament hired numerous judges and provided transportation and lodging for many, with costs often running to well over $1000 per judge. This figure is greater than even our substantial hired judge fees. The net loss from hired judges is substantially greater than the tournament’s net shortfall.

                                                   ii.     The sense of the Board is that the organization cannot afford to take a loss on the tournament given the slow pace of membership growth. The Board discussed various ways to address the shortfall, including raising entry fees, returning to a food fee, and increasing the hired judging fee.

1.      The Board approved by unanimous consent a rule that teams must provide at least one judge in each division in which they have entered a team, and may hire from the tournament no more than one full time judge in each division.

a.      The sense of the Board is that an important community norm is the willingness of coaches to judge, so that everyone in the community has access to high quality adjudication and feedback as much as possible. We hope to encourage adherence to this norm.

2.      The Board approved by unanimous consent a $10,000 cap on hired judge expenses for the 2018 NDCA Tournament.

3.      It is the sense of the Board that hiring out the commitments of those otherwise coming to the tournament to coach is a good practice. However, the Board feels that the costs of coaches’ travel should be born primarily by the schools and students those coaches represent, and so we should avoid paying for the travel of judges who are otherwise coaching at the tournament whenever possible.

4.      By unanimous consent the board approved a $20 food fee to be charged to each person attending the tournament.

Meeting adjourned at 10:13am.