WSDC Motions Selection Committee

The purpose of this e-mail is to officially announce the opening of nominations for the Motions Selection Committee for the 2008 World Schools Debating Championships.

2 members of the Motions Selection Committee will be selected by the host organising committee in the United States. The upcoming election will determine 5 further members, who will work with the 2 selected members to decide the motions for all the rounds of the championship in September.

WHO SHOULD STAND?
Please consider standing if - you're someone who's familiar with WSDC, and who has the time, energy and interest to work with a group of 6 others (communicating by e-mail) to carefully discuss ideas; decide on a varied, balanced and appropriate set of topics; and very carefully consider and fine-tune the wording of motions.
Please DO NOT stand if - you will be in any way involved in helping to coach or prepare a team that will be participating in the championships in Washington, either as the team's official coach in any other official or unofficial supporting capacity.

The WSDC Rules state that the committee should reflect the “geographic, cultural and linguistic diversity of the participants at the championships”. Appropriate candidates from various regions and from ESL / EFL countries are certainly encouraged to stand.

I think it's important to stress here that absolute secrecy is a critical element if the Motions Selection Committee is to be able to function properly. The 7 committee members will need to keep all discussions strictly between themselves. Candidates should NOT discuss ideas for motions with anyone outside the committee, and if elected they must continue to do this right up until the conclusion of the championships. If even the possibility that the wording of yet-to-be-released motions has reached teams comes about, the committee may have to begin its idea-generating and decision-making processes from scratch. I'm sure that no-one would want that to happen. So please only stand for the committee if you are certain that you can be a committee member who will maintain the necessary environment of complete secrecy.

ELECTION PROCEDURES AND TIMETABLE
Wednesday 2nd - Wednesday 9th April
Nominations open. Nominations should be submitted on the nomination form in the attached document, and can be submitted by:

- E-mailing it as an attachment to: mark.gabriel@iname.com

- Or faxing it to: +65 6733-2334

All nominations must be proposed and seconded by two individuals who have previously served as coaches and/or adjudicators at WSDC. The proposer and seconder must come from two different countries (it is permissible for one of them to be from the candidate's own country).

Thursday 10th - Saturday 12th April

The nominees will be announced on Thursday 10th April. During this 4-day period, any nominee who wishes to withdraw may do so. New nominations will only be accepted if the number of nominations is less than 5. Candidates who wish to submit a personal statement (maximum 250 words) to be distributed at the time the ballot opens may do so.

Sunday 13th - Sunday 27th April

Ballot open. Official World Council delegates from countries who have participated in at least 2 of the last 3 WSDCs will be able to vote.

Once elected, the committee is required by the WSDC Rules to finalise the motions for the prepare rounds at least 8 weeks before the championships begin (i.e. by 11th July).

If you have any questions about the role of the Motions Selection Committee, or the nominations and election procedures, please feel free to e-mail mark.gabriel@iname.com

Regards,

Mark Gabriel
Vice-Chairman
World Schools Debating Council Executive Committee