USU judge briefing.

The United States University Championships have posted a judge test for judges attending the upcoming championships.  The briefing is a copy of the briefing for Botswana Worlds but I'm sure there are lots of people may not have seen it so it is worth a look.  I have deleted the segment about the test itself because I'm sure they don't want lots of people filling in the test who do not intend to go to the championships.

Like major international tournaments such as worlds, we will be requiring all of our judges to take a judge test before round one. The test involves watching a debate as an online video and then rendering a decision as well as answering some questions about the format.


We urge all judges to review the judge briefing materials (we are glad to be using the excellent judge briefing document used for Botswana worlds, by permission) BEFORE they take the test. The judge briefing can be found at: http://debate.uvm.edu/dcpdf/BW2011JudgeBriefing.pdf


After that, judges should go to the JUDGE TEST at the USU 2011 website and watch the debate. http://debate.uvm.edu/debateblog/usu2011/Judge_Test.html


We will then use this data in judge assignment at the tournament, and will supplement it with feedback gathered from debaters and judges during the tournament.


If you are the contact person for your institution you need to inform all of your judges of this requirement and make sure that they complete the judge test. It is your responsibility to do this. If your judges fail to take the online test they may not cover your commitment at the tournament and you WILL BE CHARGED A HIRED JUDGE FEE at registration to cover your teams.


Many of the best debaters in America and the world will be at the tournament. They deserve competent judging and this is our attempt to make sure they get it. We appreciate your cooperation.