District II

AFA-NIET

CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS

CONSTITUTION

Article I—District Membership

Section l

Any accredited college or university offering an Associate of Arts degree and/or higher degree in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho or Montana (except for Montana State University, Billings which is a member of District IX) shall be eligible for membership in District II.

Section 2

Membership in District II shall consist of those schools who are current dues paying members of the NIET. Membership until the December l deadline for the receipt of dues by the District Chair shall consist of those schools who paid dues for the previous academic year plus any school which has paid for the current academic year and after the December l deadline of those schools who have paid dues for the current academic year.

Section 3

Schools in this region who wish to affiliate with a different AFA-NIET District must follow the AFA-NIET National Committee guidelines for petitioning for a change of district affiliation.

Article II—Events and Event Guidelines

Section l

The events, event descriptions, and conflict patterns for District II shall be the same as those for the NIET for the current year.

Section 2

The event guidelines for District II shall be the same as for the NIET. Coaches and competing students need to be aware of these guidelines such as: (l) when speeches or cuttings should have been prepared,(2) how literature can be ethically cut and having the original work from which a cutting has been taken and (3) having the full text of an original event including a complete bibliography in prepared public address events, etc.

Article III—Eligibility

Section l

Any accredited dues paying school as defined in Article I may enter students in the D II NIET tournament.

Section 2

Students must meet NIET eligibility standards.

1. Participants in the DII NIET Tournament must be full or part time undergraduate students enrolled for a minimum of six credit hours and in good academic standing maintaining a minimum GPA of 2.0 on a four point scale.
2. In accordance with AFA-NIET national guidelines, an undergraduate is defined as an individual who has not received a Bachelor's Degree.
3. Students possessing a bachelor's degree who have NO forensic experience but wish to participate in the NIET must request a one year waiver of the undergraduate rule from the AFA-NIET National Committee Chair prior to the D II NIET Tournament. If the student wishes to compete at the DII Tournament, a letter indicating the National Chair's favorable ruling on the request for waiver must be provided to the District Committee at least one week prior to the District Tournament. Students who wish to compete at NIET Nationals but do not plan to participate in the District II Tournament should include a copy of their waiver with their at-large qualification materials.
4. If a participant graduates at mid-year and qualifies at large prior to graduation, she or he is eligible to attend the AFA-NIET, but he or she is not eligible to attend the District II Tournament. Similarly, he or she may not pursue at large qualification after the final day of the term in which he or she has met the graduation requirements and been approved for graduation by his or her college or university.
5. No students is permitted to participate in more than four District Tournaments or four years of national individual events competition. No students who has competed in eight or more six month periods July l-December 3l or January l-June 30 in three or more tournaments per period will be eligible to compete at the District Tournament or at the AFA-NIET.

Section 3

Any and all protests regarding eligibility must be made in writing to the District Chair. The District Chair will consult with the District committee and they will vote on the eligibility question. All parties involved will be immediately informed of the ruling. Protests of this nature must be filed prior to the end of the District II Tournament.

Article IV—Qualifying for the AFA-NIET Through Districts

Section 1

There must be a minimum of five schools participating to hold a district tournament. If there are 9 or more schools in attendance, then the district tournament will generate legs in accordance with the usual AFA- NIET at-large qualification standards.

Section 2

A student earns District Qualification by placing in the top 10% of a given event at the District Tournament. The total number of persons in an event at the District Qualifier will be rounded off to the next highest interval of ten. ( For example if 3l students compete, 4 would earn District Qualification under the 10% rule) The top three individuals in each event, regardless of total entries in the event, will be advanced to the National Tournament.

Section 3

At the District II Tournament, students may not enter an event for which they have qualified at large. If a student earns a third leg at the District Tournament and qualifies for the NIET by this method, all other students are moved up for purposes of determining qualification for the NIET. Use of this procedure does not alter final rankings in the event for purposes of determining awards.

Section 4

Students may enter up to a maximum of six events with no more than two events in a given pattern. If a student is entered in two Dramatic Duos, that counts as two events.

Section 5

It is expected that those qualifying to attend the AFA-NIET via the District Tournament will do so. If for some reason a school or students cannot attend, that should be communicated to the District Chair immediately (definitely no later than the date specified in the AFA-NIET national tournament rules) so that an alternate contestant may be advanced.

Article V—Qualifying for the AFA NIET Through At-Large Qualification

Section l

Students may qualify for the AFA-NIET through meeting national at-large qualification standards as set by the AFA National Individual Events Tournament Committee.

Section 2

It is the responsibility of the director of forensics to keep accurate records for NIET at large qualification for her or his students. Records must show that 9 or more schools had students participating in individual events at the tournament unless there was a waiver. Records must show that the students competed in senior or open division. Records must show qualification based on the total number of participants competing in all preliminary rounds in open or senior division. These records must be submitted to the district committee chair by the date specified in the invitation to the district tournament

Section 3

All schools should provide complete individual event tournament results showing the number of schools participating and the number of senior or open contestants in all events.

Article VI—Constitutional Limitations

Section l

Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed as contravening rulings of the National Individual Events Tournament Constitution or Bylaws.

Section 2

This Constitution shall be in effect when ratified by a two-thirds vote of the membership. This Constitution may also be amended by a two-thirds vote of the membership.

BY-LAWS

Article I—The District Committee

Section l

A District II Committee consisting of five coaches and one student shall be elected annually by the district membership. A term on the committee shall be for two years (except for student members who shall serve for one year) with the initial committee elected in such a way that no more than three terms expire in a given year. The District Chair shall serve two years, with chair elections held in March in even-numbered years. Any District Committee member may run for chair. If the chair has only one year remaining on her/his term, the term is extended by one year to allow service for two years as chair. In the event that a person resigns or is replaced on the committee, the new member's term expires in the same year as the person he/she replaced.

Section 2

Any person who officially represents a member school as a director of forensics or coach is eligible to serve on the District II Committee. Any competing student in good standing may serve as student representative. Not more than one official representative from the same school may serve on the committee at the same time except that an official representative and the student representative may be from the same school.

Section 3

The election of new members of the committee shall be held annually sometime in the first two weeks in March. Each member school shall be entitled to one vote. The current committee shall designate an election coordinator to conduct the election. The election coordinator cannot be a person running for committee election during that year. The election proceeds as follows:

1. The election coordinator shall issue a call to all schools who have been district members in the past two school years inviting coaches and students to run for committee membership.
2. The election coordinator shall conduct the election and shall report the results to the current chair. The highest vote getters are elected.
3. If the chair's position expires in March of the election year, the committee shall elect from among themselves a new chair and vice chair.

Section 4

The terms of office for members of the District II Committee shall be from the last day of the NIET in the year elected until the last day of the NIET in the year of the expiration of their terms. (A newly elected chair assumes her/his duties immediately after a national tournament).

Section 5

In the event a vacancy should occur on the District II Committee, the Committee shall have the option of continuing with fewer than six members or calling a special election to fill the vacancy. A special election should be conducted in the same manner as a regular election.

Section 6

A quorum of the Committee shall consist of a minimum of four voting members. Committee approval requires a majority vote.

Section 7

Any or all members of the Committee shall be subject to recall at any time prior to the expiration of their terms. Upon receipt by one or more members of the Committee of a petition containing the signatures of at least one third of the current District II memberships requesting the recall of any member or members, the Chair shall, within two weeks, appoint a two person election committee consisting of any two members of the district who are not themselves subject of the recall. Within two additional weeks this election committee shall mail a duplicate ballot to all members of DII asking whether this person(s) should be recalled. If, within two additional weeks, a majority of those voting (providing at least 50% of D II members vote) vote to recall a member(s), the Chair shall declare those persons as no longer being members of the Committee. If the chair is subject to recall, the vice chair shall perform the recall duties of the chair.

Article II—Duties of the District II Committee

Section l

The District II Committee shall hold such meetings as are called by the Chair or are requested by three members of the Committee. Every effort should be made to notify members of the Committee in advance when a meeting has been called, but a meeting called by the Chair or by four members (a quorum) of the committee shall be legally able to conduct business providing a quorum is present.

Section 2

The District Committee shall be responsible for providing and scheduling a Qualifying Tournament for DII according to the rules of the NIET. The tournament shall be conducted consistently with the rules of the NIET and with District II bylaws.

Section 3

The District Committee shall be responsible for verifying at large qualification from DII for the NIET according to national NIET rules.

Section 4

The Committee has the sole power to determine dates, sites, eligibility to attend and compete, eligibility of judges, and formatting for the D II tournament within the rules provided by the NIET.

Section 5

The Committee shall have the power to make such by laws as are necessary to carry out its duties except that no bylaw may conflict with the DII Constitution or the rules of the NIET. A bylaw must be moved by one member of the Committee, seconded by a second, and passed by a majority of those present and voting, providing a quorum (4 members) is present. In the event of a tie vote, the bylaw shall be declared to have failed to pass.

Article III—Duties of Chair and Vice Chair

Section l

In accordance with the requirements of the national AFA-NIET, The Chair of D II NIET shall be elected in even numbered years or when a vacancy occurs in the office of Chair by the District II Committee. The term shall be for two years and shall begin an end on the last day of the NIET. The Vice Chair will be the person getting the second numbers of votes for chair.

Section 2

The Chair shall preside at all meeting of the District II Committee when present. If not present, the Vice Chair will preside. If neither officer is present but a quorum exits, the committee shall elect a chair for that meeting.

Section 3

The Chair shall appoint such subcommittees as may be deemed necessary with the advice and consent of the district committee.

Section 4

The Chair will represent D II at National NIET meetings or shall delegate those responsibilities to the Vice Chair or another committee member when necessary.

Section 5

The Chair shall promote individual events participation and innovation in DII. The Chair and the DII committee shall do all they can to add schools to the DII NIET list and promote individual events education at DII tournaments.

Article IV —Duties of Student Member

Section l

The Student D II committee member shall meet with the D II committee whenever possible and have a vote. The student and the committee shall do their best to represent student interests in individual events competition.

Section 2

The Student D II Committee member will represent D II at all NIET student meetings or shall delegate another student to fulfill those obligations when she or he cannot be present.

Article V—Tournament Host

Bids for future District Qualifiers should be solicited by the District Chair with every effort being made to designate a host for the following year by the end of the current qualifier. The District Committee shall vote on site and dates for the district qualifier. Every effort shall be made to reach a consensus decision on the site and date for the district tournament.

Article VI—District Qualifier Tournament Management

The District Committee shall elect a tournament director for the district qualifier. That person and the district committee shall select other tab room members. Any protests should be filed with the Tournament Manager and District Chair in writing specifying the protest and providing proof for the violation. The district committee shall vote on the protest and their decision shall be final.

Article—VII Entries

Section l

The District Committee shall set the dates and site of the district tournament in accordance with national AFA-NIET deadlines. The district committee shall set entry deadlines for the tournament.

Section 2

Students must provide information from their school's registrar showing that they are students in good standing at their respective institutions at the time of the district tournament. The district tournament invitation should include a form for this purpose.

Section 3

All NIET entry rules should be followed. No student shall enter an event for which she/he has qualified at large. No student may enter more than 2 events in any one pattern and 2 duos counts as two events in the duo pattern. No school may enter more than 5 students in any one event at the district tournament.

Article VIII—Judging

Section l

All schools must provide at least l judge with a BA or higher degree with their entries. This person must be familiar with judging competitive individual events.

Section 2

Schools should provide additional judges meeting the same qualifications as in section l to accompany their entries. l judge is needed for each 6 or more students in a pattern. The tournament management may deny entries if a school cannot provide judges to cover their entries and qualified hired judges cannot be found. The tournament management can make an exception to judge qualifications standards when necessary.

Section 3

Hired judges must hold a BA degree or higher and be familiar with judging competitive individual events unless exceptions are made by the tournament manager and the district committee.

Section 4

All judges should be given the opportunity to state conflicts as to: schools or individuals they should not judge and/or as to events they are more or less competent to judge.

Section 5

Whenever possible there should be two judges per section in preliminary events and three judges per section in elimination events. Exceptions to this rule can be made by the tournament management but must be consistent to sections in events.

Section 6

Ballots should provide for rankings from l-5 and for ratings from l-25. Ballots should also provide space for contestant name, school, and code and space for comments on the individual's performance.

Article IX—Scheduling

Section l

There should be 3 preliminary rounds of all NIET events in the same conflict patterns as utilized by the NIET. There should be a final round if 8 or more students are entered in an event. There should be a semifinal round if 24 or more students are entered in an event.

Section 2

Preliminary rounds should have sections having no less than 4 students and no more than 7 students. Whenever possible students should not meet students from their own school, students they have met previously, nor be judged by judges who have judged them in the same event at the district tournament.

Section 3

Students should be advanced to semifinals or finals or ranked according to the following criteria in the following order:

1 - Total rankings from all judges, dropping the lowest ranking.

2 - Total speaker ratings from all judges, dropping the lowest rating.

3 - Total rankings from all judges

4 - Total ratings from all judges.

Article X—By-laws

Section l

Nothing in these bylaws should contravene the rules of the NIET or of the DII Constitution.

Section 2

These bylaws should be in effect when passed by l/2 of DII eligible and voting members and may be amended by the votes of 1/2 of DII eligible and voting members

Posted: November 19, 2002