AFA 2013

American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament Committee Meeting

Ramada Inn—Hutchinson, Kansas

9:30-11:30 and 1-5 p.m. on April 5, 2013

Present:

Committee Members: Peter Pober (Chair), Lee Mayfield (Vice-Chair), Larry Schnoor (Tournament Director), Karen Morris (Secretary), David Worth (Webmaster), Frank Thompson (Chair Emeritus), Leah White (Chair, Board of Trustees), Angela Gregory (D1), Brent Northup sitting in for Mark Porrovecchio (D2), Craig Brown (D3), Susan Collie (D4), Megan Koch (D5), Dawn Lowry (D6), Tim Brown (D7), Nick Butler (D9), Kellie Roberts (Southern Rep), Dave Gaer (Western Rep), Dan Leyes (Eastern Rep), M'Liss Hindman (Two Year Rep)

Joined Later: Michael Kelley (Outgoing Student Rep), Nicole Bright (Outgoing Student Rep), Reginald Chapman (Incoming Student Rep), Milana Duggan (Incoming Student Rep),

Richard Paine (Central Rep), Ben Stewart (SpeechWire)

Guests: Travis Robertson (Tournament Host), Ken Young (Archive Committee Chair)

Minutes

Pober called the meeting to order at 9:30 (on the dot) and asked for approval of the minutes from the November 14, 2012 meeting. Minutes were approved.

Officer Reports

AFA-NIET Committee Chair--Pober said he has some interesting waiver/protests/etc. He asked members of the council to help train hosts that are new to the tabulation process in their districts. It poses some uncomfortable circumstances for all involved when waivers occur due to simple tabulation errors. Pober said that other than the waiver issue, it has been a great year. There has been a renaissance in new programs.

Vice Chair--Mayfield missed us in Orlando. He has enjoyed working with Michael Kelly and Nicole Bright and looks forward to meeting the two new student reps.

Board of Trustees Chair--White stated that no report was printed out since no changes have occurred. All is well with finances.

Chair Emeritus--Thompson reported he hasn't had anyone turn in any ethical violations and so his job has been incredibly easy.

Tournament Director--Schnoor agreed that it has been easy year. He made this his tournament report. He commended Travis Robertson and Kenny Hopkinson on their attentiveness. He reported that Speech Wire has also made his job so much easier. The day before the tournament and registration packets were ready, ballots were labeled, booklets were in groups of 10 already. The schematic has been checked for drops and all changes are in the schematic. Ben Stewart has been a joy to work with. Larry reported that we have a total of 78 schools at this AFA-NIET. We had two schools drop (Wiley College and Prairie View). There are 1442 slots this year compared to the 1494 from last year. Larry reported that Ben will provide a sheet with all of the qualifications (at large and districts) for the 2013 AFA-NIET. Robertson reported that all rooms (with one extra) are being used and that everything is within a five minute walk from each other. Robertson addressed the following issues:

o Hutchinson is a smoking campus, but please dispose of cigarette butts.

o There will be coffee set up in the basement of the Student Union.

o Snacks stations are set up across campus.

o Postings will be off the stadium.

o Gallery Theatre is in the fine arts building, which is the extemp prep room.

o Opening Assembly is in the gymnasium.

o Lunch is in the small gym at the arena. Schnoor reminded us that each school has tickets for lunches for Saturday-Monday (green is vegetarian and tan is meat). Monday�s lunch is at the hotel in an open area.

o Park anywhere on campus.

o Ballot pickup and drop off is in the Student Center.

o Tabulation is in Student Union and competition rooms are in the basement.

o Monday the ballot is in the hotel corridor and some of the meeting rooms will be the tab.

Secretary—Morris said her minutes would stand as her report.

Webmaster—Worth said he had no report at this time.

Tournament Host Reports

2013 – Hutchinson Community College—Schnoor covered this in his director�s report.

2014 – Arizona State University --Butler said he had nothing new to add, but has added a fundraising tournament to help offset his hosting costs. WKY and ASU will host a tournament on October 26-27, 2013 and all registration fees will go toward hosting the AFA-NIET. Schnoor says he will visit this summer because there have been some changes since last time he was in Tempe. Butler said Tempe has a light rail which goes to campus, so renting a vehicle may not be necessary.

Future Hosts Bids—Pober and Schnoor presented a bid from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon (District 2) on behalf of Director of Forensics, Joe Gantt. Portland also has a light rail system that costs $2.50 to ride. Here are the specifics of that bid:

� Opening and Closing assemblies would need to be in the Chapel but would also have to have a simulcast in the pavilion next door. The alternative would be to pay the hotel $2,000 for a large room for the assemblies.

� 95 classrooms have been reserved.

� Monday competitions would be at hotel.

� Hotel options are:

1) Doubletree Portland: 15 minutes from campus/5 minutes from downtown. Rate is $109.00 plus tax for quad/free parking ($18.00 normally)/free internet (normally $13.00) or $99. 00 plus tax for quad but you pay parking and internet. The hotel will provide two staff rooms of $69.00. Rates are good for 3 days before and 3 days after the tournament.

2) Embassy Suites: 15 miles west of campus. Rate is $119.00 plus tax per room. 70 of the block rooms have 2 double beds and pull out sofas/king and pull out sofas/with breakfast and snacks like at San Marcos, TX.

� Judges will not be a problem to find as they had 28 hired judges alone for their fall invitational.

� An event planning class will be offered.

� Southwest Airline flies into Portland and is pretty reasonable.

� Lunches would include an entree/salad/drink for $8.00 per day. Monday lunch at hotel and no increase in meal package.

� A US congressman is an alumnus of Lewis and Clark and the school would like to have him come and speak.

� The walk between buildings is a bit longer than normal.

Pober reminded us that is has been 24 years since we have been in that area. Worth and

C. Brown endorsed this bid. Leyes expressed concerns about the opening/closing assembly segregating those who broke in the main auditorium and those that didn't break to the standing room only. Pober said a gym might be better. Lowry asked if we might take a hit in attendance by hosting on the West Coast. Pober says when the AFA-NIET was in Long Beach, CA, it was a much bigger tournament than normal. White offered that there might be a bigger venue between hotel and school; like a church that could be used for opening/closing. Pober said that if we bump up the size of block at the hotel then we could get free space or we could bump up the block by $5.00 then maybe we can get ballroom. Bid was put to a vote. Mayfield seconded Larry's bid.

BID PASSED! We will be going to Portland, Oregon on April 3-6, 2015.

Committee Reports

AFA-NIET Student Committee--—Mayfield said the students were still meeting but Michael Kelley (Outgoing Student Rep), Nicole Bright (Outgoing Student Rep), Reginald Chapman (Incoming Student Rep), and Milana Duggan (Incoming Student Rep) will join us after the luncheon.

Distinguished Service Committee--Mayfield reported there were no nominees this year. He encouraged chairs to send in nominees for next year. Collie reminded the committee that sometimes the lack of a nominee doesn't represent an apathetic membership, but instead a discerning one.

Outstanding New Coach Award --Mayfield thanked the committee for solidifying the changes for the bylaws in the last meeting. He reminded us that we would have two recipients of the New Coach Award: Rebecca Buel from the University of Northern Iowa and Cadi Kadlecek from Gustavus Adolphus College. October 1st is the deadline for nominees for this award and must be sent to Lee Mayfield by that time.

Research Committee--Thompson said that he and Schnoor had one inquiry about performing research at the NIET. Schnoor and Thompson expressed concern about the length and time to fill out the proposed survey. No response was forthcoming after these expressed concerns, so no research was conducted at this year's NIET.

Awards Committee-- Pober reported that once again, Jostens did not increase the price of awards. Schnoor said that Brookings would like to present bid for glass instead of acrylic and would like to submit a bid. Mayfield would like to see competition. C. Brown expressed concern about teams/people transporting glass back home. Larry will solicit bid and report back.

All-American Awards Committee--Roberts said that the committee will meet this afternoon. Committee consists of Gaer/Leyes/Paine/Roberts. Roberts said of the 14 to consider, eight are automatic nominees. Roberts reminded us that the committee needs full transcripts and that nomination should come through the chairs (not from coaches) and should reach her by the March 15th deadline. Roberts also spoke about the ambiguity of the "service" portion of the application process. She will present a proposal in new business. The 2013 All-American Class will be announced at the opening assembly.

Manchester Scholar Series Committee-- Mayfield reported no submissions for this year, but there was an inquiry for submitting an application for next year.

Ad Hoc Committee on Future Planning in Forensics--Paine says that the committee

(Paine/Gaer/Leyes) is now going to look at the NFA documents about Single Voice Performance and Multiple Voice Performance and they will bring this to us in November.

Ad Hoc Committee on Charter Bylaws--Morris said the updates to the constitution have been sent to the NIET committee. Pober asked that the ad hoc committee look at the bylaws and include wording that addresses mandatory AFA membership for each AFA-NIET member school. This ruling was passed by the AFA and, as a parent organization, we must abide and put this into our bylaws also. Poberwill send the constitution to the AFA President for review.

Ad Hoc Committee-History Project--Young reported that his historical AFA-NIET school attendance sheet is ready for review (on Google site). He will add 2013 results and send the PDF to Worth to put on the website. Pober says he would love to post this to the 2013 email list from Speech Wire. He also wants to send to the district chairs to send out. Young also said that the AFA-NIET Google website has been awesome for the committee to work on—nice way of having information to see in shared way. Young suggested a 25 year plaque for schools to add and then continue to add plates for additional five years. Schnoor and Pober will look at bids for this. Northup inquired if replacement plaques could be ordered for lost or broken I.E. awards. Schnoor said that blank ones could be ordered that people could get engraved themselves. Young will begin working on the historical school director list. The problem he has encountered is the DOF vs. DOIE and CO-DOIE. Pober thanked Young for all of his work. Pober said he would announce which schools have attended their first NIET and a letter will go out to those schools after the tournament. We will also send out a letter for those attending 15 years plus 5 year increments. In addition, White reported that she received permission to host the AFA-NIET archives in the MSU-Mankato due to their link with Larry Schnoor. She will begin the transfer from Schnoor's house to the University.

Ad Hoc Committee on New Coach Handbook--White gave overview of what the handbook will look like. (on the Google site under this committee's page). White asked for our input by uploading information onto the site in topic folders.

Ad Hoc Committee on Championship Speech Archive --T. Brown says his committee (Roberts/Bright/Porrovecchio) has little to report and will have more to present in November.

Ad Hoc Committee on Extemporaneous Speaking --C. Brown reported that the committee is finished with their work and would like to be disbanded. Committee is done.

New Business

Motion to Create Mileage Bonus for District Qualifiers (Addendum A)—Proposed by Butler and District 9. Butler proposed and Mayfield seconded. Butler explained that many in D9 feel that they have difficulty coming up with nine schools, but are more likely able to come up with 7 schools because of the large size of the district. Butler reported that this was the case at least twice in spring and once in the fall. Butler says they have a mileage bonus in some debate communities. In addition, some districts have too many tournaments and multiple tournaments on the same weekend. Schools usually travel locally. White reminded us that 500 miles is over 8 hours. Northup explained that teams in his district normally travel 10 hours. May not be the solution but it is helpful. Pober asked for the students response to this proposal as they spoke about it in their meeting. Kelly proposed on behalf of the students to change from 500 miles to 400 miles. Decreasing the miles would actually help people to use this bonus. Butler accepts the students' friendly proposal. Proposal presented with 400 vs. 500 miles change and MOTION PASSED!

Motion to Change/Expand the Wording for the Specific Criteria for Nominations to the All-American Individual Events Team (Addendum B)—Proposed by Roberts and the All-American Committee, so no second needed. Roberts explained that the All-American Committee needs more description about the volunteering of the candidates. She stated that as the application reads now, it is difficult for the committee to make the determination about "service" being voluntary or payment/credit driven. C. Brown stated that this criteria isn't clear in the current process. He asked that the last line be stricken and changed by Roberts' committee. The committee came back with amended wording and the changes to the motion were accepted by all. Paine says this clarification can also be helpful at the district level. Koch reminds us that some people choose to do a major in which volunteering is mandatory. Kelly asks that students address these instances in their personal statements. MOTION PASSED!

Motion to Determine a Firm Due Date for the All-American Team Chair (Addendum C)—Proposed by Roberts and the All-American Committee, so no second needed. Roberts presented Addendum D with no questions. Committee was in agreement with this motion. MOTION PASSED!

Motion to create a consistent election process from district to district, allowing for a greater range of committed nominees (Addendum D)—Proposed by the Students and seconded by Mayfield. Bright spoke about the fact that the following information is all that is written about the student district representatives in the bylaws:

Currently within the AFA-NIET By-Laws

(Under VII. District Governance)

I. There will be a Student Representative position on each District Committee. The student shall have full voting privileges. Election of the Student Representative should parallel current election procedures in each district.

(Under VII. District Governance B)

1. By the AFA-NIET entry deadline, a student election will be held to select one non-graduating student to represent the district on the NIET Student Committee for the following year.

2. District Chairs are responsible for providing the NIET Vice-Chair with the name, address, and phone numbers (home and school) of the student elected.

3. The National Student Co-Chairs in conjunction with the NIET Vice-Chair shall insure that both the current Student Representative and the Student Representative-elect are informed of the date and time for the Student Committee meeting at the NIET.

Bright reported that the students would like the district chairs to take this (Addendum D) back to their districts and the student district representatives. Paine wanted to know where the nominations come from and to whom do they go. Bright clarified that the nominee needs to give their application to the current district chair. Koch pointed out that the coach should be part of the contract (Addendum E). Contract amended. Northup wanted to know what happens if no one has submitted an application before districts? Bright said in that case then the old system would be in place. Pober asks the students to continue to talk to other students about this and work with Mayfield and then come back to NCA for a vote on this proposal. MOTION TABLED UNTIL NCA.

Motion to form an ad-hoc committee to examine the establishment of a donation towards the solvency of the winning persuasion. (Addendum F)—brought forth by students and seconded by Mayfield. Kelly read Addendum F to the committee. Schnoor says he doesn't want to add this item to the entry fee since some schools can only pay for entries and aren't allow to claim a donation fee for a charity. However, if the students want to give money then that is different. White says you can give open donations at tournaments. C. Brown explained that we met with Kelly and told him that this is an excellent idea but it needed to be ironed out with a committee and then we can come back with a motion. MOTION PASSED!

Pober formed the following ad-hoc committee: Koch (chair)/ Collie /Lowry/Brown/Morris/Duggan (added later).

Proposal to establish the AFA-NIET Distinguished Alumni Award (Addendum G)—proposed by Randy Cox via C. Brown and seconded by Koch. Schnoor wanted to know if the award would be a plaque or trophy and what it would cost. What type of award? C. Brown says no hardware needed but a plaque would be okay if we could swing it. Koch wanted to know if you had to actually graduate from the university to be considered. C. Brown said no. Leyes wanted to know if you could self-nominate. C. Brown said yes. Schnoor wanted to know if this is only for those with forensics success. C. Brown responds that it is for those that have given back. Collie suggested an All-American like nomination form. C. Brown asked if chairs could take this proposal back to districts for input. MOTION TABLED UNTIL NCA.

Officer Elections

NIET Chair (2-year term)

Pober nominated by Schnoor and seconded by Collie. Elected by acclamation.

NIET Secretary (2-year term)

Morris nominated by Collie and seconded by Koch. Elected by acclamation.

NIET Tournament Director (1-year term)

Schnoor nominated by Collie and seconded by Mayfield. Elected by acclamation.

NIET Webmaster (2-year term after recommendation from Chair)

Pober nominated Worth. Elected by acclamation.

Pober publically thanked Schnoor for all of his hard work. C. Brown moved to adjourn and Collie seconded. Pober adjourned at 1:46 pm.

Addendum A

Motion to Create Mileage Bonus for District Qualifiers

Motion: to add a mileage bonus to the charter bylaws. (changes are in red)

V. At-Large Qualification Process

A. One may advance to the National Tournament by superior performance in three

tournaments during the regular tournament season within the following provisions:

1. Each of the tournaments must have had the equivalent of at least nine schools competing in individual events.

a) Schools qualify for competition if they are an accredited (or pursuing accreditation) two or four-year college or university.

b) Mileage Bonus: One school travelling more than 500 400 (friendly amendment by

students) miles for a tournament may be counted as two toward the total number of

schools, but only one school may qualify for this bonus per tournament.

Justification: This proposal is intended to address the logistical problems associated with finding 9 schools to compete in regional tournaments or at the District qualifier to count toward at-large qualification. In the past two months, one regional tournament had to be cancelled, and a local student had to be recruited 3 days prior to a tournament and paid to be transported to the District qualifier to satisfy the existing by-laws. Such instances have been a common occurrence over the past 5 years as forensics budgets have decreased, but the geographic distance between schools has remained the same. A mileage bonus will hopefully serve as a creative and fitting solution to such unique issues without returning to the recurring debate surrounding redistricting, or miring the national committee in a debate on lowering the number of schools needed for a tournament to count at-large.

Addendum B

Motion to Change/Expand the Wording for the Specific Criteria for Nominations

to the All-American Individual Events Team

Motion: to change/expand the wording for the Specific Criteria for Nominations to the All American Individual Events Team (in the charter bylaws)

Rationale: Nominees for the All-American Team have been involved in literally hundreds of different service opportunities with their forensics teams, at their academic institutions, in their local communities, with national organizations, and abroad. It is impossible for the All-American Committee to understand all the roles and projects or the amount of time that these students put into these efforts with just the name of the organization and the dates of participation. A change in wording will help clarify the information needed in the nomination packet.

Current wording: The nominee(s) must provide documentation of service work. This may include forensic-related service. Service outside of the forensic community is a significant criterion. Non-forensic service venues may include the community, civic organizations, the school, etc.

Proposed wording: The nominee(s) must provide documentation of service work with a brief description of the work completed and number of hours served. This may include forensic and school-related service. However, service outside of the forensic community and school is a significant criterion. Such venues may include community and civic organizations but must not be sponsored by the school or be required as part of any class or grade requirement. Such venues may include community or civic organizations, but must indicate if required as part of any class or if payment was received. (C. Brown asked for rewording; Robert's Committee added wording)

Addendum C

Motion to Determine a Firm Due Date for the All-American Team Chair

Motion: to determine a firm due date for the All-American Individual Events Team Nominations to be received by the All-American Team Chair (in the charter bylaws)

Rationale: A firm due date is needed for receipt of nominations to the All-American Team. The bylaws currently leave the date open to change each year, causing some confusion. A change in wording will help clarify the final date that nomination packets should be received from the district chairs to the All-American Team Chair.

Current wording: District Chairs must submit all nominations and required nomination materials to the Chair of the All-American Team Committee by the dates specified by the Selection Committee.

Proposed wording: District Chairs must submit all nominations and required nomination materials to the Chair of the All-American Team Committee by March 15th.

Addendum D

Motion to create a consistent election process from district to district,

allowing for a greater range of committed nominees.

Rationale: Currently, the election process is too vague and is not consistent from district to district. This creates several issues on the national level. First, there is little accountability and commitment from the district representatives elected. This could be improved by ensuring a pre-meditated intent to run for district rep. Second, individuals not, in attendance, fit to be district representative are unable to run within the current system. The proposed change would allow for those not in attendance to run for representative. To uphold the integrity of the need of a student liaison, and insuring expertise, passion, and commitment to the position, a more concrete set of requirements is needed.

Proposal: Students wanting to be nominated for the position of District representative should comprise the following criteria:

MUST be a member of the district

MUST be able to attend the AFA District and AFA-NIET student meetings in their year of representation.

MUST include a personal statement, no longer than one page, describing how they will make sure the integrity of their position will be fulfilled.

MUST turn in a resume showing leadership both within and outside of forensics.

MUST send personal statement and resume to current District Representative, to be collected and shared with the district�s students either at or before the district election.

Finally, a contract must also be signed and dated by the student and district chair.

their director/overseer. The contract will be provided by the outgoing district representative at the student meeting. The outgoing rep has access to this document via the national student site. Other proceedings (speech, vote, etc) will take place as is in the current system during the meeting. The liaison of the student representatives that year will oversee the contract applicants and help enforce that the aforementioned requirements are fulfilled.

Addendum E

Contract to be signed by Student District Applicant

Dear Members of the District,

I, __________________________________, am ready and willing to take on the responsibilities as the District Student Representative of AFA District _____. With consent of my team�s overseer/director, I am prepared to provide the time to fulfill my duties as student representative. I�m prepared to provide financial backing for the required events needing my attendance, specifically the District Meeting and the AFA-NIET Student Meeting. If, for any reason, I must leave, temporarily or permanently, the activity, my responsibilities of District Student Representative are still my responsibility until the district can elect a new representative. Knowing this, I�m excited to accept the position of District Student Representative.

Signature of Applicant_______________________________________________ Date:

Signature of Overseer/ Director_____________________________________ Date:

Addendum F

Motion to form an ad-hoc committee to create an amendment that would establish a donation towards the solvency of the winning persuasion.

Rationale: This initiative seeks to reallocate a portion of the budget toward a donation to the solvency of the winning Persuasion. If there is a specific organization involved in the solvency of the speech, than that organization would receive the donation. If not, the competitor could choose an organization related to the cause of the speech. If no organization exists, and by extension no donation could be made, the opportunity would instead be given to the second place competitor. To fund this donation, we could reallocate money from the current budget (to be determined, possibly from social events that happen the day before the tournament), or a small amount could be added to the entry fee for Persuasion entries.

Addendum G

Proposal: Establishment of the American Forensics Association

NIET Distinguished Alumni Award

Suggested description: Awarded annually to an individual in recognition of significant accomplishments in the arts, culture, literature, or academia.

Criteria: Must have competed as a student at the NIET and made significant contributions beyond the forensics realm.

Process: The AFA-NIET Chair will appoint a committee to select a single recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, to be presented at the AFA-NIET.

Rationale: The NIET Executive Committee has discussed several ideas in recent years to reconnect alumni to the NIET. These ideas have included recognition of 25 year participants, direct invitations to return as judges, alumni organizations, etc. This award would allow the committee to recognize significant accomplishments by former competitors after the conclusion of their competitive days, and also to spur reconnection of those individuals to their forensic roots and programs. In considering such an award, examples come to mind such as Hollywood celebrities (Sonequa Martin, for example, having won national championships in Poetry and Dramatic Interp, now has completed multiple roles in film and on TV, including the current season of AMC's The Walking Dead), national award-winning poets (such as Shannon Maney and Nathan Jackson) playwrights (such as Chris Phillips and again, Nathan Jackson). Nearing the 40th year of the NIET, this seems like an ideal time to begin reconnecting with these alumni, while also leaving open the door to involve politicians, international prize winners, students who have gone on to major academic awards (becoming Deans, joining the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, etc). There would be great flexibility by the committee to seek diversity and exceptionalism, with an eye toward celebrating the major accomplishment of student alumni while giving your own organization public relations opportunities and historical connections.