Ethical Standards

OSDA Ethical Standards

Ethical Standards Concern Form

Ethical Standards PDF

In order to promote fairness, integrity, educational growth, and safety, the Ohio Speech and Debate Association expects all individuals who participate in speech and debate activities, including students, coaches, judges, and other attendees to adhere to the standards outlined below.

The OSDA:

  • Welcomes everyone, regardless of age, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or political affiliation, to participate with equal opportunity in the Speech and Debate community within our participation guidelines;

  • Commits to providing a safe, inclusive, accommodating environment for all members of our community, free from discrimination, harassment, and related misconduct;

  • Expects all members of our community—students, coaches, and judges—to conduct themselves professionally and adhere to directives by officials at Speech and Debate tournaments;

  • Creates pairings and schematics without manipulation except when necessitated by conflicts, and—when necessary—makes changes with oversight by at least two tournament officials;

  • Denounces use of fabricated information and/or plagiarism, whether in evidence or performance;

  • Presumes that coaches and judges will recuse themselves from judging competitors with whom they have a personal or coaching relationship or financial agreement;

  • Insists that tournament rankings and decisions will not be revealed outside the tabulation room prior to the end of the awards ceremony;

  • Asserts that debate “flows” should not be shared between judges, students, or judges and students during a tournament for competitive advantage;

  • Affirms that judging decisions are based on the performance in the round without consideration of preconceived ideas about a particular style, school, student, political leaning, or the impact the decision will have on the competitors;

  • Maintains that tournament outcomes are improved when judges have been trained on what criteria to use in order to evaluate a speech or debate round;

  • Asks all participants to examine implicit or explicit personal biases and question how those biases may affect participation in OSDA events; and

  • Encourages all members of the community to monitor their ethical behavior by upholding these ethical standards.