Director's Letter (Invitation)

                        67^th  NATIONAL DEBATE TOURNAMENT, 2013

January, 2013

Dear Colleague:

Plans are nearing completion for the 67^th National Debate Tournament to be hosted by Weber State University. Registration for the tournament will take place on THURSDAY, March 28. Competition will take place on Friday, March 29, through Monday, April 1. Preliminary debates will be held on the campus of Weber State University. Registration and elimination rounds will be held in the Ogden Marriott.

This brief letter will provide information on the tournament location, qualifying processes, eligibility certification, and entry for the tournament

TOURNAMENT HOTEL. The tournament hotel is:

Ogden Marriott, 247 24^th Street, Ogden, UT.

Registration, banquets, preliminary debates, and elimination rounds will be held at the tournament hotel.  We would recommend that you reserve rooms as soon as your teams have qualified.  We have secured a tournament rate of $79 per night for up to 4 people per room, which includes Internet access and self-parking.  Reservations must be made before March 15, 2013 to obtain the rate.  You can make your reservations now by calling: 801-395-2047.  Make sure to identify yourself as attending the National Debate Tournament.

TOURNAMENT WEB SITE. Weber State University has created a web site with helpful information for the 2013 NDT. The web site is http://www.ndt2013weber.com/.  Information about the hotel, competition facilities, travel, dining options, sponsorships, and other useful topics is provided at the web site.

IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR THE 2013 NDT

1.      Please examine the instructions for applying for First- and Second-Round At-Large bid applications to the NDT. The application procedure has changed from last year.

2.      The 2013 NDT is the third year hybrid teams may qualify for the tournament. In order to be eligible, hybrid teams must comply with all appropriate rules. Please see the NDT Standing Rules. In addition, notification must be provided to Dallas Perkins, chair of the NDT Committee, no later than February 1.

3.      The following rule change was effective for the 2012 NDT. The NDT Committee passed the following amendment to the qualifying procedures. “Districts choosing to select representatives for the NDT in a manner other than a qualifying debate tournament will be allowed to submit only those teams over a 40% win-loss record for the purposes of bid allocation. If a district makes a good faith attempt (evidence of planning or economic commitments) to host a tournament, but cancels the tournament because weather would make travel unsafe, that district shall not lose allocated bids due to this rule. In this event, the District Chair must notify the Bid Allocation Committee, who will confirm that the situation appears to be a good faith cancellation. The decision of the Bid Allocation committee is final, but must be publicized to the broader community. If a member of the Bid Allocation committee is from the district, the NDT chair will appoint a replacement member for any deliberations.”

RULE REMINDERS.

1. All debates are governed by the rules of the National Debate Tournament and the American Forensics Association. The documents governing the administration of the National Debate Tournament may be found at http://groups.wfu.edu/NDT/Documents/goveringdocs.html.

1. Effective with the 2007 NDT, teams qualifying for the tournament must provide 13 rounds of judging.

1. Individuals in attendance at the National Debate Tournament who provide significant coaching to, or argument production for, any team participating in the NDT should be required to enter the judging pool on a supplemental strike sheet for at least four debates or, if it is more appropriate, provide a significant equivalent contribution to the tournament as defined by the tournament host or director.

ELIGIBILITY FORMS: Eligibility forms must be submitted by February 8 to the Chair of the NDT Committee, Dallas Perkins. Forms may be submitted by fax (617-876-1360), mail (Dallas Perkins, 324 Franklin Street, Cambridge, MA 02139), or hand delivery to Dallas Perkins prior to the NDT Committee meeting to be held in Evanston on February 9.

QUALIFICATION PROCESS.  The selection process, altered before the 1994 NDT and 1999 NDT, remains in place for the 2013 NDT.  A complete set of the NDT rules and procedures may be found at www.wfu.edu/organizations/NDT/.

AT-LARGE APPLICATION PROCESS.  The rules covering the application process for First- and Second-Round At-Large bids will be the same as that established in 2004.  The number of preliminary rounds required for a team to count toward bid allocations is 18.  All teams selected through the Second-Round At-Large process must have a 50% or greater preliminary round win-loss record in rounds on the fall CEDA topic or its NDT topic parallel immediately prior to the District tournament or at the time of submission for second round bids.  Those subscribing schools wishing to nominate their teams for At-Large consideration must submit copies of their completed electronic Official NDT At-Large Application (without covering letters or other supplementary materials). Applications must be received by the dates listed below. Schools submitting At-Large applications must have paid their NDT subscription fee prior to submitting their application for the bid to be considered. In addition, all teams wishing to be considered for an At-Large bid must pay $50.00 to the treasurer of the NDT Board of Trustees. A system has been set up to pay using Paypal at www.americanforensics.org, or the treasurer also will accept a check or money order made out to the NDT, RECEIVED BY THE APPLICATION DEADLINE, sent to the following address:

Danielle Leek

2217 Cambridge Dr. SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49506

Applications for First- and Second-Round At-Large bids should be made at www.tabroom.com.  To apply for an At-Large bid, simply register for the NDT tournament. You will be placed on the waitlist.  The application becomes official when fee for the application is received; teams receiving bids will be moved off of the waitlist and into the tournament registration.  Teams registered and on the waitlist who do not pay the fees on time will be removed from the waitlist.  Please review your team’s bid sheet at https://www.tabroom.com/jbruschke/SeasonalTotals.php?division=open and report any anomalies to jbruschke@fullerton.edu.  The sooner you can report any issues the better.

ENTERING THE TOURNAMENT.  ENTRIES ARE DUE FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013. Entries will be accepted using the www.tabroom.com web site. The entry method is that used for many invitational tournaments during the year. When entering the NDT, simply register for the tournament. Teams will then be put on a wait list. Teams will be removed from the wait list by the tournament director.

JUDGING PHILOSOPHIES. Judging philosophies should be posted to www.tabroom.com no later than MARCH 15, 2013. To enter a philosophy, create an account and click on the “homepage” link in the top-right.  In the right-hand column will be a section titled “judging,” and a link to “paradigm.”  Click the paradigm link to enter your philosophy.

The NDT may impose a $50 fine on institutions which have not supplied judging philosophies by MARCH 18. The NDT may impose an additional $50 fine if judging philosophies are not available at the time of registration.

FEES.  The Board of Trustees has set the fees for the 2013 NDT. The fees are $100.00 per team. Participant fees for debaters and judges—four people for each team in the tournament will be no more than $25. The fees for observers (all other persons with your group over the four per team that count as participants) will be $125.00. Persons traveling with the team will be charged for the banquets and other meal functions.

        Attached you will find a tentative tournament schedule, contact information for the Chair of the NDT Tournament Committee, and a copy of the NDT judge philosophy form.

Please join us in Ogden for the 67^th National Debate Tournament.

Sincerely,

John Fritch

Director, National Debate Tournament

                                TENTATIVE TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 28

        9:00-11:00           Registration

        11:00 - 2:00         NDT Board of Trustees Meeting

        1:00-4:00             NDT Committee Meeting

        4:00-5:00             Late Registration

        6:30                     Reception and Pre-Tournament Awards

Friday, March 29         

            7:45 AM         Continental Breakfast

            8:00                 Announcement of Round I

          11:45                 Announcement of Round II

            2:00 PM          Lunch

            4:15                 Announcement of Round III       

Saturday, March 30

            7:45 AM         Continental Breakfast

8:00                 Announcement of Round IV

            11:15               Lunch

            12:30 PM        Announcement of Round V

            5:00                 Announcement of Round VI

Sunday, March 31

            7:45 AM         Continental Breakfast

8:00                 Announcement of Round VII

            11:15               Lunch

            12:30 PM        Announcement of Round VIII

             4:45                Announcement of First Elimination Round

             9:30                Awards Banquet

Monday, April 1        

            7:15 AM          Drawing of Octofinal judges

            7:30                 Announcement of Octofinals

            8:00                 Octofinal round begins

                                    (Rounds continue throughout the day)

                        FIRST-ROUND AT-LARGE BIDS

Must be received by

        Committee Members                               February 14 (5PM CST)

Committee calls or e-mail to Director             February 15-17

Director Announces                                        February 18

                        DISTRICT PROCEDURES

Declaration of intent to attend District          February 19

Announcement of preliminary district bids    February 20

                        SECOND-ROUND AT-LARGE BIDS

Must be received by

        Committee Members                               March 7 (5 PM CST)

Committee calls or e-mail to Director             March 8-10

Director announces                                         March 11          

CHAIR OF THE NDT COMMITTEE CONTACT INFORMATION:

Dallas Perkins, NDT Chair

324 Franklin Street

Cambridge, MA 02139

Phone: 617-876-5003