SpeechWire Tournament Services - Forensics Tournament Software

District III AFA-NIET National Qualifying Tournament Saturday, March 02, 2019

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma at the Oklahoma City University

On behalf of the AFA-NIET District 3 Committee it is my pleasure to invite you to the 2019 AFA- NIET District 3 Qualifier. Josh Young and Oklahoma City University will serve as our host in OKC for a Saturday, March 2, 2019 tournament. My name is Craig Brown, Dir. of Forensics at Kansas State University and your D3 chair. My contact information is craigb@ksu.edu and 785-313-2377. If you are on Facebook, feel free to friend me and/or join our AFA D3 Speech! group.

This invitation contains information relevant to the tournament as well as important information for reporting legs/at-large qualifications, Title IX training that’s part of the new AFA-NIET Sexual Harassment Policy, All-American deadlines, important deadlines for nationals, and other district news.

Because the Title IX training requirement is new this year- be sure to read that section below and get everyone you are bringing to the AFA-NIET the proper training.

Please forward this invite to any district schools that might not otherwise receive this information and let me know about them so that I can contact them directly. A special thanks to Darren Epping, Kansas State University for serving as our chair the last few years and to Randy Cox, University of Texas at Austin for serving as our treasurer.

D3 Entry Deadlines

Your initial D3 Tournament entry needs to be done using Speechwire.com. The deadline is Monday, 5:00 pm, February 25, 2019. No additional entries can be accepted after this deadline.

You may drop or replace entries without penalty until Wednesday, February 27, 5:00 pm.

Entry Fees: $9.00 per slot.

Judging Fees: $10 per uncovered slot. Each judge covers five slots per pattern. If you are traveling additional people who can be hired to judge, please let me know in advance so arrangements can be made to hire them.

AFA-NIET Subscription Dues

If you have not paid your dues yet, they are $50. I’ve included an invoice at the end of the invite or you can use the form on the AFA-NIET website (www.afa-niet.org). But please notify me if you have already paid your dues to the national organization. The district prefers that you pay your AFA-NIET dues directly to the district. If you are competing at the D3 Tournament your dues must be paid before you can compete. You can pay at registration.

If you are not competing at the D3 Tournament, the deadline for payment (to the district or to the AFA-NIET directly) is March 1, 2109.

If you are paying before the D3 Tournament, send the payment to Randy Cox. He can be reached at mrcox@austin.utexas.edu

If you are paying by check, please make it payable to AFA-NIET District III. This applies to both the tournament fees and the AFA-NIET Dues.

Drops/Changes After February 27, 5:00 pm: Any drops or changes need to be communicated to me ASAP- preferably by text or a phone call to 785-313-2377.

Wednesday February 27, 5:00 pm until 8:30 am, Thursday, February 28: $10 per drop, plus the original entry fee.

Thursday, February 28, 8:30 am thought March 2 registration: $50 per drop, including those made at registration.

Dropping a judge after February 27, 5:00 pm will incur a $150 fee, in addition to any additional fees for event coverage on the entry.

Craig will send out a fee sheet for the tournament on Tuesday, February 26th.

Entry Rules Unique to the D3 Tournament

Schools are limited to no more than five (5) entries per event.    
Students are limited to no more than two events (2) per AFA-NIET event pattern. Even though we will be using a two-pattern format for the D3 Tournament, students need to use the AFA-NIET three pattern format (A: Inf, Pro, Imp B: Duo, Per, POI, Ext C: ADS Poe CA DI) to control cross-entry. Scheduling accommodations will be made for students with multiple events in the same pattern during the actual tournament.  
Students may not enter an event if they are already qualified at-large in that event. Clarification- If you have qualified Duo at-large with one partner, you may enter another Duo with a different partner.  
All events will use the AFA-NIET rules/descriptions.

AFA Membership

In addition to the NIET dues, the AFA requires at least one individual membership for any school attending the NIET or the NDT. This may be done via the AFA website at the following address: http://www.americanforensicsassoc.org/shop/

There are two options to do this. An Individual Membership is available for $50, and is appropriate for professional educators. You may instead choose to designate a student (undergraduate or graduate) to serve as the representative member, and that cost is only $20. You can find the student membership on the AFA website shop. On your District entry, please indicate who your designated member is.

You cannot compete at the AFA-NIET without having paid your Individual Member dues. Any schools listed as not having paid their NIET subscription will see that fee added as part of the fees at the NIET.

Tentative AFA-NIET D3 Tournament Schedule

Friday, March 1, 2019

8:00 D3 Committee Planning Meeting and Tournament Prep if needed- Location tbd

Saturday, March 2, 2019

7:15 Registration

7:45 Extemp Draw

8:00 Round 1-A

9:30 Round 1-B

10:45 Extemp Draw

11:00 Round 2-A

12:30 Round 2-B

1:45 Lunch Break and Student Meeting- The students will use this as a working

lunch for the initial part of the student meeting.

2:30 Coach verification for all prelims.

2:45 Extemp Draw

3:00 A Finals

3:15 Extemp Finals

4:30 B Finals

6:00 Coaches meeting and continuation of student meeting if needed.

ASAP Awards

Campus map and specific locations: Map and location specifics will be announced at a later date.

Hotel Information: We do not have an official host hotel, but Oklahoma City has a variety of hotels at a variety of price points. You want someplace in north-central or central OKC.

Host contact info: Josh Young, Dir. of Forensics & Visiting Assistant Professor of Speech and Debate, Department of Philosophy & Rhetoric, Oklahoma City University jeyoung@okcu.edu

At-Large Qualifications for the AFA-NIET

At-large qualification forms need to be e-mailed to me at craigb@ksu.edu

DO NOT SEND THE AT-LARGE QUALIFICATION DOCUMENTATION OR FORMS TO ANYONE BUT YOUR D3 CHAIR- CRAIG BROWN. Every year somebody sends all of that to the NIET chair or tournament director. They don’t want them. Let’s make it so that nobody from D3 falls into that category.

I have no at-large qualification reports yet from any school. So if you thought you had sent them to me (prior to January 21), then let me know ASAP so we can get that straightened out.

Please make it a priority to send me all of your first semester qualifications before January is over. I need the time to double-check everything. And at this point of the year, I will not mind you sending me weekly up-dates as we get closer to the D3 Tournament.

If you are competing at the D3 Tournament with an event on two-legs, I need the at-large paperwork by Monday February 25.

I need time to verify everything so that your students have the best possible chance to qualify for nationals. Mistakes about what is qualified at-large cannot be fixed if I get the paperwork any later than that.

The last possible deadline to submit at-large paperwork to me is the national entry deadline: March 12, 2019.

If you are getting this invite via e-mail, attached is a new and improved at-large qualification form that lets you do everything on your computer. Or you can go to the AFA-NIET website and download the form there. If you are not getting this invite by e-mail, then contact me and I can send you the improved at-large qualification form.

At-Large Documentation Should Include

The At-Large Qualification form for each student.

The results cover/summary sheet for each tournament you are using for the at-large qualification. That needs to include the number of competing schools and the number of competitors in each event. The results summary provided by SpeechWire is ideal. If you have any doubts about whether to send full tabs for a contest, call or text me (785-313-2377).

If cover/summary sheets are not available, please send the tab sheets. I need to be able to verify how many schools were competing and how many students were competing in the applicable events.

If Kansas State was competing in IEs at the tournament, I already have the information I need.

Students on Two Legs Going Into Districts

If you have a student on two-legs the week of the D3 tournament and they are competing at the D3 tournament, I must have those same three pieces of information (number of schools, placement, number of entries). This will enable me to verify their two-leg status and assist in being able to accurately know who may additionally qualify for nationals based on what happens at the D3 tournament.

Student Verification

In order to prove that your students are enrolled and meet the AFA-NIET eligibility requirements, you will need to have your school fill out the Student Verification Form and turn it in at the D3 tournament. This is a change from previous years where you brought it with you to nationals. The verification needs to be sent to the District Chair. You can find the form at www.afa-niet.org.

If you are going to nationals but not the D3 tournament, I need the form by March 12. You can send it to me as a PDF attached to e-mail, but please bring the original with you to the AFA-NIET!

Items for Coach and Student Meetings

February 25 is also the deadline for submitting agenda items for the D3 coaches and student meetings. Items for coaches should be sent directly to me. Items for the student meeting should be sent to the D3 student rep- NAME at EMAIL

All-American Nominations

If you are attending the D3 tournament, you can bring the complete AFA-NIET All-American packet to the tournament.

If are not attending the D3 tournament, I will need your complete packet by Wednesday, February 27. Materials can be scanned and sent to me by e-mail and will be reviewed by the D3 Committee at the tournament, but the original OFFICIAL transcript must arrive in my hands before further action.

If you are getting this invite via e-mail you will see two attachments with forms and explanations for what the completed packet requires. The All-American Committee has worked to help streamline the process and make sure that interested students make the best application possible. If you aren’t getting this by e-mail, reach out to me and I will send it to you ASAP.

The 2019 AFA-NIET at the University of Alabama

The 2019 AFA-NIET will be hosted in Tuscaloosa, AL and is scheduled from April 4-7, 2019. THIS IS A FRIDAY-SATURDAY-SUNDAY COMPETITION SCHEDULE. National and District meetings will happen on Thursday. The entry deadline for the AFA-NIET will be Tuesday, March 12. Attached is the AFA-NIET invite. You will need to use SpeechWire to enter.

Some quick things to be aware of for the 2019 AFA-NIET

There is no designated nationals hotel. The invite lists several options.

There is no meal plan this year. Schools/students are on their own. There are several on-campus eating options.

The New AFA-NIET Sexual Harrasment Policy and Title IX Training Information/Requirements

AFA-NIET attendees: Please read carefully the new policy adopted by the NIET National Committee. This policy will be followed for the 2019 AFA-NIET. Please let your colleagues who may not have attended know about this very important policy.

The AFA-NIET Policy:
All forms of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation and abuse are completely unacceptable. These behaviors have no place at the AFA-NIET, and do not represent who we are. We want to protect the safety of all students attending the AFA-NIET. The Sexual Harassment Committee is dedicated to educating all coaches, students, and judges about their rights through Title IX and are required to provide information about resources available at the national tournament. In order to attend the AFA-NIET 2019 all students, coaches, and judges are required to undergo Title IX/sexual harassment/misconduct training at your home institutions before registering for the NIET. Verification of training must be submitted to your District Chair before you submit an NIET entry. Together we can improve awareness about harassment/assault and improve student safety.
Resources below:
https://www.projectcallisto.org/
https://www.rainn.org/statistics/campus-sexual-violence
https://atixa.org/

Title IX Training Form: Here is the link for the AFA-NIET Title IX Training Certification Form. I have also attached it as well if you are getting this via e-mail. You need to have all of your students, coaches, judges and volunteers who plan to attend the AFA-NIET prove that they have participated in some type of harassment education training. You can use as many forms as you need to cover the different training types that are received. If your institution, or the work place of your volunteers/coaches, does not have sexual harassment training, the AFA-NIET will have an online course that anyone can take. It will be available by the end of January.

Here is the form you need to print and have signed by all: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uPi0ENkKQzYjD5wrIzV3hSIaXj0KrZ6OZKyDcF1kCoo/edit?usp=sharing

The on-line training will be available until a week before the AFA-NIET for hired judges and tournament staff to take if needed.

Grand Summary

D3 Tournament is Saturday, March 12 at Oklahoma City University
D3 entry deadline is Monday, February 25 on SpeechWire
You need to pay your D3 AFA-NIET dues if you haven’t already
Randy Cox mrcox@austin.utexas.edu gets the D3 dues if you’re paying before the D3 tournament.
You will need someone with an AFA Membership if you want to compete at nationals
Send me your at-large qualifications
Send me the at-large paperwork for any D3 entries with two-legs by Monday, February 25
AFA-NIET entry deadline is March 12 on SpeechWire
Remember to do the Student Verification form- send it to me
All-American nominations are due either by February 27 or brought with you to the D3 tournament
AFA-NIET is a Fri-Sat-Sun competition schedule- April 5-6-7 (meetings on Thursday)
Everyone you are taking to nationals (coaches/judges/competitors) have to complete the Title IX training
Craig Brown contact info- craigb@ksu.edu 785-313-2377

Looking forward to seeing old friends in Oklahoma/Alabama and making new ones-

Craig Brown