WSDC Establishes Working Groups in Important Areas

From Mark Gabriel:

The World Schools Debating Championships Tournament Committee Executive has decided to establish 4 Working Groups and 1 Exploratory Group to work on a few different WSDC-related issues between now and next year's WSDC event in Stuttgart.
Each group will be co-chaired by 2 or 3 members of the Exec, and we would like to invite members of the WSDC community to join the group or groups which interest them and which they would like to contribute to.

The 4 Working Groups will be: 
     -  The Adjudication Issues Working Group
     -  The Draw Working Group
     -  The Hosting Issues Working Group
     -  The Language Issues & New Nations Working Group
The Exploratory Group will be: 
     -  The Power Pairing Exploratory Group

A description of each group and the contact details to the co-chairs of each group are below.
  
  
Adjudication Issues Working Group
Co-Chairs:  Tracey Lee (talee@wpga.ca) & Joshua Park (joshuaparkhls@gmail.com)
Remit: 
     -  To look into suggestions which have been made regarding making changes to the adjudication marking standards for WSDC debates, and also consider other possible alternatives, and to produce a report ahead of WSDC 2015 outlining both the potential benefits and potential drawbacks of making changes to the WSDC marking standard for the WSDC community to consider. 
     -  To consider the ways in which adjudicator training is conducted for WSDC, advise on whether the preparation of adjudicators for WSDC could be improved, and give support and advice to the WSDC 2016 CAP in this regard. 
     -  To give general advice and support on any adjudication-related matters which arise between now and WSDC 2016.
  
  
Draw Working Group
Co-Chairs:  Tracey Lee (talee@wpga.ca) & Cindi Timmons (ckdtimmons@gmail.com)
Remit: 
     -  To look into the ways in which the draw for WSDC tournaments is currently produced and advise on how the draw can be kept as fair and balanced as possible for all the teams involved (particularly in situations in which the number of competing teams is not a multiple of 8). 
     -  To produce a report to be released to the WSDC community by April 2016 advising on how the draw for WSDC 2016 should be produced. (There will then be time for the WSDC community to give further feedback on the report before the Chief Adjudicators finalise the WSDC 2016 draw.) 
     -  To give general advice and support on any adjudication-related matters which arise between now and WSDC 2016. 
  
  
Hosting Issues Working Group
Co-Chairs:  Bojana Skrt (bojana.skrt@gmail.com) & Cindi Timmons (ckdtimmons@gmail.com)
Remit: 
     -  To look into and make recommendations regarding various issues related to hosting the championship including (a) considerations regarding the selection of dates for the tournament, (b) ways to keep the cost of attending the championship as affordable as possible for all nations, (c) the nature and timing of social events during the championship, and (d) how potential future hosts can be supported in communicating and engaging with a the WSDC community and making a bid. 
     -  To give general advice and support on any hosting-related matters which arise between now and WSDC 2016.
  
Language Issues & New Nations Working Group
Co-Chairs:  Taimur Bandey (taimurb@gmail.com), Ignacio Furfaro (icfurfaro@ebv.com.ar) & Bojana Skrt (bojana.skrt@gmail.com)  
Remit: 
     -  To consider and make recommendations as to whether the criteria for eligibility and the registration procedures for ESL and EFL teams and EFL and ESL speakers for WSDC should be updated.
     -  To consider and make recommendations on how nations which are new to WSDC can be helped to prepare for the championship and make their experience of participating for the first time a positive one.
     -  To give general advice and support on any language issues / new nations matters which arise between now and WSDC 2016.
  
  
Power Pairing Exploratory Group
Co-Chairs:  Anna England-Kerr (anna.kerr@esu.org) & Joshua Park (joshuaparkhls@gmail.com)
Remit: 
     -  To produce a report ahead of WSDC 2016 which (a) clearly outlines both the potential benefits and the potential drawbacks of implementing power pairing at WSDC, and (b) outlines the organisational and logistical issues which would need to be tackled IF the WSDC community was to decide to implement power pairing at some point in the future and recommend precisely which method of power pairing would work most effectively for WSDC.  
     We would like to make it clear that the Power Pairing Exploratory Group does NOT have an agenda either in favour of or opposed to the imposition of power pairing at WSDC. The group's remit is to examine the idea from a neutral and unbiased point of view, and to genuinely look into both the pros and cons of power pairing, putting its finding into a report so that the WSDC community can have an opportunity to genuinely consider all the issues which the idea of power pairing raises.
  
  
If you are interested in joining a Working Group or Exploratory Group, please e-mail the co-chairs of the group at the e-mail addresses listed above to let them know. (Members of the WSDC community are welcome to join more than 1 group if they have interest in being involved in more than 1 area.) 

At this point, we anticipate that everyone who volunteers will become a member of the group they volunteer for. However if 1 or 2 groups prove to be particularly popular, it may be necessary for the co-chair to the members of the group from among the people who volunteer in order to keep the group at a managable size. 
Myself, Taimur Bandey and Irene McGrath, as the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary of the Exec, will be giving general support to all the groups.
All the groups will be producing reports ahead of WSDC 2016. The Draw Working Group has been asked to produce its report by the beginning of April 2016 so that its recommendations can hopefully be used when the draw for WSDC 2016 is created. The other groups have been asked to have their reports ready at least a few weeks before WSDC 2016 so the they can be circulated before the next Tournament Committee meetings in Stuttgart. 

Everyone with an interest in the areas of focus of 1 or more of the groups outlined above is strongly encouraged to contact the co-chairs of the group and get involved 

Regards,
Mark Gabriel 
Chair, WSDC Tournament Committee Executive 

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