Preamble to Tournament Procedure Bylaws Philosophy of The Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament The Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament and Convention are special and unique events. It is an experience that helps define who we are as a community and what we represent. The Convention and Tournament serve five primary purposes. First, PKD embraces the value of a forensics education in whatever form that takes. Whether one competes in debate, individual events, or both, it is the educational value of the activity that is paramount - not the particular event. Second, the PKD Convention and Tournament should serve as an opportunity for students to showcase their skills in a competitive setting and promote the high ideal and standards of competitive forensics to which PKD subscribes. If we offer anything to the community, we offer a standard and model for competition. Third, the tournament should enhance education. It should serve as a vehicle to promote and environment in which all participants improve their forensics practices and skills in those valued forensics arts. Fourth, the Tournament and Convention should be an expression of unity. We are more than a collection of competitors. Ideally, the tournament should promote the unity of our organization by providing and environment in which members can interact and increase their understanding of a commitment to one another, the forensic arts, and the ideals of PKD. Finally, the Tournament and Convention should inspire appreciation. We should appreciate one another and the forensic activity. In an age in which diversity is heralded as one of the major commitments of higher education, we have an opportunity to interact with many people from diverse culture and organizations throughout the country. Bylaws I. The National Tournament: Section 1. Pi Kappa Delta shall sponsor a national tournament in conjunction with its biennial National Convention. Dates will be established by the National Council. Section 2. Bid specifications for hosting the national tournament will be established by the National Council. Bid applications should be submitted to the President-Elect prior to the second summer National Council meeting of the biennium. Section 3. The National Council shall submit a recommended site to the National Convention for approval. The National Convention will approve by majority vote. Section 4. Tournament fees shall be recommended by the Tournament Director and approved by the National Council. Fee recommendations should be based on such factors as expected attendance and the operating costs of the tournament. Section 5. The tournament committee will be decided upon as noted in Article III, Section 363.4 of the PKD Constitution. II. Tournament Procedures: Section 1.    Judges: Judging assignments should be based on the following principles in so far as possible: a. Judges will be randomly assigned. b. Judges will not judge students from their own school or from any other school that they declare an association with on the entry form. c. In so far as possible judges will not judge students from their own province with the exception that hired judges from the host province may judge students from that province. d. Judges must possess a baccalaureate degree or experience commensurate to one in forensics training. Undergraduate students may not judge at the national tournament. e. Judges may indicate which events and/or types of debate and/or divisions they prefer to judge and every attempt will be made to grant these requests. f. In so far as possible, a province will not have more than one judge on multiple judge panels, with the exception of hired judges from the host province. Section 2.     Entries: Entries should be based on the following principles in so far as possible. a. No limits shall be placed on the number of entries a single chapter may enter in the national tournament subject to being able to meet judging requirements. b. Each student participant must be an undergraduate in good standing who has not completed eight semesters of forensics participation. One semester of participation includes participation at three tournaments during that semester. c. Each participant must be a Pi Kappa Delta member or have filed a membership application with the National Secretary-Treasurer prior to the convention or be a member of an invited school, or a specially invited guest. Section 3.     Awards: a. Gold plaques will be awarded to contestant/team winners of superior ratings (top 10%) in each Individual Event and division of Debate. b. Silver plaques will be awarded to contestant/team winners of excellent ratings (next 20%) in each Individual Event and division of Debate. c. Good ratings are given to the next 30% in each Individual Event and division of debate. d. Elimination round results in debate will be announced. Section 4.     Individual Events: a. All of the American Forensic Association events will be offered. b. Contestants may enter two events in Patterns A, B and C. c. No contestant may enter more than 2 Duos. d. Contestants may not use the same presentation in more than one event. e. All speeches and programs must be made available to the Tournament Committee upon request. f. No speech or program may have been used prior to competition in the said school year. g. Unless noted, AFA-NIET rules are in effect. h. Three rounds of competition will be offered. i. A contestant must participate in all rounds of an event to receive a final rating in that event. j. The following conflict pattern will be used:   Pattern A: Extemporaneous Speaking, Prose Interpretation, and Informative Speaking.   Pattern B: Duo Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, Programmed Oral Interpretation, and Persuasion.   Pattern C: Communication Analysis, Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, and After Dinner Speaking. k. Each contestant will receive at least four critiques for each event. So in at least one round, the contestant will be heard by two judges. l. Ideally, contestants should meet new competition each round. Every effort will be made to ensure such occurrences. Contestants will not compete against contestants from their own chapter if appropriate pairing options are available. If not, then such conflicts should be kept to a minimum. m. The tie breaking procedure will be as follows: rank first, rating points second, dropping high/low rating points third, dropping the next high/low rating points fourth (in the instance that more than four critiques are available), dropping the high rank/low rating fifth (not necessarily from the same ballot), and judge preference sixth. If the tie cannot be broken following these procedures both students will receive an award. n. Forensic Showcases will be offered. The top five students in each event will be asked to participate. The students will perform the selections/manuscripts used in the three preliminary rounds. Impromptu speeches will feature topics unique to that showcase round. Extemp showcase performers will re-present their speeches from round three. In the instance that a student qualifies for more than one showcase in the same flight, he/she will be selected to be in his/her best event (highest ranking). Adjustments will be made to insure that five students perform in each showcase. These students will perform to an audience of two critics and interested observers. Ballots will not be written, oral critiques will be given instead. Sweepstakes points will not be awarded for any showcase. Section 5.     Debate: a. Any combination and division(s) of team or Lincoln-Douglas debate can be offered based on demand. b. Students may enter only one type of debate and one division. c. Any student may enter any Open Division. Any student with less than two years of college competition may enter any Junior Division. Only students with less than two semesters of college and/or high school experience (excluding L-D) may enter any Novice Division. Further questions regarding a student's eligibility will be answered by consulting the Constitution of that organization regulating the format in question. d. Policy Debate will use the said year's policy topic and appropriate time limits as determined by the National Tournament Director. e. L-D entries will use a topic, rules and appropriate time limits as determined by the National Tournament Director.. f. Parliamentary debate will use NPDA guidelines and appropriate time limits. Topics will be distributed prior to the round. g. A 15 minutes forfeit rule will be imposed by the National Tournament Director unless the delay is out of the debaters control. h. Every team/entry will debate six preliminary rounds with an equal number of debates on each side of the resolution. i. All debate divisions will break to quarterfinals if entries justify doing so. j. The first three rounds will be randomly paired. Rounds 4 and 6 will be matched high/low within brackets adjusting for side constraints. Round 5 will be matched high/high. k. Tie breaking procedure will be as follows: teams/entries number of wins first, total team/entry points second, dropping high/low team/entry points third, dropping the next high/low team/entry points fourth, opposition record fifth, and judge preference sixth. If the tie cannot be broken following these procedures both teams/entries will receive an award. Section 6.     Sweepstakes: a. Superior (top 10%) and Excellent (next 20%) Sweepstakes awards will be presented in both individual events and debate. Superior (top 10%) and Excellent (next 20%) Combined Sweepstakes awards will also be presented in ascending order. b. Only those chapters with at least one entry in both individual events and debate will be eligible for the Combined Sweepstakes Awards. c. Individual Events Sweepstakes Formula: Points will be computed for the top three contestants from each chapter in each event according to the following formula:   Superior 5 points   Excellent 4 points   Good 3 points   Participation 1 points d. Debate Sweepstakes Formula: Points will be computed for the top three teams in each format except in Lincoln- Douglas where points will be computed for the top six contestants from each chapter by using the following formula:       Preliminary Rounds:           Superior 10 points           Excellent 8 points           Good 6 points           Participation 2 points       Elimination Rounds:           First Place 10 points           Second Place 8 points           Semifinals 6 points           Quarterfinals 2 points f. Combined Sweepstakes Formula: Points will be determined by adding the total number of Sweepstakes points earned in Individual Events by the top 12 contestants from each chapter with the total number of Sweepstakes points earned in preliminary rounds of Debate by the top 6 teams from each chapter. Sweepstakes points earned in elimination rounds will not count towards the Combined Sweepstakes Awards. g. Each chapter may earn a maximum of one participation point in each individual event or two participation points in each debate division if they earn no other sweepstakes points (superior, excellent, or good) in that event or division. h. Ties will be allowed. Section 7. General procedures: a. Each chapter will receive a confirmation of entries and fees if the registration form reaches the tournament director by the entry deadline. b. All competing chapters should strive to provide a sufficient number of qualified judges to cover the number of entries for that chapter. c. A school with 1 to 6 Individual Events slots has to provide a qualified Judge for eight rounds of Individual Events competition. A school with one debate team or two L-D entries has to provide a qualified judge for three rounds of debate competition and one elimination round. A school with two debate teams or 4 L-D entries has to provide a qualified judge for 6 rounds of debate competition and one elimination round. d. Judges should not reveal decisions, rankings, and/or ratings during preliminary competition. e. The tournament schedule will be developed by the National Tournament Director in consultation with the National Council and Host School. The schedule will be published in the tournament invitation. f. All questions regarding tournament procedures not covered by the bylaws will be decided by the National Tournament Director in consultation with the Tournament Committee. All questions concerning interpretation of the bylaws will be made by the National Tournament Director. Section 8. Special and/or Experimental Events: a. Experimental events may be offered at the discretion of the National Tournament Director with approval by the National Council. b. Rules about such an event should be stated in the tournament invitation. c. Special events and awards such as oral history videos, alumni showcases, and chapter history displays and/or web pages can be offered as feasible. They will not count toward sweepstakes. d. Rules and deadlines for special events will be published in the tournament invitation. III.  Awards: The Past President will be responsible for the solicitation of nominees for all awards and the notification to recipients when chosen. A.     Annual Awards – The Awards Committee, composed of the Past President and the 3 at-large National Council Members, will vote at the annual summer meeting of the National Council to determine that year’s recipients.   1.    Pi Kappa Delta shall award annually, if possible, the E.R. Nichols Award for Excellence in Forensics      Teaching.   This award is to be presented to a forensics professional who is an outstanding educator.             2.    Pi Kappa Delta shall award annually, if possible, the L.E. Norton Award for Outstanding Forensics Scholarship.  This          award is to be presented to a forensics professional who demonstrates outstanding scholarship. 3.    Pi Kappa Delta shall award annually, if possible, the John Shields Award for Outstanding Contributions to Pi Kappa Delta.  This award is to be presented to a forensics professional who demonstrates outstanding service to Pi Kappa Delta.          4.    Pi Kappa Delta shall award annually, if possible, the Bob R. Derryberry Outstanding Young Educator’s           Award.  This award is to be presented to a forensics professional in their first five years of forensics education who demonstrates excellence and promise as a forensics professional.                                B.     Biennial Awards – The Past President will form a committee to decide the recipients of the Biennial awards. 1.                                          Pi Kappa Delta shall award biennially, if possible, the R. David Ray Outstanding Young Chapter Award.  This award is to be presented to a Pi Kappa Delta chapter in their first five years of existence that has demonstrated excellence in their support of Pi Kappa Delta and its ideals, including academic excellence, competitive success, and service to their campus and the forensics community. 2.                                          Pi Kappa Delta shall award biennially, if possible, the Carolyn Keefe Outstanding Alumni Award.  This award is to be presented to an alumnus of Pi Kappa Delta who has demonstrated outstanding service to Pi Kappa Delta through support of its activities at the local, provincial, and/or national levels. 3.                                          Pi Kappa Delta shall award biennially, if possible student scholarships.  These scholarships will be presented to active undergraduate students.  The top applicant will receive the L.E. Norton Scholarship. 4.                                          Pi Kappa Delta shall award biennially, if possible, All American Awards.  These awards will be presented to active undergraduate students who have demonstrated the ideals of Pi Kappa Delta.  They should be outstanding students as demonstrated by excellence in classroom endeavors and their grade point average.  They should be outstanding forensics students as demonstrated by success in communication and/or forensics contexts.   They should be outstanding citizens as demonstrated by service to their chapter, their school, and their community. C.     Golden Gavel Award – The Past President will form a committee consisting of Past Presidents to decide the recipients of this award.  The award will be given biennially, if possible, to a person who has made outstanding contributions to Pi Kappa Delta.  All members of Pi Kappa Delta are eligible with the exception that no President – past, present, or future - can be considered for this award. D.     Hall of Fame Awards – The National Council will vote at the summer meeting of the National Council prior to the biennial     convention/tournament to determine the biennial recipients of this award.  Nominees will be classified into three categories: Early, Middle and Recent.  The Middle and Recent categories will each be for 25 years.  The Early category will be the remaining years.  The determination of category will be made based on the time period of the person’s most significant contribution to Pi Kappa Delta.  For election, candidates must receive votes in the following percentages:  Early – 50% of those voting; Middle – 75% of those voting; and Recent – 100% of those voting.