Logistics and Operations Announcements for the 2014 Chicago Debate Championship

These are the official announcements pertaining to tournament logistics and operations for our 17th annual city of Chicago high school debating championship.

Special Notes

Weather reports indicate it might rain on Friday. Many judges and debaters will need to walk across campus, so try to be prepared to protect yourselves and your valuables!

Expect traffic on Friday morning — a weekday rush-hour. Leave enough time to arrive on time, and notify the appropriate tournament director when you are en route.

Registration

Coaches should use SpeechWire to make changes until Thursday, March 27th, 5:00pm.

After that time, and on Friday morning, Varsity changes and confirmation, including Varsity judge registration information, should be sent to Imran by email (imakani@gmail.com), text or cell (773-800-0189), and JV changes and confirmation should be sent to Chris Baron by email (chrisbaron@resources.chicagodebates.org), text or cell (410-963-4949). Tab rooms will be separated by division, with Imran running the Varsity tab room and Chris running the JV tab room.

On Friday morning, March 28th, all coaches, judges, and debaters should report to the Technological Institute (aka “Tech”), which is at 2145 Sheridan Rd.

On Friday, registration for all schools (both divisions, all coaches, all judges) will be in Tech. The Opening Assembly, beginning at 9:45am, will be in the Tech Auditorium on the first floor.

There is a parking lot just across the street from Tech, on the west side of Sheridan Road, which we recommend as a drop-off and pick-up location, and (pending availability) parking. There is additional street parking west of Sheridan Rd. all weekend.

Tournament Schedule

Please review the schedule, so you can help us begin and end on time.

Don’t forget that Friday is a normal workday, so account for rush hour traffic in your morning arrival plans.

The Campus Map and the Division of Divisions

Color-coded map of Northwestern University, showing which buildings will be used by which Divisions in the 2014 Chicago Debate Championship. Blue buildings are Varsity, yellow buildings are JV. However, all elimination rounds will be in Tech.

After the Opening Assembly the tournament will essentially be split in two, by division. There will be one tab room for the Varsity division and one tab room for the JV division. Judges will be assigned to one division or the other, and will not judge cross-division.

The Varsity tab room will be in Tech L158.

The JV tab room will be in Kresge Hall, room 2-359, which is immediately through the doors we will most often use in Kresge, the west face of the building (facing “the rock” and University Hall).

The buildings that we are using on campus will mostly be assigned to one division or the other, as the color-coded map above indicates, where yellow buildings are JV-only, blue buildings are Varsity-only.

Meals

On Friday we will be serving lunch and dinner (but not breakfast). On Saturday, we will be serving light breakfast and lunch (but not dinner). On Sunday we will be providing light breakfast (what’s left over from Saturday) and lunch.

On Friday, JV debaters and judges will be served their meals from the Crowe Center (on the bottom floor, attached to Kresge). Meals can be eaten in the rooms on the first floor of Kresge. Varsity debaters and judges on Friday will be served in Tech LR3, and they will eat their meals in Tech LR3 and LR2.

On Saturday morning for light breakfast, the JV division will have food served at the Rock (outside, just 50 feet or so southwest of Kresge). The Varsity division will have its continental breakfast served in Tech LR3. Then, after Round VI, the JV division comes up to Tech for lunch, which will be served in LR3, and will be eaten in both LR3, LR2, and LR5.

Qualitative Assessment and Student Surveys

The Chicago Debate Commission will be performing its late-season, in-round qualitative assessment, as part of the SY2014 Qualitative Assessment Project, throughout the tournament.

Additionally, between Rounds I and II the CDC will administer out-of-round benchmark assessments to all debaters at the tournament. These are paper-and-pencil assessments on the following CDL Debater Development Benchmarks:

First-Year Debaters
2 – Debate round adjudication
3 – Tournament scheduling
4 – Tournament metrics of success

Second-Year Debaters
35 – Electronic and Library Research
36 – Targeted Research
39 – Reading key articles and book sections
40 – Understanding broader themes and contexts

Third/Fourth-Year Debaters
62 – Rebuttal Re-do
63 – Formulating an intellectual position on the topic
64 – Overall strategic view of the topic

Varsity debaters will all report to Tech LR3 at 12:45pm to take their out-of-round qualitative assessment. JV debaters will all report to Fisk Hall, room 217, to take their out-of-round assessment.

We will need the cooperation and assistance of all coaches to ensure that all debaters at T6 report to their required assessment location at 12:45pm. The biggest risk of tournament delay on Friday is if we have to wait for or round up straggling debaters and we can’t begin assessment right at 12:45pm. On the plus/incentive side, students who complete their out-of-round qualitative assessment will be given a ticket and entered in a gift card (Burger King, Starbucks, iTunes, Walgreens) raffle. There will be $10 – $25 gift cards raffled out at both the JV and Varsity sites at 1:30pm.

When students turn in their assessments debaters will be asked to complete a short student survey, providing us with feedback on their experience this season, and ways that we can improve the CDL next year.

Elimination Rounds

After the prelim rounds are over, the entire tournament will be in the Tech Institute, 2145 Sheridan Rd., for the remainder of Saturday.

The octo-final round announcements will be made in the Tech Auditorium at 1:00pm on Saturday, and all octo’s and quarter-final rounds will be held in Tech. The Awards Ceremony will be held in the Tech Auditorium.

For all schools that have a team or teams in the octo-finals but that do not advance any farther in the tournament, we will likely need you to provide us with one judge for the quarter-final round (5:00pm – 7:00pm).

Internet Access

We will have guest access to the wireless network at Northwestern this weekend for the Chicago Debate Championship.

From Northwestern: “When a guest arrives on campus and attempts to access the Internet using a computer or other mobile device, they should choose the “Guest-Northwestern” in the list of networks presented. During registration, guests are required to accept the University’s acceptable use policy and provide their contact information and the name of the individual or organization sponsoring their University visit — i.e., the Northwestern Debate Society.”
More information and a FAQ page is on the Northwestern University website.

Sunday Elimination Rounds

On Sunday, for the semi-finals and the final rounds, at the Loyola Law School, 25 E. Pearson St., the tab room will be in room 1102.

Semi-Finals
JV: 1001, 1101
Varsity: 1103, 1104

Chicago Debate Championship Rounds
JV: 1101
Varsity: 1103

Announcement of the 2014 Chicago Debate Champions in the JV and Varsity divisions will take place on Sunday, March 30th, at 1:00pm, in room 1102.

Judge Strikes

Please don’t forget to turn in your strike sheets. See the post on the CDL website
Looking forward to a truly outstanding culminating competition in academic debate this weekend!