2020 Northwestern University Season Opener – Friday, September 18^th – Monday, September 21^st, 2020

 Hello Everyone,

It is wonderful to see that so many of you will be (virtually) joining us for the 2020 Season Opener at Northwestern University.  We hope to offer the same level of hospitality as we would at an in-person tournament.  To that end, please bear with us.  As this will be our first time hosting a virtual tournament on this scale, we are working carefully to provide you the best possible tournament experience.  Therefore, this document will be updated over the coming weeks.  A full tournament invitation/packet are forthcoming. Here are the details that we have for you so far.  You can find the tournament schedule here, as well as in the updated invitation which is available on our tournament main page.

Thank you and we look forward to hosting everyone later this month!

Sincerely,

LaTonya K. Starks

Virtual Tournament Processes and Instructional Videos

Classrooms.cloud walk-thru video - uses UKSO, but same premise/point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=SsPKlD2oqEQ&feature=emb_logo

What to do if Classrooms.cloud login fails:

First step: Login in to Tabroom, click Profile, then click Resync on righthand-side. Then try to login to Classrooms.cloud again.

If that does not work, you may need to reset your Tabroom password and clear your cache/cookies, then try to login to Classrooms.cloud again.

Unlinked students:

There are still some unlinked students (i.e. do not have emails linked to their Tabroom accounts). They will not be able to login to the tournament until we get them linked. Adrienne is contacting those with unlinked entries to help resolve.

Meanwhile, this video can help you resolve unlinked students: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YNrHUweRPA&feature=emb_logo

REGISTRATION FEES

This tournament will be free for all participants.

FORMAT

Debates will use the 2020-2021 Cross Examination Debate Association topic.  While speech and cross-examination times will retain a 9-3-6 format, information on preparation and decision times will be announced later.  Speaker points will be assigned on a 30-point scale, in one-tenth increments, with no tied points.  We will offer six (6) preliminary rounds and break to a partial triple. Student eligibility to compete will be determined by the relevant CEDA and American Debate Association rules.  Each team must consist of two students enrolled with their college or university.

We will have 6 prelims and break to a Partial-Triple-Octafinal round. 

·      Rounds 1 and 2 will take place on Friday, 9/18

·      Rounds 3, 4 and 5 will take place on Saturday, 9/19

·      Round 6, Partial Triples and Double-Octafinals will take place on Sunday, 9/20

·      The remaining elimination rounds will be held on Monday, 9/21

The debates will take place using Classrooms.Cloud.  Northwestern is a member institution of the NDT, CEDA and the ADA; we will administer the tournament accordingly. 

We will be hosting three divisions of competition – Novice, Junior Varsity and Open.

THE NOVICE PACKET

As with season openers in previous years, teams debating in the Novice Division are required to use the ADA Novice Packet.  The Novice Curriculum and Novice Curriculum Committee were created after the 2016 Summer meeting, which passed a rule creating a Novice Curriculum at ADA tournaments for the first semester of every school year.  Please visit https://americandebateassociation.com/ncc/novice-resources-fall-2020/ for links to frequently asked questions, the General NCC Rules, the Novice Packet, and packet updates.

HYBRIDS

Hybrid teams will be allowed on a case-by-case basis, at the discretion of the tournament director.