Judge Policy

We at New Trier prioritize the safety of students and providing a quality educational experience at our tournament. To that end, we encourage directors to bring judges who will promote those values.

Judges are expected to be on time for their rounds and fulfill their commitments. To ensure that judges are available for their rounds, we are instituting the following fine:

Judge absence - any program whose judge misses their scheduled debate will be fined $75 per round missed. The tab staff will make every effort to contact and call the judge if for some reason they are not nearby. If that communication still results in a situation where their ballot must be pushed to another judge, the fine will be assessed.

Each school must ensure that all of its judges are available for the double octofinals and one past the elimination of that school from the tournament. This is to ensure that we can maximize judge preferences and also to provide the highest quality of feedback for students in elimination rounds. 

Our administration and program expect that judges will mentor students in an educationally productive way. A safe learning environment is essential for all debaters to grow as people. Atmospheres of hostility, aggresiveness, or character disparaging will not be tolerated at the tournament. Judges should remember that the debaters are ultimately high school students and that they are developing their own thoughts, positions, and identities. Therefore, we expect post round discussions to be professional, courteous, and productive. 

If directors know that some of their judges tend to miss rounds or provide overly aggressive/hostile feedback after debates, we ask that they opt for alternative judges for our tournament. 

You must request hired judging through tabroom and we will approve your request based on availability. There are a limited number of hired judges available at $65/round.