Dear college debate community,
The Novice Directors Working Group arose out of multiple conversations at the final tournaments of the 2023-24 debate season about our desires to see novice policy debate flourish. It has resulted in the following signed statement regarding novice policy debate as well as ongoing lists of suggestions from diverse novice programs around the country. We invite you to join us and add to the collection of amazing ideas to support novice debate!
If you are a novice program and would like to get involved, please comment or DM me to sign the statement and join our growing meetings. The next topic for discussion is novice disclosure etiquette and practices, and is slated for July 11 at 1PM EST. All ideas about disclosure will be collected and added as possible options to the suggestions portion of the document.
If you are a tournament director or a team without novices, we’d love to have your support. Please comment or DM me to sign the statement, and then read through the listed suggestions for ways that tournaments and judges can invest in novice debate.
Thank you for everything you all do to encourage new debaters every year. Looking forward to another great season!
Heather Hall, Liberty University
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15MhZsEf5JCsNRsyvygfggIVJm73g7AG9R_kox7tGS6s/edit?usp=sharing
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