District II
AFA-NIET
CONSTITUTION & BY-LAWS
Article I—District
Membership
Section l
Any accredited
college or university offering an Associate of Arts degree and/or higher degree
in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho or Montana (except for Montana State
University, Billings which is a member of District IX) shall be eligible for
membership in District II.
Section 2
Membership in
District II shall consist of those schools who are current dues paying members
of the NIET. Membership until the December l deadline for the receipt of dues
by the District Chair shall consist of those schools who paid dues for the
previous academic year plus any school which has paid for the current academic
year and after the December l deadline of those schools who have paid dues for
the current academic year.
Section 3
Schools in this
region who wish to affiliate with a different AFA-NIET District must follow the
AFA-NIET National Committee guidelines for petitioning for a change of district
affiliation.
Article II—Events
and Event Guidelines
Section l
The events,
event descriptions, and conflict patterns for District II shall be the same as
those for the NIET for the current year.
Section 2
The event
guidelines for District II shall be the same as for the NIET. Coaches and competing students need to
be aware of these guidelines such as: (l) when speeches or cuttings should have
been prepared,(2) how literature
can be ethically cut and having the original work from which a cutting has been
taken and (3) having the full text of an original event including a
complete bibliography in prepared public address events, etc.
Article III—Eligibility
Section l
Any accredited
dues paying school as defined in Article I may enter students in the D II NIET
tournament.
Section 2
Students must
meet NIET eligibility standards.
Section 3
Any and all
protests regarding eligibility must be made in writing to the District Chair.
The District Chair will consult with the District committee and they will vote
on the eligibility question. All parties involved will be immediately informed
of the ruling. Protests of this nature must be filed prior to the end of the
District II Tournament.
Article IV—Qualifying
for the AFA-NIET Through Districts
Section 1
There must be a
minimum of five schools participating to hold a district tournament. If there
are 9 or more schools in attendance, then the district tournament will generate
legs in accordance with the usual AFA- NIET at-large qualification standards.
Section 2
A student earns
District Qualification by placing in the top 10% of a given event at the
District Tournament. The total number of persons in an event at the District
Qualifier will be rounded off to the next highest interval of ten. ( For
example if 3l students compete, 4 would earn District Qualification under the
10% rule) The top three individuals in each event, regardless of total entries
in the event, will be advanced to the National Tournament.
Section 3
At the District
II Tournament, students may not
enter an event for which they have qualified at large. If a student earns a third leg at the
District Tournament and qualifies for the NIET by this method, all other
students are moved up for purposes
of determining qualification for the NIET. Use of this procedure does not alter final rankings in the
event for purposes of determining awards.
Section 4
Students may
enter up to a maximum of six events with no more than two events in a given
pattern. If a student is entered
in two Dramatic Duos, that counts as two events.
Section 5
It is expected
that those qualifying to attend the AFA-NIET via the District Tournament will
do so. If for some reason a school
or students cannot attend, that should be communicated to the District Chair
immediately (definitely no later than the date specified in the AFA-NIET
national tournament rules) so that an alternate contestant may be advanced.
Article V—Qualifying
for the AFA NIET Through At-Large Qualification
Section l
Students may
qualify for the AFA-NIET through meeting national at-large qualification
standards as set by the AFA National Individual Events Tournament Committee.
Section 2
It is the
responsibility of the director of forensics to keep accurate records for NIET
at large qualification for her or his students. Records must show that 9 or more schools had students
participating in individual events at the tournament unless there was a waiver.
Records must show that the students competed in senior or open division.
Records must show qualification based on the total number of participants
competing in all preliminary rounds in open or senior division. These records
must be submitted to the district committee chair by the date specified in the
invitation to the district tournament
Section 3
All schools
should provide complete individual event tournament results showing the number
of schools participating and the number of senior or open contestants in all
events.
Article VI—Constitutional
Limitations
Section l
Nothing in this
Constitution shall be construed as contravening rulings of the National
Individual Events Tournament Constitution or Bylaws.
Section 2
This
Constitution shall be in effect when ratified by a two-thirds vote of the
membership. This Constitution may also be amended by a two-thirds vote of the
membership.
Article I—The
District Committee
Section l
A District II
Committee consisting of five coaches and one student shall be elected annually
by the district membership. A term on the committee shall be for two years
(except for student members who shall serve for one year) with the initial
committee elected in such a way that no more than three terms expire in a given
year. The District Chair shall serve two years, with chair elections held in
March in even-numbered years. Any District Committee member may run for chair.
If the chair has only one year remaining on her/his term, the term is extended
by one year to allow service for two years as chair. In the event that a person
resigns or is replaced on the committee, the new member's term expires in the
same year as the person he/she replaced.
Section 2
Any person who
officially represents a member school as a director of forensics or coach is
eligible to serve on the District II Committee. Any competing student in good
standing may serve as student representative. Not more than one official
representative from the same school may serve on the committee at the same time
except that an official representative and the student representative may be
from the same school.
Section 3
The election of
new members of the committee shall be held annually sometime in the first two
weeks in March. Each member school
shall be entitled to one vote. The
current committee shall designate an election coordinator to conduct the
election. The election coordinator
cannot be a person running for committee election during that year. The election proceeds as follows:
Section 4
The terms of
office for members of the District II Committee shall be from the last day of
the NIET in the year elected until the last day of the NIET in the year of the
expiration of their terms. (A newly elected chair assumes her/his duties
immediately after a national tournament).
Section 5
In the
event a vacancy should occur on
the District II Committee, the Committee shall have the option of continuing
with fewer than six members or calling a special election to fill the vacancy.
A special election should be conducted in the same manner as a regular
election.
Section 6
A quorum of the
Committee shall consist of a minimum of four voting members. Committee approval
requires a majority vote.
Section 7
Any or all
members of the Committee shall be subject to recall at any time prior to the
expiration of their terms. Upon receipt by one or more members of the Committee
of a petition containing the signatures of at least one third of the current
District II memberships requesting the recall of any member or members, the
Chair shall, within two weeks, appoint a two person election committee
consisting of any two members of the district who are not themselves subject of
the recall. Within two additional weeks this election committee shall mail a
duplicate ballot to all members of DII asking whether this person(s) should be
recalled. If, within two additional weeks, a majority of those voting
(providing at least 50% of D II members vote) vote to recall a member(s), the
Chair shall declare those persons as no longer being members of the Committee. If the chair is subject to recall,
the vice chair shall perform the recall duties of the chair.
Article II—Duties
of the District II Committee
Section l
The District II
Committee shall hold such meetings as are called by the Chair or are requested
by three members of the Committee. Every effort should be made to notify
members of the Committee in advance when a meeting has been called, but a
meeting called by the Chair or by four members (a quorum) of the committee
shall be legally able to conduct business providing a quorum is present.
Section 2
The District
Committee shall be responsible for providing and scheduling a Qualifying
Tournament for DII according to the rules of the NIET. The tournament shall be conducted
consistently with the rules of the NIET and with District II bylaws.
Section 3
The District
Committee shall be responsible for verifying at large qualification from DII
for the NIET according to national NIET rules.
Section 4
The Committee
has the sole power to determine dates, sites, eligibility to attend and
compete, eligibility of judges, and formatting for the D II tournament within
the rules provided by the NIET.
Section 5
The Committee
shall have the power to make such by laws as are necessary to carry out its
duties except that no bylaw may conflict with the DII Constitution or the rules
of the NIET. A bylaw must be moved
by one member of the Committee, seconded by a second, and passed by a majority
of those present and voting, providing a quorum (4 members) is present. In the
event of a tie vote, the bylaw shall be declared to have failed to pass.
Article III—Duties
of Chair and Vice Chair
Section l
In accordance
with the requirements of the national AFA-NIET, The Chair of D II NIET shall be
elected in even numbered years or when a vacancy occurs in the office of Chair
by the District II Committee. The
term shall be for two years and shall begin an end on the last day of the NIET.
The Vice Chair will be the person getting the second numbers of votes for
chair.
Section 2
The Chair shall
preside at all meeting of the District II Committee when present. If not
present, the Vice Chair will preside. If neither officer is present but a
quorum exits, the committee shall elect a chair for that meeting.
Section 3
The Chair shall
appoint such subcommittees as may be deemed necessary with the advice and
consent of the district committee.
Section 4
The Chair will
represent D II at National NIET meetings or shall delegate those
responsibilities to the Vice Chair or another committee member when necessary.
Section 5
The Chair shall
promote individual events participation and innovation in DII. The Chair and
the DII committee shall do all they can to add schools to the DII NIET list and
promote individual events education at DII tournaments.
Article IV —Duties
of Student Member
Section l
The Student D II
committee member shall meet with the D II committee whenever possible and have
a vote. The student and the committee shall do their best to represent student
interests in individual events competition.
Section 2
The Student D II
Committee member will represent D II at all NIET student meetings or shall
delegate another student to fulfill those obligations when she or he cannot be
present.
Article V—Tournament
Host
Bids for future
District Qualifiers should be solicited by the District Chair with every effort
being made to designate a host for the following year by the end of the current
qualifier. The District Committee shall vote on site and dates for the district
qualifier. Every effort shall be
made to reach a consensus decision on the site and date for the district
tournament.
Article VI—District
Qualifier Tournament Management
The District
Committee shall elect a tournament director for the district qualifier. That
person and the district committee shall select other tab room members. Any
protests should be filed with the Tournament Manager and District Chair in
writing specifying the protest and
providing proof for the violation.
The district committee shall vote on the protest and their decision
shall be final.
Article—VII
Entries
Section l
The District
Committee shall set the dates and site of the district tournament in accordance
with national AFA-NIET deadlines.
The district committee shall set entry deadlines for the tournament.
Section 2
Students must
provide information from their school's registrar showing that they are
students in good standing at their respective institutions at the time of the
district tournament. The district tournament invitation should include a form
for this purpose.
Section 3
All NIET entry
rules should be followed. No student shall enter an event for which she/he has
qualified at large. No student may enter more than 2 events in any one pattern
and 2 duos counts as two events in the duo pattern. No school may enter more than 5 students in any one event at
the district tournament.
Article VIII—Judging
Section l
All schools must
provide at least l judge with a BA or higher degree with their entries. This
person must be familiar with judging competitive individual events.
Section 2
Schools should
provide additional judges meeting the same qualifications as in section l to
accompany their entries. l judge is needed for each 6 or more students in a pattern. The tournament management may
deny entries if a school cannot provide judges to cover their entries and
qualified hired judges cannot be found.
The tournament management can make an exception to judge qualifications
standards when necessary.
Section 3
Hired judges must
hold a BA degree or higher and be familiar with judging competitive individual
events unless exceptions are made by the tournament manager and the district
committee.
Section 4
All judges
should be given the opportunity to state conflicts as to: schools or individuals they
should not judge and/or as to events they are more or less competent to judge.
Section 5
Whenever
possible there should be two judges per section in preliminary events and three
judges per section in elimination events.
Exceptions to this rule can be made by the tournament management but
must be consistent to sections in events.
Section 6
Ballots should
provide for rankings from l-5 and for ratings from l-25. Ballots should also provide space
for contestant name, school, and code and space for comments on the
individual's performance.
Article IX—Scheduling
Section l
There should be
3 preliminary rounds of all NIET events in the same conflict patterns as
utilized by the NIET. There should be a final round if 8 or more students are
entered in an event. There should
be a semifinal round if 24 or more students are entered in an event.
Section 2
Preliminary
rounds should have sections having no less than 4 students and no more than 7
students. Whenever possible students should not meet students from their own
school, students they have met previously, nor be judged by judges who have
judged them in the same event at the district tournament.
Section 3
Students should
be advanced to semifinals or finals or ranked according to the following
criteria in the following order:
1
- Total rankings from all judges, dropping the lowest ranking.
2
- Total speaker ratings from all judges, dropping the lowest rating.
3
- Total rankings from all judges
4
- Total ratings from all judges.
Article X—By-laws
Section l
Nothing in these
bylaws should contravene the rules of the NIET or of the DII Constitution.
Section 2
These bylaws
should be in effect when passed by l/2 of DII eligible and voting members and
may be amended by the votes of 1/2 of DII eligible and voting members
Posted: November
19, 2002