Welcome to the home for the IPDA on the World Wide Web!
We encourage you to explore this site and keep checking back regularly for updates. This site is about you ... the debaters and coaches involved in IPDA as well as those interested in becoming involved in this activity. If you have suggestions, simply let us know!
To find out more about our organization, or submit any questions you may have - simply use the "IPDA Interest Form" below and one of our organization's officers will respond to your inquiry.
To sign up for more information delivered to your e-mail accounts, we recommend that you join our IPDA Listserve. Instructions can be found under More Info?!
To find out more about our organization, or submit any questions you may have - simply use the "IPDA Interest Form" below and one of our organization's officers will respond to your inquiry.
To sign up for more information delivered to your e-mail accounts, we recommend that you join our IPDA Listserve. Instructions can be found under More Info?!
News & Notes
November 12, 2020:
The IPDA is proud to announce the publication of the International Public Debate Association Textbook 2nd Edition! Available through Kendall-Hunt, this updated edition features new content (including Team Debate), new sidebars, and updated chapters that help reflect the evolving nature of the IPDA!
Whether your program is well established or just starting out, the IPDA Textbook will provide valuable foundations for public debate, theoretical underpinnings, and help establish a "best practices" approach for coaches and competitors alike.
The new edition is available in both print and electronic editions. You can contact your campus Kendall-Hunt representative for more details, or visit https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/international-public-debate-association-textbook for more information.
September 12, 2020:
Friends and colleagues,
We are one week away from the kickoff of the 2020/2021 IPDA Season with virtual tournaments being offered by Lee College (Baytown, TX) and the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL). Most tournaments in the Fall will be utilizing the Yaatly.com platform for the virtual rounds, and will feature synchronous debate in full accordance with the IPDA Constitution and Bylaws.
If you are interested in participating in Fall competition, we encourage you to take a look at our Schedule & Invitations page on this website for more details. We look forward to a busy and competitive 2020/2021 Season!
July 23, 2020:
Friends and colleagues,
In these extraordinary times, the Executive Committee believes that extraordinary measures and practices should be put in place to allow our activity to continue giving our students an opportunity to practice the unique skills that IPDA offers, especially in lieu of university, state, and local ordinances that may restrict travel. Out of an abundance of caution, administrators and coaches may be asked to take significant cuts to budgets and enforce major restrictions to gatherings on campuses. Thus, the EC is releasing some guidelines, which will remain in place temporarily for the 2020-2021 season and allow for online competitions to replace in-person tournaments, while also giving coaches the ability to produce results that will keep their programs viable until some sense of normalcy can resume.
1. Tournament hosts and officials are allowed to make final judgments on platform and software requirements for teams and competitors to compete virtually. While we have heard very promising results about Zoom Pro, which include a low cost and high level of stability and function, other platforms may be more readily available and/or emerge as additional candidates and, much like tabulation software, we believe that tournaments should be allowed to make those decisions independently.
a.The EC encourages invitations to make clear the expectations and guidelines for technological failures mid-tournament or mid-round. For example, we would recommend that any “extended” internet outage or downtime, especially once a round has begun, should likely result in a forfeit to keep tournaments functionally on time.
b.Additionally, ballot submissions should be explained in the tournament invitation document as well so that all judges complete and submit ballots in a timely and unified manner.
2. Regardless of platform, tournament directors should highly encourage, if not enforce, normal IPDA round practices unless required to meet ADA needs. This means competitors should still “flow” with pen and paper as they would normally, not utilizing laptop or computer functions for flowing or timing. Fundamentally, the video technology and platform should only be used to transmit the round, not enhance the competitor’s functionality in any additional way. Per IPDA Bylaws, competitors should still use handheld timers for timekeeping and no electronic devices capable of transmitting data should be allowed. We would encourage framing practices that would allow the fellow competitor and judge to visually see a non-speaking competitor adhering to these practices by giving some distance (2-3 feet) between the camera and competitor while not speaking.
3. For the 2020-2021 season, eligibility guidelines will be equally applied to competitions whether held virtually or in person. This means that the novice, junior varsity, and varsity eligibility requirements are the same and will be counted the same for all competitions.
4. Ethics: All coaches, competitors, and tournament officials are bound to the same ethical guidelines both outlined in the Constitution and Bylaws. We understand that the use of technology allows for a greater threat to the sanctity of the event and debate and thus, the following expectations are made:
a. No member of the debate, either judge or competitor, should be permitted to communicate with someone not involved therein during the round. Competitors should be competing free of any assistance during the round and judges should not discuss the round with any outside member until after the ballot is submitted.
b. Tournament officials are encouraged to utilize any “lockdown” functionality that the chosen platform allows. This would effectively only allow the competitors and judge(s) into the room and, even if audience members are allowed by the tournament, no one should enter or exit the virtual room until the round concludes.
c. If any member of the round utilizes any recording function, the judge’s ballot should still remain the final arbiter of the round and any squabbles between competitors or programs should still follow IPDA Bylaws for conflict resolution. It is highly recommended that should any recording function be utilized that it only be done with the consent of the other members involved in the round (fellow competitor and judges). Additionally, judges should be directed to render decisions and ballots based solely on the time allotted to the competitors, not using any “playback” functionality that would otherwise have been unavailable.
d. Tournament directors are expected to provide as many precautions as possible to ensure that no rounds are subjected to any unwanted visitors and that the privacy of those involved is respected.
5. All tournament directors should make every effort to adhere to the lay judge inclusion guidelines in the Constitution and minimize any “hiring” of judges unless absolutely necessary.
6. Should tournaments wish to offer Team IPDA as a division, the tournament invitation should outline any expected deviances from the above. Namely, it would theoretically be expected to allow “teammates” to utilize a chat function to pass notes if no other alternative is present.
The IPDA is proud to announce the publication of the International Public Debate Association Textbook 2nd Edition! Available through Kendall-Hunt, this updated edition features new content (including Team Debate), new sidebars, and updated chapters that help reflect the evolving nature of the IPDA!
Whether your program is well established or just starting out, the IPDA Textbook will provide valuable foundations for public debate, theoretical underpinnings, and help establish a "best practices" approach for coaches and competitors alike.
The new edition is available in both print and electronic editions. You can contact your campus Kendall-Hunt representative for more details, or visit https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/international-public-debate-association-textbook for more information.
September 12, 2020:
Friends and colleagues,
We are one week away from the kickoff of the 2020/2021 IPDA Season with virtual tournaments being offered by Lee College (Baytown, TX) and the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL). Most tournaments in the Fall will be utilizing the Yaatly.com platform for the virtual rounds, and will feature synchronous debate in full accordance with the IPDA Constitution and Bylaws.
If you are interested in participating in Fall competition, we encourage you to take a look at our Schedule & Invitations page on this website for more details. We look forward to a busy and competitive 2020/2021 Season!
July 23, 2020:
Friends and colleagues,
In these extraordinary times, the Executive Committee believes that extraordinary measures and practices should be put in place to allow our activity to continue giving our students an opportunity to practice the unique skills that IPDA offers, especially in lieu of university, state, and local ordinances that may restrict travel. Out of an abundance of caution, administrators and coaches may be asked to take significant cuts to budgets and enforce major restrictions to gatherings on campuses. Thus, the EC is releasing some guidelines, which will remain in place temporarily for the 2020-2021 season and allow for online competitions to replace in-person tournaments, while also giving coaches the ability to produce results that will keep their programs viable until some sense of normalcy can resume.
1. Tournament hosts and officials are allowed to make final judgments on platform and software requirements for teams and competitors to compete virtually. While we have heard very promising results about Zoom Pro, which include a low cost and high level of stability and function, other platforms may be more readily available and/or emerge as additional candidates and, much like tabulation software, we believe that tournaments should be allowed to make those decisions independently.
a.The EC encourages invitations to make clear the expectations and guidelines for technological failures mid-tournament or mid-round. For example, we would recommend that any “extended” internet outage or downtime, especially once a round has begun, should likely result in a forfeit to keep tournaments functionally on time.
b.Additionally, ballot submissions should be explained in the tournament invitation document as well so that all judges complete and submit ballots in a timely and unified manner.
2. Regardless of platform, tournament directors should highly encourage, if not enforce, normal IPDA round practices unless required to meet ADA needs. This means competitors should still “flow” with pen and paper as they would normally, not utilizing laptop or computer functions for flowing or timing. Fundamentally, the video technology and platform should only be used to transmit the round, not enhance the competitor’s functionality in any additional way. Per IPDA Bylaws, competitors should still use handheld timers for timekeeping and no electronic devices capable of transmitting data should be allowed. We would encourage framing practices that would allow the fellow competitor and judge to visually see a non-speaking competitor adhering to these practices by giving some distance (2-3 feet) between the camera and competitor while not speaking.
3. For the 2020-2021 season, eligibility guidelines will be equally applied to competitions whether held virtually or in person. This means that the novice, junior varsity, and varsity eligibility requirements are the same and will be counted the same for all competitions.
4. Ethics: All coaches, competitors, and tournament officials are bound to the same ethical guidelines both outlined in the Constitution and Bylaws. We understand that the use of technology allows for a greater threat to the sanctity of the event and debate and thus, the following expectations are made:
a. No member of the debate, either judge or competitor, should be permitted to communicate with someone not involved therein during the round. Competitors should be competing free of any assistance during the round and judges should not discuss the round with any outside member until after the ballot is submitted.
b. Tournament officials are encouraged to utilize any “lockdown” functionality that the chosen platform allows. This would effectively only allow the competitors and judge(s) into the room and, even if audience members are allowed by the tournament, no one should enter or exit the virtual room until the round concludes.
c. If any member of the round utilizes any recording function, the judge’s ballot should still remain the final arbiter of the round and any squabbles between competitors or programs should still follow IPDA Bylaws for conflict resolution. It is highly recommended that should any recording function be utilized that it only be done with the consent of the other members involved in the round (fellow competitor and judges). Additionally, judges should be directed to render decisions and ballots based solely on the time allotted to the competitors, not using any “playback” functionality that would otherwise have been unavailable.
d. Tournament directors are expected to provide as many precautions as possible to ensure that no rounds are subjected to any unwanted visitors and that the privacy of those involved is respected.
5. All tournament directors should make every effort to adhere to the lay judge inclusion guidelines in the Constitution and minimize any “hiring” of judges unless absolutely necessary.
6. Should tournaments wish to offer Team IPDA as a division, the tournament invitation should outline any expected deviances from the above. Namely, it would theoretically be expected to allow “teammates” to utilize a chat function to pass notes if no other alternative is present.
The IPDA Textbook 2nd Edition is Now Available for Purchase!
Available through Kendall-Hunt, this updated edition features new content (including Team Debate), new sidebars, and updated chapters that help reflect the evolving nature of the IPDA!
Whether your program is well established or just starting out, the IPDA Textbook will provide valuable foundations for public debate, theoretical underpinnings, and help establish a "best practices" approach for coaches and competitors alike.
The new edition is available in both print and electronic editions. You can contact your campus Kendall-Hunt representative for more details, or visit https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/international-public-debate-association-textbook for more information.
Click the link below for ordering information:
International Public Debate Association Textbook, 2nd Edition
Available through Kendall-Hunt, this updated edition features new content (including Team Debate), new sidebars, and updated chapters that help reflect the evolving nature of the IPDA!
Whether your program is well established or just starting out, the IPDA Textbook will provide valuable foundations for public debate, theoretical underpinnings, and help establish a "best practices" approach for coaches and competitors alike.
The new edition is available in both print and electronic editions. You can contact your campus Kendall-Hunt representative for more details, or visit https://he.kendallhunt.com/product/international-public-debate-association-textbook for more information.
Click the link below for ordering information:
International Public Debate Association Textbook, 2nd Edition
