2. Google Forms will be used via email for nominations and voting.
3. Each school will have one vote.
4. With the exception of the Presidency, all Executive Council positions last for a term of one year and may be re-elected without term limit.

SECTION II – The President

A. Definition & Purpose: The President is the chair of the Executive Council. The President is also the primary Utah High School Activities Association Representative. The Presidency is designed to effectively transfer authority, expertise, and experience between three rotating positions. The President will ultimately serve a four-year term including an initial year as the President Elect, two years as President, and a final year as Past President.

B. Powers: The President has the power to:
1. Schedule meetings of the Executive Council.
2. Approve appointments made by the various Directors.
4. Have ultimate discretion in the governing of the Executive Council.

C. Responsibilities: It is the duty of the President to:
1. Actively communicate with all other Executive Council members.
2. Designate a location for all Executive Council meetings.
3. Act as the primary Utah High School Activities Association Representative. This includes attending all UHSAA Speech and Drama Committee meetings.
4. Mentor the President Elect and advise and serve the current President when acting as Past President.
5. Oversee all other executive members and ensure that all executive council responsibilities are fulfilled. This includes being accessible to all coaches and directing questions to appropriate directors.

D. Terms:
1. The President shall serve, and have sole presidential authority, for a term of two years. The President will also informally serve one year as President Elect and one year as Past President.
2. These three presidential positions will always overlap in order to enable two presidential figures to oversee the UDCA (See Figure 1).
3. The official term will begin the first of September after serving one year as President Elect.
4. The Past President is eligible to run for a separate Executive Council position.
5. The Past President shall preside over official meetings in the absence of the President.

SECTION III – The President Elect
The post of President Elect shall last for one year following her or his election. He or she shall sit in council with the President for the duration of the year-long term. During the second year of the President’s term, The President Elect shall preside over official meetings of the UDCA in President’s absence and will serve at the President’s behest. The President Elect shall assume the role of President if anything should happen to the President precluding them from fulfilling their duties, and shall organize the election of a new President Elect.

SECTION IV – Past President
The post of Past President shall last for one year after their own Presidential two-year term. The Past President will train the new President prior to the ending of his/her term by passing on all pertinent information, materials, meeting schedules, lists, membership records, budgetary issues, etc. The Past President shall sit in council with the President for the duration of the year-long term and shall act as President if anything should happen to the President precluding them from fulfilling their duties until a new president is elected. Upon the election of a new president, the Past President will train the incoming president by passing on all pertinent information, material, meeting schedules, lists, membership records, budgetary issues, etc. The Past President shall preside over official meetings of the UDCA in absence of the President and will serve at the behest of the President.

SECTION V – The Director of Judges

A. Definition & Purpose: The Director of Judges oversees all policies and procedures related to tournament judges.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Director of Judges to:
1. Oversee the monitoring of judge quality and maintain a ranking system for judges.
2. Maintain instructions and ballots for all UDCA sanctioned debate events.
3. Store a copy of official UHSAA Adjudicator Forms.
4. Maintain a central record of judge contact information.
5. Advise new coaches in how to fulfill judge commitments for speech and debate tournaments.
6. Help find judges for National Forensics League National Tournament if Utah is a host site, or for other statewide and regional competitions.
7. Deliver instruction to judges, or appoint someone as necessary, at the State Tournament to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that speech and debate rounds are judged fairly and consistently.

SECTION VI – Director of Tournaments

A. Definition & Purpose: The Director of Tournaments shall be the Organization’s tournament and tab room expert, overseeing the organization and operation of the Speech Arts Tournament and State Tournaments.
B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Director of Tournaments to:
1. Organize and run the Speech Arts Tournament.
2. Maintain an overall and complete yearly calendar of all UHSAA sanctioned tournaments.
3. Maintain a “How To” packet on hosting tournaments.
4. Oversee the State Tournament. This will include:
a. Supervising 1A-5A competitions.
b. Appointing directors for each division with the approval of the President and UHSAA.
c. Coordinating and helping schedule host sites.
d. Counseling directors in the set-up, pairing, and tabulation of the State Tournaments.
e. Collecting final reports from each tournament director, reviewing them and submitting them to the UHSAA.
f. Distributing proofed results reports to all coaches and to the UHSAA.

SECTION VII – Director of Professional Development

A. Definition & Purpose: The Director of Professional Development is in charge of proposing and executing a variety of professional development initiatives.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Director of Professional Development to:
1. Organize and administer statewide coaches’ clinics.
2. Organize and administer the Speech Arts Clinic for students and judges.
3. Organize and administer professional development initiatives for coaches
4. Maintain a central system of lesson plans and teaching resources.
5. Maintain a coach mentoring system to pair new coaches with experienced mentor coaches in their area.

SECTION VIII – Director of Public Relations

A. Definition & Purpose: The Director of Public liaises with media organizations, sponsors, and contacts in order to expand and strengthen debate in Utah.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Director of Public Relations to:
1. Collect results from tournaments and contact local media outlets to report results. 
2. Organize events such as public debates to attract media attention.
3. Distribute any press releases the Organization sees fit to send out.
4. Be the contact for media seeking information about Utah debate.
5. Compile news stories about debaters and debate events for publication on the UDCA website.

SECTION XI – Director of Communication

A. Definition & Purpose: The Director of Communication oversees and maintains all internal channels of communication for the Organization. The person in this position is ultimately in charge of making sure all rules, forms, decisions, and resources are available to members of the UDCA.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Director of Communication to:
1. Create and maintain a coach directory, including active email addresses and phone numbers for all coaches.
2. Maintain an updated and accurate website. This website will be the primary source for all information about the UDCA. The Director of Communication has sole discretion over website material; all content must be channeled through her or him.
3. Record and publish the minutes/notes of Executive Council meetings and coordinate electronic conferencing for off-site coaches.

SECTION X – Treasurer

A. Definition & Purpose: The Treasurer is in charge of the Organization’s finances and presides as the second Utah High School Activities Association Representative.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Treasurer to:
1. Act as the second Utah High School Activities Association Representative. This includes attending all UHSAA Speech and Drama Committee meetings.
2. Develop policies and procedures for the collection of funds.
3. Maintain an accurate accounting of UDCA funds.
4. Advise the UDCA and UHSAA on financial issues and prepare financial reports.
5. Keep UDCA checkbook.
6. Promptly reimburse Association expenses.
7. Assist with the State Tournament as follows:
a. Communicate with and provide budgets to the UHSAA for the financing of the state tournaments.
b. Ensure, with the coordination of the Director of Tournaments and Director of Judges, that state judges are promptly compensated.
8. Is subject to an outside audit when deemed necessary by the Executive Committee or the UHSAA.
SECTION XI – Ombudsman
A. Definition & Purpose: The Ombudsman is a liaison and friendly ear when coaches have concerns, and ultimately acts as an intermediary between coaches and the UDCA.
B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Ombudsman to:
1. Advise the Executive Council on rules, procedures, and constitutional issues in meetings and in situations of conflict.
2. Understand the UDCA Handbook and all UHSAA rules and be able to answer any questions about rules that come up at tournaments.
3. Be the “go to” person at tournaments for coaches who have concerns about rules violations.
4. Answer coaches’ concerns about rules violations and when appropriate, bring concerns to the Executive Council.
5. Act as a public defender and advocate for any coach involved in a judicial hearing.
5. Assist with the State Tournament by:
a. Oversee and advise in the interpretation of State Tournament guidelines.
b. Assign a coach to be the Ombudsman representative at the 1A-5A state tournaments.

 

Elementary/Middle School Representative

A. The Elementary/Middle School Representative acts as a liason between UDCA and the Middle School coaches/tournaments.

1. Responsible for holding meetings as necessary/needed for Coaches.

2. Ensuring up to date materials are on the website, and dates are accurate

3. Working with the UDCA for the sponsored State Tournament(s).

ARTICLE TWO
THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

SECTION I – The Legislative Committee

A. Definition & Purpose: The Legislative Committee is the source of all laws and rules. These laws and rules are found in the UDCA Handbook. The Committee is a representative body and shall be comprised of all members of the Executive Council, all region representatives, and Utah’s NFL district chairs.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Legislative Committee to:
1. Revise and approve any changes to the UDCA Handbook for consideration of the association coaches.
2. Set membership dues and establish policies for collection of monies.
2. Attend periodic meetings called by the UDCA President as necessary to approve rules changes and deal with the business of the UDCA.
3. Conduct an annual census of “active schools” for voting purposes and for the general knowledge of the UDCA. For the purpose of this census, an “active school” shall be defined as any school, sanctioned by the UHSAA whose financial obligations with the UDCA are met.

SECTION II –The Legislative Process

A. Voting on UDCA Handbook Changes
1. Any active member of the UDCA may propose rules and/or rule changes to the UDCA Handbook.
2. Rules or rule changes should be submitted to a member of the Legislative Branch who will present the rule or rule change to the branch as a whole.
3. The Legislative branch approves a rule or rule change with a majority vote. Each member of the Legislative Committee shall have only one vote, regardless of how many positions they fill.
4. The Legislative branch will submit approved rule changes to all active schools for a general vote of ratification.
5. Changes to rules and rule additions can be made with the approval of the majority of schools returning ballots
6. Voting will be administered electronically whenever possible by the Executive Council.

ARTICLE THREE
THE JUDICIAL BRANCH

SECTION I – The Judicial Council

A. Definition & Purpose: The Judicial Council is a dependant and conditional body, which shall only be created when the possibility of a rules violation has been brought to the attention of any member of the Legislative Committee.

B. Powers & Responsibilities: It is the duty of the Judicial Council to:

1. Meet at its earliest convenience to investigate an allegation of rules violation.
2. Thoroughly investigate rule infractions including calling a representative from the accused school to meet with the council to answer questions and explain their position.

SECTION II – The Judicial Process

A. Definition & Purpose: The Judicial Process operates as the primary dispute settlement mechanism and shall be viewed as the supreme interpretative body of the UDCA. The judicial process encourages members to resolve all problems internally.

B. Procedures:
1. Upon determination that a rules violation has possibly occurred, and if a satisfactory resolution of the matter cannot be reached between the parties involved, the UDCA President, Ombudsman, and all region representatives from the state division(s) involved in the possible rules violation shall compose the Judicial Council. Any member of the Judicial Council with personal bias shall recuse themselves from the process.
2. The Ombudsman will act as advocate and counsel to the accused school’s representative(s).
3. Only region representatives will be allowed to vote on the Judicial Council.
4. The UDCA President, while in attendance, acts only as a guide and non-voting participant in discussions.
5. The Judicial Council is only to be assembled as a last step in the process of resolution.

ARTICLE FOUR
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

SECTION I – The Amendment Process

A. Proposals: Any active member of the UDCA may propose Amendments. Amendments are to be submitted to a member of the Legislative Branch who will present the amendment to the branch as a whole.

B. Ratification: If the legislative branch approves an amendment by a simple majority vote, it is submitted to all active schools for a vote. Amendments are only considered approved if they receive two-thirds approval from all responding schools.