Academic Calendar Sees a Number of Changes

By Treva Dayton, Academic Director | Friday, August 26, 2011 12:24 PM

Another school year has started, but unfortunately the heat and drought are still with us. So in addition to the usual challenges you face with any new academic year, you’ll have to deal with soaring temperatures and a scorched earth for some time to come.  According to weather forecasts, maybe for a very long time to come.

I encourage you to take a few minutes, hopefully in the air-conditioned comfort of your classroom or home, to review the UIL academic website for important information concerning the coming year and some useful new items for coaches and academic contestants.

Please pay particular attention to the UIL academic calendar (http://www.uiltexas.org/calendar). It is different from previous years, but it is accurate. There is a ‘dead week’ between Academic District Week I (March 19-24) and District Week II (April 2-7) due to STARR testing.

No academic district meets may take place during this middle week (March 26-31). The C&CR mandates that all academic contests be held entirely within one or the other designated district weeks. OAP competition may be held within either of the two designated weeks.

See Section 902 (e)(4) of the C&CR for possible exceptions for one-act play, prose, poetry or Lincoln-Douglas debate. Requests and justification to hold these events prior to Week I (NOT during the dead week) must be submitted to and approved by Jana Riggins, the UIL director of speech and debate.

Another major change is the date of the Academic State Meet, which will be May 21-22, 2012. That’s Monday and Tuesday, and the One-Act Play State Contest will continue on Wednesday, May 23. The state testing calendar, availability of facilities and a number of other issues impacted the creation of the calendar, and these dates allow us to use larger rooms on the UT campus.

Loss of school time will remain about the same, as we revert to a two-day schedule. We also will avoid conflicts with AP testing, and hopefully with all the proms that have in the past often made it impossible for many students to attend awards ceremonies.

Our Student Activities Conference (SAC) dates are also online, and the tentative workshop schedule is posted for the Sept. 17 Tech SAC. Other site programs will be posted as they are finalized.

These conferences are a great way to get a head start on preparing for spring meet competition and to hear state contest directors discuss the specifics of academic contests.

There’s no fee or registration, and we offer at least one session for every high school academic event, with multiple sessions for many, and a number of sessions in each time slot for one-act play and speech and debate. Conferences begin at 9 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m. See that academic coaches and potential competitors know what’s available, arrange for transportation if we’re within driving distance of your school this year and join us! It’s well worth your time.

For those of you who attended the 15th annual Capital Conference this summer at UT Austin, you’ll need to go online and print your CPE certificate before Sept. 30. Please read the directions carefully so you do not delete the hours we entered based on the form you submitted.

And while you’re exploring the academic website, be sure to check out the individual contest pages. Each has been updated, and now includes an introductory video, a brief synopsis of each contest, contact information for the contest directors, a sample test and recently posted lesson plans that illustrate how preparation for each contest can occur within the classroom setting, focusing on selected TEKS that each event incorporates.

Finally, if you are an academic coordinator, please remember to register through the UIL Gateway system. Look for the gray box on the right side of the academic home page with the link Register as an Academic Coordinator. You must do this each fall, as we need to clear all the data from one year to prepare for the next and keep track of required annual training for athletic coaches. At this time, there are no required tasks for coordinators or academic coaches.

We have recently shipped the Academic Coordinators Manual to each member high school. If you are new to that position, make sure the people who sort the campus mail know that UIL materials should come to you. Once you’ve had a chance to review it, please let us know if you have questions or need further information.  

Hope you had a wonderful, if hot, summer and that you have a truly successful academic year! I look forward to working with you again this year and sincerely appreciate all extra time and effort you give for the students you serve through UIL academic competition.