Judging Survey and Other News Kicks Off OAP Season
By Luis Munoz | Thursday, February 18, 2010 8:10 AM
The League office hopes that all of you have had a great school year and are ready to dive into this year’s OAP season. There have been many changes implemented this year. The online enrollment process has come and gone and was rather painless. Our current enrollment is 1,200. My thanks to the UIL’s Larry Woods for the design and execution of the system.
SURVEY
The League will be taking an official survey on several questions regarding OAP. Perhaps the most important questions deal with the issue of panel judging. Do you favor keeping the current system of single critic adjudication? Would you favor the use of panel judging at region and state? Would you favor the use of single designated critics to provide your school’s critique? Would you favor the use of a designated member of the panel to select the individual acting awards? Are you willing to pay for the additional costs that will be incurred at those two levels?
There is no getting around the issue of higher costs. More experts will cost more money. A system could be developed to designate a single member of the panel as the single critique presenter or assign specific schools to each member of the panel. This approach would provide every school a detailed critique and not add time to the contest. Participants would have to understand that the single critic’s response may not reflect the results or thinking of the other panel members.
Tabulation is tabulation and cannot be simplified. The time it takes for a panel of judges to arrive at acting awards could go on for hours. Perhaps a system can be developed to designate a single member of the panel to serve as the “acting judge.” As in the case of critiques, participants would have to understand that the selection of acting awards may not reflect the results or thinking of the other panel members.
An email will be sent to the director of record that was entered as the primary director when you enrolled. The email will provide you with a link to the site where you may take the survey.
ELIGIBILITY NOTICES
By now all of you should have entered your titles online and been contacted by phone if we saw any problems. It is extremely important that the information you provide is complete and accurate.
Your next online task will be the Eligibility Notice. The instructions for submitting this information will be posted online on March 1. It is important that you not enter students before you are absolutely sure that they will be eligible to compete. Make sure that you review the sections on the Eligibility Notice (p. 12) and on substitutions (p. 48) in the 18th edition of the Handbook. Please make sure that you follow the directions and proof your spelling. The info you provide will be used to create the programs. If you advance, you need to make sure that the District Academic Chair has certified the winners online by Monday at midnight following your contest.
| Contest Date | Deadline to Ceritfy Winners | Level |
|---|---|---|
| March 8-13 | March 15, Midnight | District to Area |
| March 22-27 | March 29, Midnight | District to Area |
| March 29-April 3 | April 5, Midnight | District to Area |
| April 5-10 | April 12, Midnight | Area to Region |
| April 19-24 | April 26, Midnight | Region to State |
FESTIVALS
The Legislative Council passed a rule last Fall that will restrict the number of class days a student can miss for festivals. The rule will also limit the total number of festivals a school may attend. The rule will go into effect in August of 2010. Those of you who are hosting festivals need to review page 20 of the 18th Edition. Remember that you are required by League rules to provide your critic with a “conflict form” early enough in the process to avoid a judge seeing a play he or she will or may judge later in the year. Schools that allow a potential judge to see their production prior to contest shall be in violation of the ethics code as will host schools who do not execute the form and allow critics to see a play they may later judge.
CONTEST MANAGERS
All contest managers will need to acquire a UTEID and receive authorization from the League in order to download district information from the UIL Web site. Since you will no longer be mailing Eligibility Notices, your contest managers will have to download your information from the Spring Meet Entry System. Instructions for contest managers can be found on the OAP Web site. Click on the “Spring Meet Entry System” button.
THEATRICAL DESIGN
The Theatrical Design entries have been received, and we had yet another record enrollment. From 39 entries five years ago, we have grown to 294 this year. My thanks to all who involved their students in this event. We have a wonderful slate of judges coming to our office to judge the entries on March 26 and 27. The judges include Shane Smith, Texas State University; Susan Mickey and Denise Martel, UT-Austin; Theresa May, UT Press; Michelle Autenrieth Brown, Guerra DeBerry Coody; Tracey Mask Marlowe, Creative Noggin; and Rosa Lazaro and Phil Johnson, Texas A&M Corpus Christi. The exhibit is scheduled for Thursday, May 6, through Saturday, May 8, at Bass Concert Hall. It will be open from 8 a.m. through 10 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. The awards presentation for Theatrical Design is scheduled for Saturday night during the 5A awards ceremony.
STATE HONOR CREW
With State OAP happening at the same time in two theatres across campus from each other, we will need more student and teacher help than usual. Please consider applying for the State Honor Crew. Student and teacher applications can be found by clicking on the green “State Meet” button on the OAP home page.