The organisers of the World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC), taking place in Kuala Lumpur from 27 December to 4 January, have opened the first application round for Independent Adjudicators. According to the hosts, there will be two application rounds, the first until late June and the second in September, in order to allocate fundings and judging spots as effectively as possible.

On the 12th of May, the organisers published general information on the independent adjudicator application process on facebook. On the 24th, they posted another message including the application link and more detailled information about the first phase. Below, the two messages can be read, starting with the newer message from the 24th and followed by the older one from the 12th of May.

On the 24th of May, the Chief Adjudicators (CAs) of Malaysia Worlds wrote:

„To the World Debating Community,

The application form for those wishing to attend Malaysia Worlds 2015 as Independent Adjudicators (including those from institutions who wish to attend in excess of that institution’s “N-1” cohort of judges) is now available here: goo.gl/Msf6KJ. The form is not just for those who are requesting financial support (i.e. registration waivers or travel expense subsidies), we anticipate awarding a large number of places to individuals who have secured, or are likely to secure, financial support from their universities or other sources. The deadline for applications is 11.59pm of 24 June 2014.

We emphasise that this is the first of TWO rounds of applications. In early July, we will announce who has been selected as an independent adjudicator for Malaysia Worlds in this round. A second round of applications will open in September, in which we will consider both new applications and those who were not given places/funding in the June round but who still wish to attend the tournament.

Any questions pertaining to the form or the independent adjudicator application process should be sent to adjcore [at] malaysiaworlds2015 [dot] com. If any consistent problems or questions arise, we will post clarifications to them in this facebook page – so also look here for guidance.

We look forward to receiving your applications. Many thanks,

The Malaysia Worlds 2015 Adjudication Core
Shafiq Bazari, Jonathan Leader Maynard, Engin Arıkan, Brett Frazer, Madeline Schultz, Sebastian Templeton, Danique van Koppenhagen“

On the 12th of May, the CAs of Malaysia Worlds wrote:

„Dear WUDC Community,

On May 24th 2014, we will be opening the first stage of independent adjudicator applications (the ‘June round’). Those who wish to attend Malaysia WUDC as an independent adjudicator, whether or not they wish to receive a subsidy from the tournament, will need to apply by June 24th to be considered in this round. We expect to make offers from this pool of applicants by the end of July.

A second round of applications will occur in September (the September round), and at least RM50,000 worth of funding will be held over for this pool of offers. Applicants who do not receive an offer in the June round of applications will be reconsidered for this round of offers; and may submit an updated application. We will also consider new applications from those who did not apply in the June round.

This two-wave application process will allow us to more efficiently allocate adjudicator funding by enabling individuals who are willing to commit to coming to Malaysia Worlds early to receive confirmations of funding at a time when they can book cheaper flights. We anticipate allocating a total of RM200,000 in funding, to cover both registration waivers and travel subsidies for successful applicants.

We intend to make offers for travel subsidies to applicants in Malaysian ringgit. Subsidies will be available in cash from the first day of the tournament (December 27th 2014), and ringgit can be readily exchanged for a variety of other currencies at banks and local airports in and outside Malaysia. If you believe that receiving your subsidy in ringgit at the tournament would be practically unworkable in your specific circumstances, we request that you let us know in your application.

Please note that we are not directly offering adjudicator spots in excess of n-1 to institutions. Instead, if your institution wishes to send more than n-1 judges, these judges should apply in one of the rounds of independent adjudicator applications, indicating that they have an institution willing to fund their place. This means that we will have a large number of independent adjudicator spots to offer, many of which will be offered without funding. We very much encourage individuals who will not require funding as adjudicators, because their institution is willing to fund them, to apply.

The application form will be released for the June round on May 24th. We look forward to welcoming you to Kuala Lumpur in December!

If you have further questions, please email adjcore [at] malaysiaworlds2015 [dot] com.

Regards,
Jonathan Leader-Maynard, Shafiq Bazari, Danique van Koppenhagen, Sebastian Templeton, Engin Arikan, Brett Frazer and Madeline Schultz“

More information about WUDC 2015 can be found on the Malaysia WUDC 2015 facebook page or on their homepage.

nbo/hug