FAQs for Team Judges and Volunteers
What if a judge hasn’t been found and the registration deadline is soon?
A temporary/placeholder judge may be registered; this could be anyone, since this person will not actually be judging. BUT these steps MUST be followed:
- The final question on the judge registration form asks for information the judge wants to share. This MUST indicate that this judge is a temporary placeholder. The questions about problem preference or children in the tournament should be left as “I don’t know”.
- Keep looking for a judge. Remember that this person must be 18 years old by the day of the tournament and does not need to be associated with Odyssey of the Mind. Please contact the judges coordinator if there are any questions or concerns.
- As soon as the actual judge is identified, that person should register as a judge. The final question should be used to indicate that this judge is a replacement for the temporary judge for the team, identifying the team and the temporary judge that is being replaced. Contact the the judges coordinator if you want to make sure the change has been made.
Is it possible to schedule a judge so that they can see a specific team perform?
No. Judges are busy the entire day judging the problem they’ve been assigned to. Judges need to be there for the entire competition. Much of the judging is subjective in nature and therefore consistency in the judging team is essential to provide a fair assessment of the teams’ solutions. If a judge were to leave in the middle of the tournament (due to illness, for instance), we would have to go back and remove that judge’s scores from all of the teams that had competed so far that day.
Can parents judge the problem their children are competing in so they can see the performance?
To avoid as much conflict of interest as we can, we never assign somebody to judge the same problem that their children are competing in.
What if a judge doesn’t know what team they’re representing?
We need more judges than we get by asking for just one judge per competing team, so we rely on unaffiliated judges to fill in the ranks. Therefore some judges may not be representing a specific team.
What if a judge can’t attend the scheduled training?
The judge should contact our Judges Coordinator and the coach of team they are representing immediately! Every competing team must supply at least one judge for the tournament. If they don’t, that team is not officially scored and is therefore ineligible to advance to the next level of competition. So, as soon as the judge finds out they can’t make either training or the tournament, let us know. The coach of the team the judge is representing must find a replacement.
A judge cannot function without having gone through training. It is possible for a judge to meet the training requirement at another local region, but our Judges Coordinator must know in advance.
Can teachers receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or recertification points by volunteering to be a judge?
Yes, we’ll write a letter recommending that judges receive 15 hours of credit for their involvement. The final determination, however, is with each principal. Teachers will have the opportunity to sign up for credit when they register to be a judge, and the letters will be available from the Problem Captains at the tournament.