Finkel, Fischer, Kilcup and Fischer appointed to Berlin Worlds Adjudication Core

WUDC Berlin 2013 Chief Adjudicators Sharmila Parmanand and Douglas Cochran have appointed

Victor Finkel, Isabelle Fischer (née Loewe) and James Kilcup

as Deputy Chief Adjudicators. By their side

Jens Fischer

will be serving as Tab Master.

Patrick and the rest of us in Berlin are very much looking forward to working with these fine people.


Victor Finkel (Australia)



Isabelle Fischer (Germany)



James Kilcup (USA)

Berlin Worlds Adjudication Core complete!

Doug and Sharms have appointed their Deputy Chief Adjudicators. The successful candidates have been informed and will be announced tomorrow at 3 p.m. Berlin time on this weblog.

Furthermore, an excellent Tab Master has been confirmed and will be announced together with the DCAs.

Feedback stage of Deputy Chief Adjudicator appointment process

To the International Debating Community,

We hope you are all well and as excited as we are about the upcoming World Championship at De La Salle!

Over the past several weeks we have received a number of very strong applications for the position of Berlin Worlds Deputy Chief Adjudicator, and we would now like to open the feedback stage of the appointment process. We affixed a list of the candidates below along with their institutions (past and present).

We encourage all members of the international debating community to give feedback—both positive and negative—on as many candidates as they feel able to assess. Your comments will play an important role in our decision as to which DCAs we appoint. As we outlined in our call for applications, we are looking for candidates with the following abilities:

1. Organisational Ability: Is the candidate a capable administrator and organiser? Do they work well as part of team? When part of adjudication teams, do they rank, promote, and break judges on the basis of merit? 
2. Skill as an Adjudicator: Is this person a top adjudicator, scrupulous in reaching the correct decision and willing to invest time in quality feedback? 
3. Skill as a Motion-Setter: Does the candidate set motions that are fair and fun to debate?

While we cannot accept anonymous feedback, we can assure you that your comments will remain strictly confidential, viewed only by the two of us. Please ensure that all feedback is sent to both

• s.parmanand@wudcberlin.com and
• d.cochran@wudcberlin.com

before the end of October 25th 2011.

With Best Wishes,
Sharms and Doug


The List in reverse alphabetical order:

Alex Worsnip (Yale University, Oxford University)
Benjamin Woolgar (Oxford University)
Michael Saliba (University of Stuttgart, Oxford University)
Paddy Rooney (Kings Inns, London School of Economics, University College Dublin)
Manos Moschopoulos (University of Athens, Deree College)
Josh Martin (University of La Verne)
Thoriso M-Afrika (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)
Isabelle Loewe (University of Bonn)
Stephen Llano (St. John's University)
Shengwu Li (Stanford University, Oxford University)
Andreas C. Lazar (University of Stuttgart)
James Kilcup (Loyola Marymount University, University of Alaska, Seattle University, Utah State University)
Frank Hardee (North London Collegiate School Jeju, Buckingham University, Oxford University)
Victor Finkel (Monash University)
Tasneem Elias (Qatar Debate, International Islamic University Malaysia)
Bronwyn Cowell (University of Sydney)
Stephen Boyle (University of Vermont, University College Dublin)
Thomas Ball (Durham University)

Application Process for Deputy Chief Adjudicators

To the Global Debating Community, 
Greetings from WUDC Berlin 2013!

Preparations for the 2013 World Championships are moving apace, as many of our hotel contracts, social venues, and funding arrangements are being finalised.

The next step in our preparations is the recruitment of Deputy Chief Adjudicators to serve alongside us in training judges, setting motions, and generally managing the adjudication of the tournament.

In brief, we are looking to build the strongest possible team for Berlin Worlds; we are looking for candidates who can provide the experiences, skills, and perspectives that we cannot. As promised during our campaign, at least one Deputy Chief Adjudicator will be a non-native English speaker, eligible for either the ESL or EFL break, according to current WUDC rules.

We are looking for candidates with the following abilities.

1. Organisational Ability: Is the candidate a capable administrator and organiser? Do they work well as part of team? When part of adjudication teams, do they rank, promote, and break judges on the basis of merit? 
2. Skill as an Adjudicator: Is this person a top adjudicator, scrupulous in reaching the correct decision and willing to invest time in quality feedback? 
3. Skill as a Motion-Setter: Does the candidate set motions that are fair and fun to debate? 

Candidates should complete the application (DOC) in full. Applicants should send each application to both

• s.parmanand@wudcberlin.com and
• d.cochran@wudcberlin.com, 

and applications must be received by the end of September 30th 2011 (CEST) in order to be considered. We reserve the right to extend the time window for the application process, but we do not intend or expect to do so.

Immediately thereafter, we will publish a full list of all applicants and solicit feedback from the global debating community as to their suitability to serve as DCAs. Feedback should be sent to both

• s.parmanand@wudcberlin.com and
• d.cochran@wudcberlin.com, 

and should speak to the candidates’ suitability according to the criteria we have outlined earlier.

Very Best of Luck!
Sharms and Doug