Proposal – Judge certification for East Kingdom A&S Champs Judges
As many within the A&S community have likely seen, there have been some important conversations about the nature of judging in A&S competitions circulating on social media over the last few months. The topic of “warranted judges” has come up many times within these conversations, with the hope that some sort of official process would ensure that judges will act kindly, fairly, and competently as they execute their duties.
Since the term “warrant” can cause confusion due to its connection with marshaling, a safety role that is fundamentally different from judging, I have elected to use the term “certification” instead.
After much deliberation and in conversation with the populace as well as past and present members of the MoAS office, I would like to propose the following for judge certification:
Proposed process:
1) Watch or attend a full rubric class
2) Watch or attend Consent in A&S
3) Act as a shadow judge for one champs. This last requirement may be waved at the discretion of the MoAS, especially as we work to gather a critical mass of certified judges
4) Certified judges must re-take a rubric class every four years to maintain certification
Please note that attendance of a rubric class is already a requirement for judging in EK A&S champs, and that shadow judging is already strongly recommended. What this process does is officially codify our current process and add consent in A&S and re-certification.
We will not require certification for this year’s crown championship competition. However, those interested in pursuing judge certification may use this year’s competition as an opportunity to fulfill some of these requirements.
At this time, the certification process is for Kingdom A&S champs *only.* We cannot certify for other competitions, as they have different procedures.
Anyone interested in becoming a certified judge should contact the Kingdom and deputy MoAS with their intention to become a certified judge.
Anyone who has completed these steps within the last four years is eligible for certification. To apply for “back certification,” please email the kingdom MoAS officer. Back certification will be issued at the discretion of the Kingdom MoAS and are not a guarantee.
Certification may be revoked if a judge exhibits poor behavior, including but not limited to: unkind or unhelpful commentary, clearly biased judging, failure to disclose conflicts of interest with competition entrants.
Please note that this is an active experiment, which may or may not become permanent. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we investigate ways to improve the A&S competition experience for everyone involved.
In service,
Amalie
EK MoAS