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 SIFE Competition Format & Rules (Detailed)

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Ashley Khor
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Posts : 92
Join date : 2009-10-07
Age : 39
Location : Sydney University

SIFE Competition Format & Rules (Detailed) Empty
PostSubject: SIFE Competition Format & Rules (Detailed)   SIFE Competition Format & Rules (Detailed) EmptyWed Oct 07, 2009 8:57 am

Competition Format & Rules

Mandatory Reports

It is imperative for teams to understand the rules and prerequisites to participating at a SIFE competitive event. Each competing team is required to submit the following 4 reports in order to compete:

* Annual Report
* Project Verification Form*
* Team Data Sheet*
* Active Team Sheet* (Note that this report is applicable to All teams except SIFE USA teams)

Only Active Team and Team Data Sheets are mandatory online submissions (exceptions must be pre-approved by the SIFE national organization).

*Mandatory Forms can be found at www.sife.org/sifeforms

Annual Report – This mandatory report must be typed in a legible font-size and should provide an overview of the team’s efforts, results, and achievements. It may also include information on future plans for growth and expansion. Annual reports are limited to the dimensions noted below, but can be bound or folded in any manner:

1. Four single sheets of 8 ½” x 11” or A4 size paper with print only on one side of each sheet.

2. Two single sheets of 8 ½” x 11” or A4 size paper with print on both sides of each sheet.

3. One sheet of 11” x 17” or A5 size paper with print on both sides.

If a team uses a cover or back page, it will count as one of those pages. Teams should not use folders, report covers, etc. in conjunction with their annual reports. Annual reports are distributed to the judges during the set-up period as outlined in the Live Presentation section of this handbook. Teams will be notified in advance of the number of annual reports they are required to bring to regional, national, and SIFE World Cup competitions. For samples of the annual reports please visit www.sife.org.

Project Verification Form – Every team must request their faculty advisor, one student and one administrator (e.g. dean, department chair or institution president) to review the annual report and sign the Project Verification Form, It a team’s faculty advisor is also an administrator, the form must be signed by another administrator. The Project Verification Form is to be submitted only once per year and serves as an internal audit of projects and activities at all levels of SIFE competition: regional, national, continental, and at the SIFE World Cup.

Team Data Sheet – This report provides key information on the team and its activities in the SIFE program year. Although the information submitted is used by SIFE World Headquarters and will not be shared with judges as part of the evaluation at any competitive event, it must be completed and submitted online by each active SIFE team prior to competing at a regional/national competition.

Active Team Sheet – Every active team (with the exception of SIFE USA teams) must submit this form prior to the regional/national competition. This report must be filled out thoroughly and must contain the names of all Faculty Advisors and active students.

Additional Materials: No documentation, materials, gifts or other handouts may be given to any judges before the champion team is officially announced with the exceptions of the team’s annual report and a Team Bio, which provides a brief biography of each team member for possible recruiting purposes. These Team Bios may not exceed 5 pages (10 total if it is front and back).

Pre-Screening: All competing teams will be required to pass through a pre-screening process before being cleared for registration. The pre-screening will include review of their Annual Report and Team Bio, as well as confirming that all mandatory reports have been submitted accurately.

Violations

If a team does not accurately submit any of its mandatory reports, it will be subject to the following process and penalty:

1. The team will have an opportunity to compete so long s it rectifies the problem prior to its scheduled presentation time (i.e., secure appropriate signatures on the Project Verification Form, complete the Team Data Sheet, etc.)

2. If the issue is not rectified, the team will be permitted to participate in the event and deliver its presentation to the judges; however, it will not be scored nor will the team qualify for any awards.

Also note that if a team presents or displays any appropriate/offensive material, it will be subject to automatic disqualification.

Live Presentation

Each competing team will have a 37-minute time block for its verbal/audio/visual presentation. The League Coordinator will keep the official time. After the League Coordinator has formally introduced the team, the time will be precisely divided as follows:

1. Set-up: 7 Minutes

The team will have a maximum of seven minutes to distribute written annual reports for judges to review prior to its presentation and to set up presentation equipment (start computers, power-up projectors, check lighting and sound, etc.). Remember: once the team has tested the equipment, projector lenses must be covered, no images or text are allowed to be projected and no music or sound effects are allowed to be generated for the remainder of the set-up period. Anyone, including faculty, may assist with the set-up or operation of audio/visual equipment; however, only student members may participate in the presentation and take questions from the judges.

2. Live Presentation: 24Minutes

The team will have a maximum of 37 minutes to give its verbal/audio/visual presentation.

Live Presentation Time Breakdown:

7-Minute Set-up Period

24-Minute Live Presentation

5-Minute Question/Answer Session

1-Minute Exit Period

3. Judges' Question and Answer Period: 5 Minutes: There will be a mandatory five-minute question and answer session for the judges. During this time, projector lenses should be covered, no images or text should be displayed and no music or sound effects should be generated. Please note that any time remaining from the 24-minute live presentation will be added to the mandatory question and answer session.

4. Exit: 1 Minute: The team will have one minute to return the presentation area to the original set-up and to leave the presentation area/stage.

SIFE presentation timeblocks are uniform globally; however, the only exception applies to the Final Round of competition at the SIFE World Cup and at any SIFE National Competition that has a Final Round level. For these segments, there will be a no timed set-up period. Final Round competing teams will be given a reasonable amount of time to set-up and test their audio/visual equipment and will receive assistance from SIFE’s technical/production crew, especially where some of the equipment being used is provided by SIFE. After these have been successfully tested, the team will be introduced and then given 7-minutes to distribute its Annual Reports to the judges. The remaining segments of the Live Presentation for the Final Round will align with the timeblock outlined about. Teams are strongly encouraged to have their presentation on a jump drive or CD as back-up in case data transfer becomes necessary.

No team may set up any equipment in the presentation room before being formally introduced. All equipment must be self-powered or use electrical outlets inside the competition room.

Understanding the Judges Process

SIFE believes that the more knowledge teams have of their points of evaluation and the scoring process, the better-prepared and successful they can be. In an effort to provide insight on this, the following illustrates an outline of SIFE’s judging process at all competitions:

1. Judges are taken through an in-depth orientation process, during which they are introduced to SIFE’s overall program and trained on how to best evaluate the competing teams in-line with the pre-defined judging criteria. The judge orientation video used as part of this process can be viewed at www.sife.org. Please contact your Country Coordinator Program Manager for its location on the SIFE website. Faculty Advisors are welcome to attend the judge orientation session as observers.

2. Each judge agrees to the Judges’ Oath, committing to providing fair and quality assessments of the teams’ overall programs (see page 24 for a sample of the Judges’ Oath)

3. During each presentation, judges will assess the quality and sustainability of the SIFE team’s initiatives and its impact in the relation to the SIFE criteria, using the Individual Team Evaluation (ITE) Sheet to take notes and assign scores. The ITE Sheet is used as the key assessment tool during presentations and also serves as the primary form of feedback to teams on their performance (see page 25 for a sample of the ITE Sheet).

4. Judges use the Cumulative Score Sheet (CSS) to actually assign scores to teams which then serve as the guide and key deciding factor in making their final decisions on rankings (see page 27 for sample of the CSS).

5. One or more veteran judges serve as the League Coordinator and facilitate the competition process in the room, ensuring that the team presentations begin on time and that all judges are on-track and present for all the presentations (in order for their votes to count during the scoring process).

6. At the conclusion of the last presentation, judges then cast their votes based on their rankings on the Cumulative Score Sheet (not total scores) for competing teams. Individual votes per team and per placement are then counted and mathematically tabulated to arrive at the winning teams. This tabulation process is annually reviewed and endorsed by KPMG.

Level of Impact

Judges use the Level of Impact descriptions (listed below) as a tool in making better evaluations of the teams’ programs through the ITE Sheet. Please note that the Level of Impact scale is not mandated by SIFE nor is it part of the criteria. It is simply a resource and guide.

* Poor (eequivalent to low impact): Project(s) activities satisfactorily completed, but had little effect on changing or improving lives
* Average (equivalent to medium impact): Project(s) gave criterion/issue public attention, gained support and participation of key stakeholders; endorsements/testimonials set forth
* Good (equivalent to high impact): Project(s) advocated the passage of significant, sustainable change in target audience, attention/support around project clearly advanced, key stakeholders strongly influenced
* Outstanding (equivalent to exceptional impact): Project(s) clearly provided evidence of systematic/habitual, long-term change that has significantly improved lives of target audience members, has proven sustainable for multiple years, and has further solidified commitments from key stakeholders

Note: Each level is contingent upon meeting requirements described in prior level

Important Notes

· The scoring process is a closed session -- open only to judges and lead by the trained League Coordinator and/or SIFE staff member.

· Judges are not permitted to consult with one another or influence the votes of others. Neither are they permitted to hold discussions or consult with SIFE staff.

· Although teams will be assessed and scored on their programs and not presentations, SIFE does permit judges to offer feedback on annual reports and audio/visual presentations. However, no point value is awarded for the latter.

· ALL voting results are reviewed and verified by SIFE staff who use an official scoring process and Score Verification Sheet provided by SIFE World Headquarters.

Reporting Projects

The following are simple guidelines to be used when evaluating the impact of educational outreach projects. If a team develops a lesson plan for young children and presents it to eight classes, they have not completed eight projects. They have presented one project eight times.

Example for counting hours of involvement: John and Maria each worked ten hours on “Project X” (a total of 20 hours of student involvement). Tom worked eight hours and Jane worked six hours on the sample project (a total of 14 hours of student involvement). Total hours of student involvement on “Project X” is 34 hours. This team would report a total of 4 students involved and 34 hours of student involvement for “Project X”.

SIFE encourages all teams to be clear in explaining the team’s role in each activity in the annual report and presentation.

Media Language

The following language should be used by SIFE teams to measure media impact:

Reach

For broadcast media, “reach” is the estimated number of unduplicated or different households or persons who viewed a specific station at least once for five minutes during the average week for the reported period of time. For print media, this is number of people who read the publication.

Frequency

The average number of times the unduplicated viewers (or readers) will be exposed to the schedule of spots.

Gross Impressions

The average number of persons who view (read) at the time the spot is run, multiplied by the number of times the spot or program run.

(Reach x Frequency = Gross Impressions)

Student and Team Registration Requirement

Any student who attends a SIFE competition at any level must be a registered student through the online registration process available at www.sife.org or through the Active Team Sheet (the latter is for all teams outside of the USA). Please also note that some countries have an application and registration process for their competitive events. It is the team’s responsibility to contact their Country Coordinator or Program Manager for clarification on this additional process if it is applicable in the country.

Room Set-Up and Equipment

SIFE will provide the following equipment in each presentation room:

1. One eight-foot or larger screen

2. One extension cord

SIFE is not required to provide other equipment of any kind, such as computers, slide projectors, monitors, TVs, VCRs, carts, tables, etc. It is the sole responsibility of each team to secure the use of any other equipment.

In the event that the SIFE organization provides equipment (e.g. A/V, laptop, sounds amplifier, etc) for teams to use during their presentations, the use of such equipment is strictly optional. Should there be any technical issues/failures, the SIFE organization will not be responsible for its effect on presentation, competition outcome, or the any costs that may be incurred as a result of damaged equipment. The SIFE team bears full responsibility and is therefore encouraged to provide and use its own equipment.

Details about the specific room set-up, plus any event-specific guidelines or restrictions related to your country’s regional/national competition as well as the SIFE World Cup will be provided in advance of the event.

Equipment Failure

If a team’s presentation equipment ceases to operate because of a power failure in the competition facility, the competition will be halted until the problem is corrected. If the electronic equipment the team brings into the competition room fails, the time will continue to count down from the presentation time block.

Competition Room access

Competition rooms are open to all registered attendees. SIFE teams and visitors are invited to watch other teams present, but they are asked to enter and leave rooms only during the set-up period and breaks. No one (except members of media and SIFE staff) may exit the room during the presentations or Question and Answer period. The area behind the judges is considered public domain. Doors to the competition room must remain unlocked and clear at all times to provide access to SIFE staff.

Video/Copying Policy

By participating in any SIFE-sponsored event, each team grants SIFE World Headquarters the right and permission to document and publicize otherwise utilize its annual report, verbal presentation and outreach projects for illustration, advertising, training or any other lawful purpose.

SIFE teams may record the presentations of other teams at SIFE competitions under the following conditions:

1. No lights are to interfere with or inhibit the presenting team.

2. The team videotaping should be courteous and cause the least amount of distraction possible to the presenting team, including no rewinding or fast forwarding of tapes or making any other distracting noises during the presentation.

3. Set-up must be behind judge and audience seating.

4. No video footages and photos taken at SIFE events should be used inappropriately. Teams may treat these as resources so long as they are used with respect of the objects/people being videotaped and photographed.

By attending SIFE events, attendees consent and grant SIFE the right to film, video, record, or photograph him/her during the course of the event. Attendees grant permission to SIFE and its agents, employees and affiliated organizations, to use the media taken of me for use in SIFE publications such as recruiting, brochures, newsletters, and magazines, and to use such media in electronic versions on web sites or other electronic form of media, and to offer them for use or distribution in other non-SIFE publications, electronic or otherwise, without notifying me. Attendees herby waive any right to inspect or approve the finished photographs or printed or electronic matter that may be used in conjunction with them now or in the future, whether that use is known to me or unknown, and attendees waive any right to royalties or other compensation arising from or related to the use of the media.

Media Policy

The SIFE official photographer/videographer and members of the mass media approved by SIFE have full access to all presentation rooms at any time. This includes the use of lights and necessary equipment. All teams should be prepared for the possibility of members of the media taping and taking pictures of their presentations.

Misbehavior

Behavior that is inconsistent with the SIFE code of Conduct and defames the profile of a SIFE student and as a result, the SIFE organization is unacceptable. The national SIFE organization reserves the right to determine what unacceptable behavior is, but it should be noted that this includes, but is not limited to: use of foul language, physical battery, intoxication, harassment, defaming other teams/judges/attendees/hotel staff, tampering with and/or destruction of venue or SIFE property, etc. The student and/or team involved in such negative activities may be disqualified/suspended/expelled from participation at that particular event or the overall SIFE program. The SIFE national office will determine the specific penalty for each action on a case by case basis and an official letter may be sent to the institutional administrator(s), notifying them of the incident and requesting their assistance in ensuring that it does not reoccur.

Observers

Upon approval from the organization, non-competing SIFE teams are invited to attend any SIFE Regional Competition, SIFE National Competition and the SIFE World Cup as observers. Registration is required. Please contact your Country Coordinator or Program Manager for information on how to register.
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