How Much Attention Does Each Debater Receive?
With a student to coach ratio of 4 to 1, each debater receives ample attention from the coaching staff. At tournaments, each team is coached before and after every round. Coaches are also available on campus for individual coaching, and happy to host students in their homes as well.
What experience is required to join the team?
None. While most team members have 3-4 years of policy debate experience in high school, we will also train and travel novices. Some Missouri debaters with exclusively LD or Public Forum experience have made the transition to college debate with considerable success.
How Long is the Debate Season?
Debaters are expected to return to campus one week before classes begin in August to prepare for the season. Tournaments begin in mid- September and continue through the National Debate Tournament (NDT), which usually occurs in the first weekend of April. Debaters are encouraged to attend tournaments over the semester break and Spring break, but it is not always required.
How Many Tournaments are there?
There are tournaments nearly every weekend from September to March (with a gap from mid-November to late December), but not every team attends every tournament. Teams may choose the tournaments that best fit their needs (in consultation with the coaching staff), and are encouraged to attend between 5 and 7 tournaments a semester. Missouri State debaters usually attend a mixture of national and regional tournaments. For a list of tournaments Missouri State students are preparing for this travel season, can look at the Travel Opportunities page. You can also browse the debate results website to see entries & results for basically all college policy tournaments.
I've heard high school debate is different from high school, and I'm a bit concerned. How is it different?
There are several differences, and high school debate itself is different based upon which tournaments you attend, your coach's philosophy, and your geographic location. Among the differences: the judges are extensively trained flow judges, the tournaments are all overnight (we cover expenses), the debaters are quite committed, the coaches become very familiar with the topic, and the tournaments are longer (typically 3 days with 7-8 prelims). We recommend that you contact us to discuss the possibilities; you can learn a lot from an email exchange or a phone call.
How do I know if college policy debate is a good choice for me?
Given the time involved, college debate is a more specialized activity than high school debate. Those who do well are not always the debaters with the most wins in high school, or the ones most inclined toward "progressive" debate, but often those who enjoy researching, reading, and thinking about a wide range of arguments. Most college debate judges have a minimalist attitude toward regulating content, so you'll be exposed to a wide range of policy, critical, and performative arguments. Your coaches and other debaters will help you navigate the waters. Contact us - we'll talk to you about what you enjoy about debate and try to help you make a good decision.
How Much Research Will I Need to Do?
Each debater usually takes between 1 and 3 assignments a week depending upon the argument's urgency, past research on the argument, and other things occuring in the debater's life that week. Each assignment should be well researched on both sides of the issue, including cites obtained from other squads, and be taped, blocked and ready for copying by late Thursday evening. More then one debater is usually assigned to each assignment so that newer students may work with older students on the proper method to complete assignments. Missouri State tries to have one assignment that a debater keeps all year as an area of expertise such as Politics or Inflation and rotates the other assignments.
How Much Access Will I Have to Research Facilities?
Missouri State debaters are fortunate to have spacious research facilities available to them on campus. The debate offices have numerous computers that are all hooked up to the school's LAN and provide access to Lexis/Nexis and the Internet. The squad room work area is also equipped with a wireless router so that students with their own laptops may access the internet as well. The Missouri State library has extensive collections of both books and periodicals, and the library staff is happy to inter- library loan any materials that are not available on campus. It is usually not necessary to travel to other libraries, however, debaters sometimes research at UMKC and KU's law libraries as well as Missouri State's Meyer Library.
How Much Will it Cost to be on the Team?
Missouri State debate is fortunate to be funded by the University. Students do not have to pay for any debate expenses. There are also numerous scholarship opportunities available for students to help in funding their college careers (see scholarships page).
How Close are the Members of the Team?
The Missouri State debate team is a close knit group that spends time together both inside and outside the debate arena. The team consists of about 14-20 people, so everyone is able to get to know one another well. There are many activities that students participate in with other members of the team including intramural sports, ice cream socials, card games, concerts and parties.
How are partner pairings determined?
The coaching staff makes final decisions about partner pairings, after extensive consultation with debaters. We consider a wide range of variables, including experience, commitment, talent, speaker position preferences, argument preferences, and the "global effect" on the rest of the team. Although proven pairings from the past season sometimes stay intact, we generally pair debaters after the workweek.
What Classes Should I Take?
There is no specific major that is required for members of the team, although many of our students major in Communication or Political Science (including International Relations). Students are encouraged to take classes that interest them. However, since the team usually leaves for tournaments on Friday morning and returns on Monday evening, students are STRONGLY encouraged to try and schedule as many of their classes as possible on Tuesdays & Thursdays. There is also a debate class (COM 321) which provides academic credit for the academic work involved in everyday debating. This 3 hour course can be repeated to 12 total hours of credit, and is required for students receiving scholarships (until they reach the 12 hour cap).