Scoring Inquiry and Correction Policy

This policy establishes the sole and exclusive procedure for investigating scoring irregularities discovered after the closing of the Grievance window and the conclusion of the Awards Ceremony. Any attempt to contest results, debate scores, or air grievances through channels outside of this specific policy (including but not limited to social media, direct messaging staff, or confronting officials) will be considered a violation of the Code of Conduct and an act of poor sportsmanship.

Submission Guidelines

• Requests may only be submitted by a registered Chapter Advisor.
• Inquiries must be submitted within 5 business days following the conclusion of the Conference. Requests received after this window will not be reviewed.
• All requests must be submitted via email to [email protected].
• The email must include the Chapter Name, Event Name, specific entry involved, and a detailed description of the suspected error based on the criteria outlined below.

Criteria for Review

TPSA will only entertain inquiries regarding:

• Systemic failures in the tabulation of total scores.
• A scorecard attributed to the wrong competitor or team (e.g., Team A's score recorded for Team B).
• Nonsensical or Anomalous Scoring
  • Statistically Improbable Patterns such as identical scores across all unrelated criteria (e.g., "straight-lining") or identical scores given to every single competitor in an event.
  • Evidence that a judge's scoring bears no relation to the performance in its totality and is grossly inconsistent. Discrepancies in individual criteria (e.g., a judge awarding a "0" for a skill the advisor believes was performed) do not constitute gross inconsistent scoring. Subjective disagreements on specific line items are final and will not be reviewed.

Frivolous Requests

To maintain the integrity of the review process, the submission of frivolous requests, defined as inquiries based solely on dissatisfaction with a subjective score rather than evidence of error, is prohibited. Repeated submission of baseless inquiries may result in a review of the advisor's adherence to the TPSA Code of Conduct.

Review Process and Automatic Audits

Upon receipt of a valid inquiry:

1. The inquiry is escalated to the Board of Directors and Executive Council.
2. The team will review system logs, scorecards, and may contact the judges involved.
3. If an investigation results in a judge's scores being invalidated for a specific event due to negligence or nonsensical scoring, an automatic audit will be triggered for all other events scored by that judge at the same conference.
4. The decision of the Board of Directors and Executive Council is final.

Remediation and Advancement

If an error is confirmed, TPSA will take the following actions:

• TPSA will correct identity errors (i.e. scorecard was for the wrong team) or throw out (remove) invalid judge scores from the average. TPSA will not alter/edit specific points on a signed scorecard.
• Placements and awards will be corrected in the official records.
• State Advancement
  • If the correction results in a new team qualifying for the State Conference, that team will be advanced.
  • Teams that were previously notified of advancement to the State Conference prior to the correction will retain their qualification status, even if their adjusted ranking would not strictly qualify them. TPSA will expand the qualifiers for that event rather than retract a previously issued invitation.