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THE UNIVERSITY INTERSCHOLASTIC LEAGUE

Council Approves New Pilot Contests for 2015-16

By Lauren Kelley, UIL intern | Monday, November 17, 2014 1:37 PM


At the Legislative Council meeting, UIL Deputy Director Dr. Jaime Harrison reviews the plans for the rewrite of the Constitution and Contest Rules.

Photo by Jeanne Acton

The University Interscholastic League will introduce several new pilots to Texas schools for the 2015-16 school year. At the October 2014 Legislative Council meeting, the council approved pilot contests in both academics and music.

To promote the development of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities, the academic staff proposed a pilot robotics competition, and the council unanimously approved it.

“Robotics incorporates numerous STEM components, including mechanical and software engineering, computer programming and mathematics,” Academic Director Dr. David Stevens said. “Participation in robotics fosters creativity and innovation, while teaching students to work collaboratively, and to think critically and analytically.”

The academic staff plans to develop a partnership structure, contest rules, procedures and timelines to implement a robotics event beginning in the 2015-2016 school year.

“We’ve been discussing robotics in general terms for some time, but up until now the timing hasn’t been right and we hadn’t found the right opportunity,” Assistant Academic Director David Trussell said. “Things have kind of fallen into place over the past few months providing us an excellent opportunity to move forward.”

A+ Academics also will increase its STEM connection with the addition of a computer science pilot. The contest will mirror the high school contest but will be age-appropriate for middle school students.      

The Council also approved a pilot copy editing contest. The 15-minute contest will focus on copy editing including but not limited to grammar, spelling, punctuation and Associate Press style. It will be offered only at the district level next year.  

“Regardless of how the media industry changes, copy editing will continue to be a vital skill,” Journalism Director Jeanne Acton said. “Even if a student doesn't go into the media field, being able to copy edit will help her or him in almost any field.”

In music, the council also passed a State Mariachi Contest pilot. Mariachi ensembles that receive Division 1 ratings at the region contest would be eligible to advance to the State Meet.

“All of us at UIL are excited about the opportunity to create a state level pilot event for mariachi, a growing music offering in our member schools that is an important part of the historical and cultural fabric of Texas,” Director of Music Dr. Brad Kent said. “The UIL Mariachi Pilot could increase the visibility of our schools' mariachi programs as well as possibly encourage their growth and development, which in turn could create more student engagement in music.”

Along with these policies, the council also voted to place on a referendum ballot a proposal to allow schools in conferences 1A and 2A to utilize students enrolled in grade 8 for One-Act Play when the play would be withdrawn from competition due to lack of student interest or eligibility. It also voted to eliminate the speaker at the state level for the Feature Writing Contest.

In athletics, an amendment to create a pilot program providing home field advantage to the higher seed in the first round of the 2015 6A football playoffs was unanimously approved by the council. The 32-member rule making body also voted to increase the number of teams advancing to the playoffs from each district from three to four for all conference 2A varsity team sports.

A proposal to create a separate championship for Conference 1A volleyball was approved. The current alignment will be utilized with 2A and 1A school grouped together for district play. Conference 2A schools would then be divided into a separate playoff bracket, and 1A schools would be divided into a separate playoff bracket.

In other action, the council passed a proposed committee structure and process for implementation of the review and rewrite of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules, as required by the Sunset Commission.

The Commissioner of Education must approve amendments passed by the UIL Legislative Council before they may take effect. If approved by the Commissioner of Education, these rules will take effect on August 1, 2015.