Texas Theatre Adjudicators and Officials (TTAO) Adjudicator’s Conflict of Interest Policy
TTAO Adjudicators shall not accept a judging assignment at a contest that would cause a legitimate conflict of interest. TTAO considers the following to officially constitute an Adjudicator conflict of interest for a One-Act Play contest:
1. The Adjudicator has familial relations (by blood, marriage, or other legal arrangement, either current or previous) to any person directly associated with a participating school’s company, directing team, or administration.[1]
2. The Adjudicator knowingly accepts money, gifts, favors, or bribes in exchange for preferential treatment of a contest production.
3. The Adjudicator has worked on or viewed a school’s specific production of a contest play in any capacity before judging it on the day of the contest.
4. The Adjudicator judges a contest for which the school district of their current employment competes.
TTAO recognizes that some other activities in which an Adjudicator engages, beyond the above outlined restrictions, could lead to a situation where students, school staff members, and/or the general public may wrongly perceive a potential conflict of interest on the Adjudicator’s part. An important note regarding conflicts of interest is that the perception of a potential conflict of interest, does not in itself, provide evidence of an actual conflict of interest or wrongdoing. Given the relatively small size of the educational theatre community in the state, as well as the collaborative nature of educational theatre in and of itself, it proves natural that interactions between judges and representatives from competing schools exist outside of the One-Act Play contest. As long as the above, declared restrictions have not been violated, TTAO does not view these other, outside relationships to constitute conflicts of interest on the Adjudicator’s part. Some examples that do not constitute a conflict of interest might include, but are not limited to, social relationships, former co-worker statuses, and/or other educational or organizational associations.
TTAO trusts its Certified
Adjudicators as accomplished professionals with integrity who practice the
highest the highest ethical standards in One-Act Play adjudication. Thus, it is
the responsibility of the Adjudicator to notify the UIL State Theatre Director
immediately if any relationship exists that the Adjudicator feels would impair
their ability to fairly and impartially adjudicate an assigned and/or
contracted contest.
[1] See more on affinity or consanguinity as defined in Government Code 573, Subchapter B.