What are the responsibilities and job description for the Upper Division Debate Program Fellow position at Berkeley Preparatory School?
Berkeley Preparatory School - a school free of government interference located in beautiful Tampa, Florida.
Founded in 1960, Berkeley Preparatory School is an independent, co-educational, Episcopal affiliated college preparatory school with a current enrollment of 1,400 students in grades Pre-K through 12. Notably, the school operates completely free of interference from state and local governments. Employees at Berkeley are amongst the most well-compensated in the industry and are supported assiduously in tangible and intangible ways.
At Berkeley, we seek to educate the whole child by nurturing students’ intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and physical development so they may attain their highest potential. We are committed to providing an inclusive and diverse learning community that develops the character of and a strong sense of social responsibility in each student.
Berkeley is located on a beautiful and well-equipped 86-acre campus, consisting of 29 state-of-the-art buildings. Our proud mascot is the Buccaneer. Graduates are passionate, well-rounded individuals who have learned the core values of discipline, diligence and integrity while mastering a rigorous, engaging curriculum and enjoying a myriad of co-curricular opportunities.
The tax advantages of living in Florida are significant, and the Tampa Bay region offers an incomparable lifestyle replete with sunshine, year-round outdoor activity, and rich culture. Safe and easy to navigate, Tampa Bay is a wonderful place to make a life.
Berkeley Debate Fellows Program
The successful candidate will have experience competing in and coaching policy debate. Position responsibilities include:
1. Travel to Tournaments (4 Tournaments Per Semester)
- Commit to attending at least four Policy Debate tournaments per semester.
- Supervise students during overnight and day trips, ensuring safety, professionalism, and adherence to school policies.
- Assist with logistics coordination, including travel, lodging, meal planning, and tournament registration.
- Ensure debaters have all the necessary materials, speech docs, and evidence files.
- Support students with pre-round preparation and post-round analysis, helping them adjust their strategies between rounds.
- Serve as a liaison between students, parents, and tournament officials, keeping all stakeholders informed.
- Maintain a professional and ethical presence at all competitions, ensuring students uphold the highest standards of sportsmanship.
2. Coaching and Judging at Tournaments
- Provide real-time strategic coaching before and after rounds, helping students refine their arguments and adapt to judge preferences.
- Judge Policy Debate rounds, offering detailed, constructive feedback to competitors.
- Assist students in analyzing opponent strategies, judge paradigms, and tournament trends to maximize competitive success.
- Stay current with NSDA, TOC, and other Policy Debate league rules to ensure proper coaching and feedback.
- Help coordinate team entries, registration, and paperwork to meet tournament deadlines.
- Encourage students to self-assess performances and set strategic goals for improvement.
3. Guiding Research and Conducting Practice Drills & Rounds
- Oversee in-depth topic research based on the annual NSDA Policy Debate resolution.
- Teach students to construct advanced affirmative and negative cases, including disadvantages (DAs), counterplans (CPs), topicality (T), kritiks (Ks), and theory arguments.
- Ensure students develop robust and well-organized evidence files, teaching them how to cut cards, tag evidence, and organize blocks effectively.
- Conduct drills to improve clarity, argument efficiency, rebuttal depth, and technical debating skills, including:
- Spreading (speed drills) & enunciation training
- Cross-examination strategies
- Impact calculus and weighing mechanisms
- Framework and debate philosophy instruction
- Organize structured practice rounds, ensuring students get experience in various judge paradigms and argument styles.
- Guide students in using digital debate tools (e.g., Verbatim, DebateSynergy, Open Evidence Project) for better efficiency.
- Encourage students to stay engaged with current events, policy research, and legal trends relevant to the debate topic.
4. Running Debate Meetings and Program Development
- Plan and lead structured Policy Debate practices, ensuring a mix of lectures, drills, research sessions, and practice rounds.
- Work with debaters of varying experience levels, from beginners learning structure and flowing to advanced debaters refining high-level technical strategies.
- Provide one-on-one mentorship, helping students refine case construction, rebuttal strategies, and round adaptation.
- Foster a team culture that values research, collaboration, and competitive success.
- Assist with recruitment efforts, promoting Policy Debate to new students and engaging with parents and faculty to grow the program.
- Help manage team resources, including digital case files, research assignments, and evidence-sharing structures.
- Support students in preparing for seasonal and national-level debate camps for skill development.
- When asked, communicate with parents and students to provide information pertaining to the program (in consultation with other faculty members involved).
The successful candidate will be asked to perform additional roles and duties in the Upper Division during the school day.
Compensation and Benefits:
This is a full-time position available August 2025. The compensation package will include healthcare, free housing, both breakfast and lunch on school days, and a competitive salary.
All inquiries and nominations are kept confidential.
Berkeley Preparatory School does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, race, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability, national or ancestral origin, or any other status protected by law, in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship programs, athletic programs, and other Berkeley-administered programs, or in the administration of its hiring and employment practices.
The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.
