Sections

Overview

By default, when you create a new competitive event, any participants who have been entered in this event will be placed in an "Unassigned" section. Due to the size of your conference, this may not be practical for your event. You can create sections to group participants together.

Creating a Section

You can create a section by clicking the Generate button in the sections window. You can choose to generate a section universally for all scoring categories, or you can section students independently by scoring category. For example, you may wish to place students in different sections for an Exam versus a Written evaluation.

You can generate sections with different creation methods:

• By Count: This will generate the exact number of sections you specify. For example, 3.
• By Capacity: This will generate sections with a maximum capacity you specify. For example, 20 students per section.
• Numbers/Letters - You can specify whether you want sections to be numbered (1/2/3) or lettered (A/B/C).

When assigning students to sections, you can choose from the following assignment methods:

• Round Robin: Places students in sections in the order they registered, filling sections evenly. Use it when you have no particular preference and want a straightforward result.
• Chapter Diversity: Rotates through your chapters — one student from each chapter, then back to the first — so students from the same school are separated as much as possible before placement. Use it when you want each section to include students from a variety of schools, so a judge isn't evaluating five students from the same chapter in a row.
• Random: Randomizes the order of every student before placement. Use it when impartiality is key. No one can predict placement based on when a chapter registered.
• Chapter Grouped: Keeps each chapter's students together in the running order, so a school's competitors appear back-to-back within a section rather than scattered throughout it. Use it when chapters travel and check in together, and it's easier on advisors if their students compete around the same time.
• Association Diversity: Works like Chapter Diversity, but one level up: it rotates through associations (states) instead of chapters. Use it when you're running a national or multi-state conference and want each section to draw from several states. Students whose chapter isn't tied to an association are treated as one group.
• Size Balanced: Reviews each student one at a time and places them in whichever section currently has the fewest students and still has room under its capacity. If every section reaches capacity and students remain, the extras go to the least-full section rather than being left unassigned. Use it when your sections have different capacities — for example, different room sizes — and you need those limits respected.

If you have configured multiple rounds for your event, you can also choose to generate and assign sections for each round independently.

When you're ready to auto-assign students, you can click the Auto-Assign button. You'll be presented with a preview of how many students will be assigned to each section. Once you're satisfied, click Confirm to auto-assign students. To go back and edit, click Cancel.

Editing a Section

Once a section has been created and students have been assigned, it's easy to edit who is in the section. Students appear as "kanban" cards that you can drag and drop between sections. When you drag a student into the new section, they will be updated automatically everywhere they appear in the system.

Deleting a Section

To delete a section and move all of its students to the "Unassigned" section, you can click the icon in the section column. All students in that section will be moved to the "Unassigned" section and the section will be deleted.

Deleting All Sections

You can delete all sections by clicking the Clear button. All sections will be deleted and all students will be moved to the "Unassigned" section.