Observer role- guiding principle?

In the last few years, the role of the Observer at the highest levels of play has been a hot topic of discussion. The UPA has run several experimental tournaments, at both the college and club level (click here for details), and has implemented several changes, including addition of the force-out foul as an active call at all Observed championship events, and implementation of immediate referral on travel calls and active up-down calls (in the open division) at the UPA College Championships this past spring.

As we continue to experiment with different roles for Observers, some of those roles seem to be in direct opposition to our current policy on Observers:

The primary difference between Observers and Referees is that Observers shall not make active foul and violation calls of a subjective nature... It is permissible but not required for Observers to be allowed to make active calls on conduct issues and objective matters in the rules, including but not limited to time violations where the disc is not in play and boundary decisions.

In recent Board discussions on the role of Observers, as well as in discussions with members, it has become clear that this policy should be reviewed, and should be done so with some guidance from our membership. One question that has repeatedly come up is whether the UPA should continue to think about the role of the Observer in terms of some sort of framework or guiding principle, and then make changes going forward that still adhere to that guiding principle. The idea behind this being that having a guiding principle in place can help us make decisions in the future about changes we haven't specifically asked the membership about.

In an effort to ensure that future changes to the role of Observers adhere to some guiding principle, the UPA is looking for direction on what that guiding principle should be. To that end, we're soliciting your feedback via this single-question survey. The question is printed below, but to answer it you'll need to follow this link. Please note that this question also appears in the college restructuring survey- if you answered it there, please don't answer it here again (your answer will be discounted).

Thanks in advance for your participation in this important discussion about the future of our sport!

-Peri

In your opinion, which principle(s) below should guide future changes to the role of Observers (choose all that you believe should apply)?

Observers should only make active calls that are "objective" (i.e. not subject to personal interpretation) Observers should only make calls that they have a better "perspective" on (i.e. can make more accurately than the players themselves) Observers should not make calls that stop active play. Only players should be able to stop play with calls, while observers can make rulings on those calls and also make calls between points (time/offsides) or during the course of play (pre-stalls, line calls). Observers should only make calls that would otherwise significantly slow down the game, in an attempt to strike a balance between spectator-friendliness and leaving control in the hands of the players Observers should only make active calls that are "simple" (i.e. not the result of multiple players physically interacting) Observers should only make the calls that they currently make - I am happy with the status quo There should be no guiding principle- the role of Observers should be allowed to change over time without regard to any overarching principle on their role No Opinion

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