The past few months have been a time of tremendous change for many judges. We’ve seen the sunset of the Judge Program as we knew it, the rise of Judge Academy, and many more changes.

The outgoing Program Coordinators previously announced that Historical Judge Levels would expire on March 31, 2020 (for countries supported by Judge Academy when it launched) or on June 30, 2020 (for all other countries).

However, I think it’s safe to say that no one could have expected a global pandemic to emerge during this transition period. This has impacted many judges in a variety of ways, and many judges are understandably focused on other things right now.

In light of the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Historical Levels will now expire on June 30, 2020 for all judges, regardless of their country.

I hope this change gives judges some breathing room, and helps judges avoid any unneeded stress during these challenging times. This adjustment also makes the Historical Level expiration the same for all judges globally, which should be simpler and easier to understand moving forward.

All JudgeApps users with a Historical Level should expect to receive an automated email with a summary of this announcement in the coming few days. We are aware that some judges who have joined Judge Academy may inaccurately appear as “Historical” on JudgeApps. This is due to JudgeApps’ and Judge Academy’s systems being separate; JudgeApps relies on a “push” from Judge Academy when a judge migrates their Historical Level over. If your Judge Academy membership is not accurately reflected on JudgeApps, please follow the steps on the Judge Academy website to address this.

If you are a veteran judge, please consider reaching out to judges that you’ve certified or mentored to share this information as well.

Although I sincerely hope to avoid any further adjustments, the June 30 date may be subject to further change as the global situation develops.

When the Program Coordinators announced the original Historical Level expiration date, they stated they wanted to give judges a “reasonable amount of time for people to keep their skills and knowledge up to date and to make an informed decision about joining Judge Academy.” The novel coronavirus has made it difficult for many judges to continue life as usual. As such, I believe that delaying the expiration date is actually the best way of maintaining the spirit of the Program Coordinators’ wishes.

Thank you for your understanding as we work together to make our way through these challenging times.

Sincerely,
Bearz