Overview

After creating your regional STEM fair event in the YSC Portal, you'll need to configure several essential settings to ensure your fair operates smoothly. This article guides you through setting up three critical components: dates, categories, and challenges.

Configuring Event Dates

Proper date configuration ensures that registration periods, judging schedules, and ProjectBoard access all function correctly.

Accessing Date Settings

1. Go to Assets in the left sidebar
2. Select Events Manager
3. Find your current event and click the pencil (edit) icon

Key Date Settings to Configure

Under the Dates section, you'll need to set:

• Event Start/End Date: The actual dates when your fair will take place
• Student Registration Start/End Date: When students can register for your fair
  • Typically opens 4-8 weeks before the fair
  • Closes 1-2 weeks before the fair to allow for review
• Judge Registration Start/End Date: When judges can register
  • Can mirror student registration or have different dates
  • Consider closing slightly later than student registration
• Judging Orientation Date: When judge training or orientation will occur (if applicable)
• Judging Date(s): The specific date(s) when judging will take place
  • If your fair spans multiple days, select all days when judging will occur
• ProjectBoard Lock Date: When student projects will be locked for review
  • Typically 1 week before judging to allow time for safety and ethics review
• ProjectBoard Unlock Date: When projects will be unlocked after the fair
  • Usually set to the day after your fair concludes

Remember to click Update Event after making changes to save your settings.

Setting Up Grade Categories

Grade categories are required and help organize students by education level for judging purposes.

Accessing Category Settings

1. Click on your fair's name in the sidebar (the name you set as the "Portal Sidebar Menu Name")
2. Select Categories

Creating Grade Categories

The YSC Portal comes with Canada-Wide Science Fair default categories, but you can modify these or create your own:

1. To edit an existing category, click the pencil icon next to it
2. To create a new category, click Create Grade Category

For each category, you'll need to specify:

• Name: The category name (e.g., "Junior," "Intermediate," "Senior")
• Grade Range: The grades included in this category
• Sort Order: Determines the display order in lists and reports

Recommended Grade Categories

Most regional fairs use categories similar to the Canada-Wide Science Fair:

• Junior: Grades 7-8
• Intermediate: Grades 9-10
• Senior: Grades 11-12

If your fair includes younger students, you might add:

• Elementary: Grades 4-6
• Primary: Grades K-3

Click Create Grade Category or Update Grade Category to save your changes.

Configuring Challenges (Scientific Categories)

Challenges are the scientific groupings that help organize projects by subject area and ensure appropriate judging expertise is assigned.

Accessing Challenge Settings

1. Click on your fair's name in the sidebar
2. Select Challenges

Creating Challenges

If starting from scratch or modifying existing challenges:

1. To create a new challenge, click Create Challenge
2. To edit an existing challenge, click the pencil icon next to it

For each challenge, you'll need to provide:

• Challenge Name (English): The challenge name in English
• Challenge Name (French): The challenge name in French (can match English if not using French)
• Challenge Slug: A short version of the name (no spaces)
• Description: A brief explanation of the challenge (optional)
• Identifier: A short code for reports (optional)

Challenge Options

You can set up challenges in different ways depending on your fair's size and needs:

• CWSF Alignment: Use the same challenges as the Canada-Wide Science Fair (Environment, Health, Innovation, Resources, Information)
• Traditional Scientific Disciplines: Use categories like Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Engineering, etc.
• Simplified Approach: For smaller fairs, you might use just 2-3 broad categories
• Single Challenge: For very small fairs, you can create just one challenge named after your fair

Important Note: You must create at least one challenge for the YSC Portal to function properly. If you don't use scientific categorization, create a single challenge with your fair's name.

Click Create Challenge or Update Challenge to save your changes.

Additional Configuration Tips

Date Configuration Tips

• Buffer Time: Allow buffer time between registration closing and the fair for reviewing projects
• Consistency: Try to keep similar dates year-to-year for easier planning
• Communication: Clearly communicate all dates to schools, students, and judges

Category Best Practices

• Balance: Try to create categories with roughly equal numbers of students
• Advancement: Consider how your categories align with CWSF if you'll be sending finalists
• Complexity: Don't create too many categories for a small fair

Challenge Recommendations

• Judge Expertise: Consider your judge pool when creating challenges
• Project Distribution: Aim for a relatively balanced number of projects per challenge
• Naming: Use clear, descriptive names that students will understand

Verification and Testing

After configuring these essential settings:

1. Review All Settings: Double-check dates, categories, and challenges for accuracy
2. Test Registration: Try registering a test student to ensure everything works correctly
3. Validation: Ensure that categories and challenges appear correctly on registration forms

If you make changes after registration has begun, be aware that this may affect existing registrations and consider communicating changes to participants.

Next Steps

After configuring these essential settings, you can proceed to:

• Creating custom survey questions for participants
• Setting up registration links for students and judges
• Configuring judging schedules and teams

For more information on these topics, please refer to the corresponding articles in the Help Centre.