Overview

Creating judging schedules is the final step in preparing for the evaluation of projects at your regional fair. The YSC Portal offers an automated system to generate schedules that assign specific judges to specific projects during your predefined time slots. This article explains how to create these schedules and export them for distribution to your judges and fair management team.

Prerequisites for Creating Judging Schedules

Before creating judging schedules, ensure you have completed:

1. Setting up your regional fair event with judging dates
2. Creating judging time slots
3. Organizing projects into project groups
4. Assigning judges to these project groups

Creating Judging Schedules

The YSC Portal offers an automated approach to generate judging schedules:

Automatic Schedule Generation

1. Navigate to your regional fair in the sidebar menu
2. Click on Judging Schedules under the judging section
3. Click the Choose an option dropdown at the top of the page
4. Select Create Judging Schedule
5. In the confirmation dialog, note that any existing schedules will be deleted
6. Select the judging day if your fair spans multiple days
7. Click Create Schedules

The system will automatically generate a schedule that:

• Assigns each judge to the projects in their assigned project group
• Distributes these assignments across the time slots you created
• Ensures no judge is double-booked
• Ensures each project is being judged during each time slot

Understanding the Generated Schedule

After generation, you'll see a list of all judging assignments with:

• Judge name
• Project title and number
• Time slot (start and end time)
• Team name (project group)

By default, the schedule is sorted by team and judge, but you can sort by any column by clicking the column header.

Viewing and Filtering Schedules

For large fairs with many judges and projects, you can filter the schedule view:

1. Use the Filter option at the top of the schedule list
2. Apply filters such as:
   • Judge: View the schedule for a specific judge
   • Project: See when a specific project will be judged and by whom
   • Time Slot: View all judging occurring during a particular time period
   • Challenge: Filter for projects in a specific scientific area
   • Grade Category: Focus on Junior, Intermediate, or Senior projects

Exporting Judging Schedules

Once your schedules are finalized, you'll want to export them for distribution:

1. From the Judging Schedules page, use the checkboxes to select the schedule entries you want to export
   • Use Select All to select all entries on the current page
   • Use Select All Matching to select all entries across all pages (based on your current filters)
2. Click the Choose an option dropdown
3. Select Export Schedules
4. The schedules will download as an Excel spreadsheet to your computer

Working with Exported Schedules

The exported Excel file gives you flexibility to:

1. Create individual judge schedules:

   • Filter the spreadsheet by judge name
   • Create personalized schedules for each judge
   • Distribute these to judges before the fair

2. Create project schedules:

   • Filter the spreadsheet by project number
   • Post schedules at each project location showing when judges will visit

3. Create time slot summaries:

   • Sort the spreadsheet by time slot
   • Generate lists of which judges should be at which projects during each period
   • Use for fair management and to verify judges are following the schedule

Making Last-Minute Adjustments

If you need to make changes after generating schedules (e.g., judge cancellations):

1. You can manually adjust assignments in the exported Excel file for distribution
2. For significant changes, you may need to:
   • Reassign judges in the Assign Judges section
   • Regenerate the judging schedule
   • Export the updated schedule

Tips for Efficient Schedule Management

1. Review for balance: Ensure each judge has enough time between projects to complete evaluations and move to their next assignment
2. Check for conflicts: Verify no judge is scheduled for multiple projects simultaneously
3. Distribute early: Send schedules to judges at least 3-5 days before the fair
4. Create backup copies: Save copies of all schedules in case access to the portal is unavailable
5. Print schedules: Have printed copies available at the fair in case of technology issues
6. Consider judge orientations: If you have a judge orientation session, distribute printed schedules there