This presentation reviews the nomination, selection and award process for the Vanguard Student recognition Awards, administered by the NYS NET Project and sponsored by the NYS Education Department.

1. 2013-14Vanguard Student RecognitionAward
Information, Deadlines and Eligibility
The Vanguard Award is administered by the New York State Nontraditional Employment &
Training (NET) Project and is sponsored by the New York State Education Department through
a Carl D. Perkins grant.

2. About the Vanguard Award
• The award recognizes outstanding secondary (juniors &
seniors) and postsecondary level students who are enrolled in
CTE programs that are not traditional for their gender.
• What is not traditional for gender? A nontraditional career is
an occupation where one sex comprises 25% or fewer of the
total employed.
• Example nontraditional occupations for women:
• Airline Pilot; Electrician; Firefighter
• Example nontraditional occupations for men:
• Nurse; Early Childhood Educator; Paralegal
For a complete list of nontraditional occupations by gender, visit:
http://www.thenetproject.org/resources/1crosswalks.htm

3. What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
In order to nominate a student, the student must be:
• Enrolled (2013-14 school year) in a Career and Technical
Education (CTE) program that is nontraditional for their gender.
• Student may be enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary
institution.
• The nominations are open to NYS schools and residents only.
• All students must be nominated by faculty/staff of nontraditional
CTE programs and schools may submit multiple nominations.
To view the application, please visit:
http://vanguard.thenetproject.org

4. What is the Timeline for Nominations?
• Vanguard Award applications available online: October 15, 2013
• Faculty/teacher nominations due by November 18, 2013
• Finalists selected & notified: December 13, 2013
• Student Essays due by: January 27, 2014
• Winners notified on February 10, 2014
• Vanguard Award videos recorded April & May 2014
To view the application, please visit:
http://vanguard.thenetproject.org

5. What are the Application Components?
Each nomination must include the following:
• Completed nomination form (student name, address, program
name, etc…)
• The name and contact information for the person to whom all
Vanguard correspondence should be addressed
• A signature from a school/college administrator
• A signed statement form from nominees acknowledging the
nomination
• Answers to the four (4) Nominator questions.
All requisite materials & forms may be found online at:
http://vanguard.thenetproject.org

6. How Are Nominations Judged?
First and most importantly, only complete applications submitted
for students pursuing nontraditional academics and careers are
considered. To make your nomination strong, please:
• Submit on time. You may submit the application and components
online, or you may download a hardcopy and submit via
email, fax or mail
• Answer all questions completely. One sentence answers
generally don’t provide good information.
• Provide concrete examples. The short answer section gives
nominators the opportunity to demonstrate the student’s
strengths and abilities. What sets this student apart?

7. Short Answer Examples
Example of a complete answers with concrete examples:
• Question # 1: X’s academic performance is excellent; she recently became a
member of the high honor roll achieving an overall average of 95%. Her
knowledge average is 98% which includes her written assignments and tests; in
this area she has shown particular strength in analyzing building plans and
converting them to complex wiring diagrams. She also excels in the necessary
trade related math and electrical calculations required in the electrical industry.
Her Skill average is 91% which measures her performance on project work in the
electric shop. In the shop, X takes great pride in her work and her work is always
performed in a neat and professional manner. She takes great care to perform
the work to meet or exceed National Electric Code standards.
• Question #4: X understands that the paralegal field is predominantly a female
oriented field. X is also quite confident that this is the career of his choosing. He
gets along well with all the students in the class, female and male. There were
three other male students who took the "Real Property“ class with X. That being
said, X was more often working with the female colleagues proximate to his seat
when working on an assignments. Making anyone feel awkward or inappropriate
in the paralegal field based on gender would fall far below the characteristic
maturity and ethics required for the paralegal profession. Therefore, X fully
understands the importance of acceptance in this non-traditional career.

8. How Are Finalists Announced?
• Finalists are announced through email.
• All nominators receive an email from the NET Project announcing
the names of the Vanguard Award finalists, along with their
institution name.
• This email will be sent to all nominators and the CTE community
on December 13, 2013.

9. Great – My Nominee Was Named as a
Finalist, Now What?
Well first, congratulations! Second, it’s time for the essay. All
students selected as finalists will be contacted individually by email
as will nominators.
The topic for the essay will also be emailed to both the student and
the nominator along with the guidelines and deadline for
submission.
A staff member of the NET Project phones each student to ensure
that they received the email notifying them that they were selected
as finalist, and answers any questions they may have about the
process.

10. Wow, my nominee is a Vanguard Award
Winner – Now What’s This Video?
If the student you nominated is selected as an award winner, a
number of things happen, so let’s list them in order:
1. An email is sent to the Vanguard nominators and nominees
who were selected as finalists announcing the winners.
2. Winners will receive a letter, with instructions, from the NET
Project about their award. Nominators are copied on this letter.
3. Winners receive a $100 scholarship, a certificate of recognition
and the NET project travels to her/his school to record a video
of the student at work in the classroom. See example videos at:
https://vimeo.com/netproject
4. The NET Project does issue a press release from UAlbany that is
picked up by media outlets in the finalists and winners
hometowns.

11. Video Specifics
The NET Project sends a detailed memo to the nominator/contact
of the student selected and to the student her/himself. The memo
includes information about:
• How long we will be at your college/school
• The type of space we will need access to at the college/school
• What type of images we like to capture (the student “at work” in
her/his classroom)
• Interview tips for the student and nominator – that’s
right, nominators appear in the video
Note: Getting the video scheduled and your student/classroom
prepared can take some time. We recommend involving your
school’s media/communications office, which can often help with
logistics.

12. Contact Information
Should you have any questions about the Vanguard Awards or the
nomination process, please contact:
Cara Long
NET Project Director
518.442.3888 | clong@albany.edu
http://vanguard.thenetproject.org
We hope to see some nominations from your school!