Vanguard Student Recognition Award Information, Deadlines and Eligibility The Vanguard Award is administered by the New York State Nontraditional Employment & Training (NET) Project, Center for Women in Government & Civil Society, and is sponsored by the New York State Education Department through a Carl D. Perkins grant.

About the Vanguard Award The award recognizes outstanding 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 fewer that 25% of the total employed. Example nontraditional occupations for women: Airline Pilot; Electrician; Firefighter Example nontraditional occupations for men: Nurse; Early Childhood Educator; Paralegal

What Are the Eligibility Requirements? In order to nominate a student, the student must be: Enrolled ( school year) in a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program that is nontraditional for their gender. Student may be enrolled in 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.

What is the Timeline for Nominations? Vanguard Award applications available online: November 10, 2014 Faculty/teacher nominations due by December 23, 2014 Finalists selected & notified: December 31, 2014 Student Essays due by: January 27, 2015 Winners notified on February 10, 2015 Vanguard Award ceremony at ACTEA conference: March, 27, 2015

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.

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 , 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?

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.

How Are Finalists Announced? Finalists are announced through . All nominators receive an from the NET Project announcing the names of the Vanguard Award finalists, along with their institution name. This will be sent to all nominators and the CTE community on December 31, 2015.

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 as will nominators. The topic for the essay will also be ed 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 notifying them that they were selected as finalist, and answers any questions they may have about the process.

Wow, my nominee is a Vanguard Award Winner – What Next? 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 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.The NET Project does issue a press release from UAlbany that is picked up by media outlets in the finalists and winners hometowns.

Contact Information Should you have any questions about the Vanguard Awards or the nomination process, please contact: Dr. Dina Refki Center for Women in Government & Civil Society University at We hope to see some nominations from your school!