STUDENT WRITING AWARDS

& the STUDENT ESSAY ANTHOLOGY

 Deadline: Thursday, March 21^st

The search is on for the best writing student writing of 2012-2013. Below are all the facts you need to know about submitting student work for this year’s Student Writing Awards and the Student Essay Anthology magazine (SEA).

 Who is eligible to enter the Student Writing Awards contest?

This contest is open to all classes at Moorpark College. In the past, the English department has awarded prizes for expository writing, narrative writing, literary analysis, research, and argumentation. As of this year we are soliciting essays from fields other than English as well.

 

How does a professor nominate a student?

Once you have identified an excellent paper, give the student the attached Submission Form. Stress that s/he must provide all necessary information on the form in order to be eligible and submit the form in hard copy, either to S. Dombourian’s box in the Admin. Bldg. or in the envelope on her office door (HSS 226). The form is also available on the English Department’s website

The Submission Form can be downloaded here (this may take a few seconds).

The Student Instruction Sheet can be accessed here.

Who actually submits the paper?

The paper is submitted BY THE PROFESSOR to mswa@vcccd.edu. Only electronic submissions will be accepted.

Do not submit essays at S. Dombourian’s personal vcccd.edu email address. Forwarded attachments do not always stick!

 

Indicate to the student that the paper must be saved as a .pdf, .doc, or .docx file, which are the only formats that can reliably be opened by the judges.

Submit each paper in a separate email with the paper as an attachment. Each paper is a separate submission, requiring a different message and attachment to organize them into folders for judges.

 

What do I do when I submit the essay?

Please indicate the mode of the essay in the e-mail Subject line, using one of the following words: Narrative, Argument, Analytical, Research, or Other. Should your submission be a combination of modes, indicate the primary one in the Subject line. It’s IMPERATIVE that you state what mode the essays is.

 

How many essays can each professor submit?

An instructor may submit five papersper academic year. Submit no more than two essays by the same student.

 

How are the Student Writing Awards and SEA related?

When you enter a student’s work for the Student Writing Awards competition, the essay is also automatically submitted toMoorpark’s Student Essay Anthology magazine (SEA). This anthology is a compilation of the best of our students’ writing and is used in many English classes.

 

What type of essays should I submit?

Faculty members enter what they feel is the BEST work to cross their desks. Submit ONLY outstanding work—NO journal entries, “cute” papers, or musings of the day.

 

What kind of awards do the students receive for winning the Student Writing Awards contest?

Sage Publications, an independent international publisher of journals, books, and electronic media located in the Conejo Valley, generously supports the Student Writing Awards with an annual grant of $1,000, which is divided among winning entries (usually three or four essays).

 

When are the submissions due?

Please submit essays well before the deadline of NOON Thursday March 21, 2013.

 

Who judges the Student Writing Awards?

Both full-time and part-time faculty members act as judges. Judges may claim Flex time for their work.

 

Who judges the entries for the SEA magazine?

Students in English 47 read and score all of the SEA entries, including Student Writing Award submissions. They choose from the best of those entries, with an eye for range of styles, subjects, genres, and levels.

 

What can instructors do with SEA?

Like the Student Writing Awards contest, the Student Essay Anthology magazine is used to instruct and encourage student writers. Instructors are encouraged to order the Student Essay Anthology magazine for their courses to use as model essays. Students get the prestige of seeing their work in print.