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If you are a state awards chair or coordinator looking for how to get started managing your program, you are in the right place! This page provides help and tutorials on using the Awards Portal as a backend administrator. For more resources on managing an awards program, please check out the Awards Resources page on the ACTE website. 

What is a program administrator?

A program administrator is in charge of managing the application and review process for an awards program, and in your program might be called the awards chair or awards coordinator. Program administrators on the Awards Portal have special access to this site so they can manage specific aspects of their program and monitor the application and scoring processes. There can be more than one program administrator per state, and usually the state Executive Director is also appointed as a program administrator. In some states, the position of handling the awards responsibilities is reappointed regularly. To appoint a new program administrator, the current administrator or state leader should contact ACTE staff at mzarcone@acteonline.org. If you have already been appointed as a program administrator, learn more about how to get started below. 

How do I access my state program as an administrator on the Awards Portal?

To view the Portal as an administrator, you need to log in using a special url here.  Your login ID is your email address and your password that you use for your ACTE membership. If you can't remember or find your password, please reach out to the Member Services Department. 

Watch our video, Logging in as an Admin, to get an overview of the Awards Portal as seen by administrators.

What can I do as an administrator on the Awards Portal?

As an administrator, your main responsibilities on the Awards Portal will be monitoring the application process, facilitating the judging process, and selecting winners to move to the next round. Please view the Responsibilities for Admins on the Awards Portal for an overview of permissions and functionalities on the Awards Portal. More information on those processes and step-by-step tutorials can be found below. 

The Application Process

Candidates can access the application form for their state on the States hub page. A video overview of the application process is available on our main help page. The Awards Portal does not allow candidates to submit incomplete applications; candidates receive confirmation of completed submissions via an automated email. Candidates cannot continue working on their applications after the deadline has passed or after they have completed their submission (unless they obtain administrator permission.)

As an administrator, you can view all complete and incomplete applications for your programs. You also have the power to change the application (and judging) open and close dates, as well as allow candidates to access and edit their completed applications (doing so overrides the deadline cutoff). Many states allow or encourage their winning candidates to update their applications before promoting them on for Region consideration. Watch the video tutorials below (in fullscreen to see notes) on how to:

The Judging Process

Applications can be scored directly on the Awards Portal using built-in rubrics. Before judges can score applications on the Awards Portal, they must be added to your state program (ex. Hawai'i) and assigned to a specific award program (ex. 2016 Member Awards.) Judges will only be able to see and score complete applications that they are assigned (as long as they log in within the open and close dates for judging). To learn more about the scoring process for judges and watch a brief tutorial, visit the help page for judges. Watch the video tutorials below (in fullscreen to see notes) on how to:

Selecting Winners

Winning applications can be moved forward to the next round without being re-submitted. If winners at the state round want to make changes to their applications, they must do so before they are promoted to the Region round. The administrator can select the winning applications to move forward in each award category. Watch our video tutorial (in fullscreen to see notes) on how to:

Have more questions? Contact ACTE staff for assistance at dfrascoia@acteonline.org