Middle and High School Teachers:  Your students in grades 6-12 must first become eligible to participate at the Regional Fair. Becoming eligible is NOT THE SAME as registering for the Fair itself.  This page provides important information about the procedures middle and high school students must follow to become eligible to take part in NEIRSEF 2005, and use of the NEIRSEF web system.
NOTE: The following information is specific to MIDDLE and HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ONLY-- NOT elementary school students (i.e., grades K-5).

Q. "HOW DO I USE THIS WEB SYSTEM?"

A. It's very easy. You, the teacher, must first "affiliate" with NEIRSEF. This simply identifies you to us as a teacher/school science fair coordinator who wants to receive information about NEIRSEF, as one who may have students participating in the Fair itself. In order for your students to be able to use the site and become Fair-eligible, you must first completethe on-line Teacher Affiliation Form. Please complete the Affiliation Form as soon as possible so you do not miss out on receiving important information, and please remember: Our system manager needs 2 business days to process new affiliations.  Once you have completed and submitted the Teacher Affiliation Form, you will receive a confirmation e-mail of your submission, and you need not do anything else at this point. If you need to make changes to any of your teacher information, PLEASE DO NOT COMPLETE ANOTHER AFFILIATION FORM. Instead, please contact the NEIRSEF Program Assistant, Kim Wagner at
260-481-5756 or via email at wagnerk@ipfw.edu.

It is very important that you discuss your students' projects with them before they attempt to complete any of the on-line forms they will need to do as part of the fair eligibility process. If you have students doing Team Projects (which are limited to a total of 2 student members), only one of the Team members should enter the information for the project in this system.
Q. "HOW DO MY STUDENTS BECOME FAIR-ELIGIBLE?"

A. There are two ways for students to become eligible for the Regional Fair--all 6th-12th grade students must use the one procedure that applies to them. Some students will need to have their project plans and ISEF forms previewed by the SRC (Scientific Review Committee) before beginning any work other than library research . Other students will need to submit a Pre-Review Exemption Form. All 6th-12th grade students/teams will complete the on-line SRC Pre-Review Questionnaire. This Questionnaire asks the student/team 9 yes-no questions about the nature of the project they wish to do. Students complete this questionnaire on-line and submit it through the website. If ALL 9 questions can be answered "NO," the student/team is exempt from Pre-Review and must file the SRC Pre-Review Exemption Form (no later than the specified deadline). The Exemption Form will be accessible from the website--students complete it on-line, print it, and return the signed hard copy to us. If ONE OR MORE of the questions on the Pre-Review Questionnaire are answered "YES," then the student/team must have his/her/their project plans and all required ISEF forms reviewed by the SRC before they can begin working on the project. They will complete and print the SRC Pre-Review Cover Sheet and all other ISEF Forms that are required for their specific projects. Students who do not receive approval from the SRC before beginning work on their projects will not be able to take part in the Fair (that is, if the ISEF Rules require SRC pre-review and approval for their project). So, as the teacher, you must become familar with the ISEF Rules and forms in order to best guide your students. As always, if you have questions about the ISEF Rules contact the SRC Chair at....
Q. "WHICH ELIGIBILITY PROCEDURE APPLIES TO A STUDENT: PRE-REVIEW OR EXEMPTION?"

A. It depends what kind of project a student is doing, and what the 2005 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Rule Book says about that kind of project. Certain kinds of projects MUST be reviewed by the NEIRSEF SRC prior to beginning any work other than library research on the projects. This web system will ask each student to complete a "Pre-Review Questionnaire" consisting of 8 questions about the project. Click here for a worksheet you can duplicate for your students' use prior to answering the questions within the site. When students answer "YES" to one or more of the 8 questions, their projects will need to be previewed by the NEIRSEF SRC before they begin any work (other than library research) on it. When students are able to answer "NO" to all 8 questions, their projects are most likely exempt (but keep reading below).
Q.  "STUDENT X's PROJECT IS EXEMPT FROM PRE-REVIEW...NOW WHAT?"

A. If your student was able to answer every one of the 8 questions on the Pre-Review Questionnaire "NO," then his or her project probably does not need to be previewed. HOWEVER, the burden of responsibility falls on you, the teacher, to ensure that your student's answers were appropriate. This is why you are strongly advised to discuss a student's answers to the Pre-Review Questionnaire BEFORE they complete the on-line questionnaire within this site. You must become familiar with and regularly consult the 2004 ISEF Rule Book. If you have any questions or doubts whatsoever, do not hesitate to call the NEIRSEF SRC Chairperson, XXX, at 260-481-XXXX. When all 9 questions on the Pre-Review Questionnaire are answered "NO," the web system will prompt the student to print out the Pre-Review Exemption Form. You and your students must READ THE FORM CAREFULLY. The form must be signed by the student's parent (both students' parents if the project is a Team project) and you, the teacher/coordinator before sending it to the NEIRSEF Director. The deadline for filing a Pre-Review Exemption Form is 5:00 PM, Friday, February 18, 2005. Remember, by filing an exemption form, you and your student's parent are taking full responsibility for making sure the project is truly exempt from an SRC Pre-Review and will be conducted in full compliance with all ISEF Rules.
Q.  "STUDENT Y's PROJECT NEEDS TO BE PRE-REVIEWED BY THE SRC...NOW WHAT?"

A. Students who answer "YES" to one or more of the 9 questions on the Pre-Review Questionnaire will be prompted by the web system to print out the Pre-Review Cover Sheet. That sheet is to be attached to the rest of the completed ISEF paperwork/forms needed for that student's study. As last year, your students are strongly encouraged to make use of the ISEF Rules Wizard to determine which ISEF forms are needed. All completed project paperwork is to be sent to the NEIRSEF Director no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, January 21, 2004. REMEMBER:  STUDENTS CANNOT BEGIN WORK ON THEIR PROJECTS UNTIL THEY RECEIVE APPROVAL TO PROCEED FROM THE NEIRSEF SRC.
Q. "ONCE MY STUDENTS HAVE COMPLETED THE PROPER ELIGIBILITY PROCEDURE, WHAT DO I DO?"

A.  Direct your students whose projects are undergoing pre-review to WAIT UNTIL THEY HEAR FROM YOU THAT THEIR PROJECTS HAVE BEEN APPROVED BEFORE STARTING. Expect it to take 2-3 weeks to hear word about projects under review. Students who filed exemption forms may begin work on their projects. All students will be able to return to this system (by entering the information on the Student Access Page exactly as they did the first time) to see if their projects have been approved by the SRC or if the NEIRSEF office has received the completed Exemption Form.
Q. "WHERE DO I SEND MY STUDENTS' PROJECT PAPERWORK OR EXEMPTION FORMS?"

A.  Send or bring either complete project packets (SRC Pre-Review Cover Sheet on top of the completed ISEF forms the projects require) or the SRC Pre-Review Exemption Forms to:

                            Kim Wagner, NEIRSEF Program Assistant
                            IPFW - School of ETCS, ET 243
                            2101 E. Coliseum Blvd.
                            Fort Wayne, IN  46805-1499

Q.  "WHAT IF CHANGES NEED TO BE MADE TO PROJECTS AFTER SRC APPROVAL HAS BEEN RECEIVED OR AN EXEMPTION FORM FILED?"

A.  Consult the 2004 ISEF Rule Book immediately to see how the proposed changes will afect the status of the project. Again, when in doubt as to how a change might impact a student's project status, do not hesitate to contact Dr. David Bell at 260-481-6988. If the changes now require that an SRC Pre-Review be done, then that student's project (and all needed ISEF Forms) must be submitted for SRC Review. It is absolutely critical that you make sure your students' projects, at all stages, are in full compliance with the ISEF Rules. Students whose projects are not conducted in full compliance with ISEF Rules will be disqualified from participation at the Regional Fair. If the only changes that need to be made are to project titles, phone numbers, etc., simply contact the NEIRSEF Director.
Q.  "MY STUDENTS PROJECTS ARE DONE, WE'VE SELECTED OUR PARTICIPANTS FOR THE REGIONAL FAIR. NOW WHAT?"

A.  You, the teacher/coordinator, will need to register your students for the Regional Fair using this web system. Only eligible students may register--in other words, they either had their projects previewed by the SRC OR filed Pre-Review Exemption Forms. Registration for the Fair involves 3 steps: 1) registration through the website, 2) payment of the $10 project entry fee, 3) submission of ALL ISEF paperwork/forms for the COMPLETED project (this is the case even if  a pre-experimentation SRC Review was NOT required for a project). All projects from students in grades 6-12 must undergo a post-experimentation review by the NEIRSEF SRC before the Fair. This ensures that projects were completed according to the ISEF Rules. Projects done in violation of the ISEF Rules will be disqualified from competition at the Regional Fair. All three steps of the Regional Fair Registration process must be completed by 5:00 PM, Friday, March 4, 2004.

Q.  "WHY ARE THERE SO MANY RULES AND PROCEDURES?!"

A.   The NEIRSEF Committee realizes the level of work involved for students and their teachers. We are most concerned with 3 things: 1) that students do their projects safely, 2) that students do their projects according to the ethical standards ALL scientists and engineers must follow, and 3) that students, through their science fair experience(s) have the highest-quality learning experience possible. The rules and procedures are in place to ensure that these three concerns are addressed. Also, NEIRSEF is an ISEF-affiliated fair; this means we are expected to follow the ISEF Rules to the letter for high school students. Because middle school students can go on from our regional fair to the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair (which also follows the ISEF Rules), we require those younger students to comply with the ISEF Rules as well. We would hate to see any students invest the hard work in their projects and then become disqualifed down the line (which has happened in the past, not just to students from our fair, but from other fairs as well). Whether we like it or not, there are always rules to follow; most things we undertake at all points in our lives require hard work. NEIRSEF gives students a wonderful opportunity to have that hard work rewarded. The new SRC Pre-Review "exemption" procedure is intended to lessen the workload for teachers and students, but clearly it increases the level of responsibility placed on teachers and their students for knowing and complying with the ISEF Rules. Please let us know how we can help you. Feel free to contact the NEIRSEF Director, Carol Dostal, at (260) 481-6905 any time you have questions or concerns.