RISE as a Judge
As a RISE Judge, you gain exclusive access to:
- Top tier, use-inspired innovation
- Networking with students, faculty/staff, Alumni, and University lab directors
- Northeastern decision makers
- Potential investment opportunities
- Ambitious, enlightened and goal-oriented students
- Fellow elite industry representatives
Access abounds at RISE, the largest university expo of its kind.
Instructions for Judges
For the RISE:2021 Virtual Expo, judges will be able to take full advantage of best-in-class conference software to easily and accessibly engage with the cutting-edge research and creative activity and the presenters who are making it happen asynchronously and at their leisure — and live on the day of the event.
Judges typically judge between 2-3 presentations, spending about 12-15 minutes total looking over the presentations, engaging in conversation with the presenters, and entering their scores.
If you’d like to judge, let us know by filling out our RISE Expo Judge Interest Form.
If you served as a judge last year, we’d love to have you back. We’ll be using a new RISE:2021 Virtual Expo Platform this year — and once we’ve ported your information over there, we’ll ask you to confirm your interest and profile in that same space. See “Update Profile.”
For the RISE:2021 Virtual Expo, we’ll be changing the format of presentations slightly to make them more easily digestible on the small screen — and we’ll be moving to a new online event platform. The system for reviewing presentations, judging and participating in all facets of the event, though, will be seamless. All you’ll need to do is log-on!
Through April 14, you may log in to the platform by selecting “Login” in the top navigation bar and entering the email address and password you selected when you created your RISE Judge Profile.
On RISE Day, April 15, the login procedure will transition to a “Virtual Badge” system, meaning that your password will no longer be required. On RISE Day, the system will prompt you to enter the email addressassociated with your judge profile. It will then send you an email with a unique link that you will use to access the system. Click the link, and that’s it—you’re in.
This video offers a complete overview of the RISE judging experience.
Please make sure to create or update your profile information, as we are using a new platform this year.
New RISE Judges — Please create a profile in our RISE:2021 Virtual Expo platform, completing the fields as indicated and uploading a high resolution picture. We’ll send you an email with a link to the site and instructions — all you need to do is follow those.
Returning RISE Judges — Your information will be ported over from our previous system. Please make sure to review your profile and update as needed using the instructions forwarded to the email associated with your RISE account.
RISE Project Presentations are evaluated using criteria detailed in the RISE Evaluation Rubric.
All aspects of judging — from creating your profile to viewing presentation to speaking directly with presenters to judging — will happen directly on the RISE:2021 Virtual Expo platform.
RISE Judging is a two stage process.
- Preliminary Judging. We’ll open the Virtual Exhibit Hall prior to the live event. During the lead up to RISE, be sure to review your assigned presentations in our RISE:2021 Virtual Expo platform. The presentations are short, three-minute, pre-recorded videos. You’ll be able to text chat the presenters in advance of the live conversation and they can answer any preliminary questions you might want to ask.
- Day of RISE. While we’ll be having live panel conversations throughout the day, we’ve scheduled 2 two-hour blocks of time when Judges and their assigned Presenters will be live on the platform. Visit your assigned presentations in our Virtual Exhibitors Hall. From here, you’ll be able to speak directly to each presenter and learn more about them and their project. After your conversation, you’ll record an Overall score and make any adjustments to your preliminary scores.
FINDING YOUR JUDGING ASSIGNMENTS
Once you are logged in to the RISE platform (see step 2), you will see a menu titled “My Account” in the site’s top navigation bar. Hover over “My Account” and select “My Judging Assignments.”
You will see some of your assigned presentations listed under “RISE Awards” and some listed under “RISE and Focus Awards.” Students applying for RISE Awards are evaluated using five criteria, while those applying for RISE and Focus Awards are evaluated using five criteria plus an additional Focus Award question. All students apply for RISE Awards by submitting their presentations, while the Focus Award is an optional, supplemental award. If a student has opted to apply for one, their presentation will be listed under “RISE and Focus Awards;” if not, it will appear under “RISE Awards.”
EVALUATING PRESENTATIONS AND ENTERING SCORES
Click on a category to see the list of presentations assigned to you in that category. To view a particular presentation, click on its title or the “View Session” button.
Now you will see the evaluation page. This page uses a split-screen approach. On the left side of the page, you can see the student’s submitted materials. On the right side, you will see the evaluation form where you will enter your scores.
Use the navigation controls on the top of the left (student) side to tab through the student’s materials. You can read their biographical information and project abstract, view their presentation video, and, if they applied for a Focus Award, read their brief Focus Award statement.
On the right (evaluation form) side, you will see a link to our full RISE Evaluation Rubric, which opens in a new window. The rubric, which is new for this year, explains the judging criteria for the RISE Awards as well as each Focus Award, so you can refresh your memory as needed. You will then see five (or six, if the student applied for a Focus Award) evaluation questions. Each question asks you to assign between zero and 20 points for a particular aspect of the student’s achievement. Please be kind and thoughtful, but also rigorous in making your evaluations.
You may begin assigning preliminary scores and saving them in the system as soon as you are notified that judging is open. While there is one question that asks you specifically to evaluate the student’s performance during the live Q&A period on RISE Day, most questions can be answered in advance, at your convenience. On RISE Day, you can then assess the Q&A, revise your other scores if you wish, and submit your evaluation.
On April 15th, we’ll ask Judges to be ready to chat with their assigned presenters during a designated two-hour window.
We are offering judges two time-slots: 10:00 AM ET – 12:00 PM ET, and 12:00 PM ET – 2:00 PM ET.
CHATTING WITH STUDENTS ON RISE DAY
On RISE Day, you can speak (via text chat or video chat) with the students whose work you are judging. The chat feature can be accessed in a few ways. The easiest is to click a chat link that will be embedded within the student’s materials on the left side of the evaluation screen. You can also chat with student presenters via the “Presentations” section of the platform, accessible via the top navigation bar. Click into the Presentations gallery, then search for the student’s name or their presentation title. Click the “Live Q&A” button right from the list entry, or click into the presentation page and you’ll see that button again. At the start of a chat, please introduce yourself as a judge. Students will be chatting with their peers, faculty, and general attendees, so your status may not be immediately evident.
RISE DAY SCHEDULE
In addition to discussion with student presenters, RISE Day features live student and faculty panels, plenary events, sponsor sessions, and networking opportunities. Judges are warmly invited to all RISE Day events and will also have their own virtual Judges’ Lounge for conversation and questions. View the full RISE Day schedule and download calendar events here.
Join us after the RISE Expo to celebrate winners and accomplishments!
Click here to learn more about The RISE Awards.
“RISE is a great experience and it is very inspiring to see all of the creative thinking that is going on … It is great to network with other judges and expand your own horizons. I would definitely come back to judge and would highly recommended it to others.”
Richard Lucash, Side Car Angels