1. The fair coordinator
(school, county, RESA or state) has the
final decision on matters pertaining to the
fair if these matters are not covered in
fair regulations.

2. Disqualification of
projects not meeting the project rules is
the responsibility of the fair
coordinator(s).

3. Any challenge at the
school, county, RESA and/or state level must
be submitted within 1 business day following
the fair. Once the official results
have been finalized on fair day, the fair
director will only modify or overrule a
judge's decision in the event of an obvious
mathematical error in the scoring process.

4. The fair coordinator
at each level of competition (school,
county, RESA, state) has sole and final
authority to resolve issues, concerns,
conflicts, or disputes at that level of
competition. State fair coordinators will
not intervene in issues at school, county,
or RESA fairs. For example, a county fair
coordinator may not intervene in a dispute
at a RESA level fair. The final authority
lies with the RESA fair coordinator in that
instance.

5. Each project must
include a physical display, oral
presentation, and written abstract (in the
approved format with a complete
bibliography). A project that does not
include all three of the required components
shall be disqualified from competition.

6. Emphasis must be on
methods of research, inquiry, creative
problem solving and predictions regarding
the issues rather than on “displays” or
“collections of artifacts.”

7. Student, school or
county names must not appear on any part of
the project or abstract with the exception
of projects about community or family
histories or international projects.

8. Students may ask
others for help and direction, but they must
do all of the work themselves.

9. Projects may be
modified or improved between each level of
competition; however, the theme must be
maintained.

10.
A student may enter only ONE project. For
example, a student participating in a small
group project may not also enter a second
project in the fair as an individual or a
member of another small group.

11. Each project must
represent the unique work of the student(s)
who develop it. The fair director may
disqualify a project if a determination is
made that the student(s) duplicated the work
of another student (i.e., two projects from
the same school or county are nearly
identical), committed plagiarism, or engaged
in other egregious violations of generally
accepted academic integrity standards.

12. The registration
process for school and county fairs will be
determined by the school or county fair
coordinator.

13. County fair
coordinators are responsible for registering
projects for RESA-level fairs using the WV
State Social Studies Fair Online
Registration System at www.wvssfair.com. Use
of this system is mandatory. Detailed
information on the use of the Online
Registration System will be provided to
county and RESA fair coordinators.

14. RESA fair
coordinators are responsible for registering
projects for the State Social Studies Fair.
Detailed information on the registration
process will be provided to RESA fair
coordinators.

15. At the State Social
Studies Fair, students are not required to
register or “check in” on the day of the
fair. Upon arrival, students may proceed
directly to their assigned project numbers
and assemble their projects. Project numbers
will be posted to www.wvssfair.com at least
one week prior to the fair date.

16. It is the
responsibility of the fair coordinator
(county or RESA) to ensure the accuracy of
registration information (student names,
project titles, category selections, etc.)
prior to submission.

17. There will be four
levels of competition: school, county,
regional (RESA), and state.

18. Counties may send
only their first place winners in each
Division, Category and Type to the RESA
district fair. RESA districts may send only
their first place winners in each Division,
Category and Type to the State Fair in
Charleston. A first place winner is
defined as the highest scoring project in
the Division/Category/Type with a score of
90 or above. A project must score a minimum
of 90 out of 100 points to move on as a
first place winner to the next level of
competition. If no project scores 90 points
or better in a certain category then no
project from that category will move on to
the next level of competition.

19. In the event that a
first place project at a regional fair is
unable to attend the state fair, a second
place project may be substituted if: 1) The
substitution is made BEFORE the regional
fair coordinator submits project information
to the State Social Studies Fair; AND 2) The
second place project scored 90 or above at
the regional fair. NO substitutions may be
made after project information has been
submitted to the state.

22. Categories:
Anthropology, Economics, Geography,
International, Political Science,
Psychology, Sociology, State and Local
Studies, United States History, World
History.

23. Types: Individual –
Only one person works on the project and
deliver the oral presentation alone; Small
Group – Two to five students work on the project and
deliver the oral presentation together.

24. A RESA may submit no
more than ONE first place project in each
division / category / type for competition
at the state fair. It is thus possible for a
county to send 27 individual and 27 small
group projects to the
RESA district fair and the RESA could send
54 projects to the State Fair (27
individual and 27 small group).

25. Projects in a
specific division / category / type will
compete only against other projects of the
same division / category / type. For
example, a project classified as Division I,
Anthropology, Individual will only compete
against other Division I, Anthropology,
Individual projects.

26. If a classification
is questioned, a final determination will be
made by the school, county, RESA or state
coordinator.

28. A project display
must be no larger than 30 inches front to
back, 36 inches wide and 48 inches high.
No part of the physical display may extend
beyond the established size limitations.

29. The display must be assembled on tables
provided by the WV State Social Studies
Fair. Students are NOT permitted to
bring their own tables.

30. The space under the
table directly beneath the project may be
used for storage.

31. Items may hang from
the front of the table (table cloths,
charts, etc.)

32. Display items may NOT
be placed in the aisle.

33. The physical display
must be self-explanatory.

34. Items of value should
not be left unattended with the project
display. This includes computers, DVD
players, MP3 players, digital photo frames,
collectible items (coins, stamps, etc.), and
any artifacts that might be easily pilfered. Such items should remain in the
student’s possession at all times.
Judges will allow time for students to
return these items to the project display
immediately prior to the oral presentation.

35. Electronic devices
(personal laptop, DVD player, MP3 players,
cell phones, digital camera, hand-held
gaming equipment or audio recorders may be
incorporated into the physical display
and/or oral presentation. Electronic devices
should not be left with the project display.
Such items should remain in the student’s
possession at all times.

36. Computers and other
electronic devices must be provided by the
student.

37. Sound may be played
at the time of the oral presentation ONLY.
Volume must be limited so it does not
interfere with other students’
presentations.

38. Electrical outlets
will NOT be provided for project displays.
All electronic devices must be battery
operated.

39. An internet
connection may be used as part of a
project display ONLY if the student provides
a means of connecting (laptop air card or
phone with cellular connectivity). At the State level
competition, use of the Charleston Civic
Center’s internet connection (wireless or
wired) will not be authorized under any
circumstance.

44. All projects will
include an oral presentation. Participants
should notify fair officials IMMEDIATELY if
they are denied the opportunity to deliver
their complete oral presentation.

45. Oral presentations
for individual projects must not exceed 5
minutes. Oral presentations for small group
projects must not exceed 10 minutes in
length. The question and answer period is
not included in the oral presentation time
limit.

46. Each student
participant in a small group project must
have a speaking part in the oral
presentation.

47. Each student should
be prepared to respond to questions from
judges.

48. If a member of the
small group has an acceptable excuse for
being unable to attend, the other members of
the group may represent the project.

50. Each project at the
state level competition will be assigned a
judging time and project number. Project
numbers will be posted to the State Social
Studies Fair website at www.wvssfair.com at
least one week prior to the fair date.
Judging times will NOT be provided prior to
the fair date. Requests for time changes or
for specific judging times will NOT be
honored.

51. First, second, and
third place awards may be given to the three
highest scoring projects in each
Division/Category/Type that meet minimum
score requirements. A project must score
a minimum of 90 points out of 100 points to
be identified as a first place winner, 80 or
above to be identified as a second place
winner, and 70 or above to be identified as
a third place winner. Because of the minimum
score requirements, it is possible for a category to have no winning
projects.

52. Honorable mention awards are
granted upon the judges’ recommendation and
are not dependent upon the score. An
honorable mention award is not considered a
fourth place award.

53. Ties for first,
second or third place awards are not
permitted at the school, county, RESA or
state level.

54. At the State Social
Studies Fair, winning projects will be
identified with a ribbon or sticker prior to
the public viewing. Only those students
whose projects are identified with a sticker
or ribbon are required to remain for the
awards ceremony. Students who are unable to
attend the awards ceremony must identify
someone to receive their award. Awards will
NOT be mailed.

55. Access to the project
display room is limited to fair officials,
judges, and students during the scheduled
judging period. Parents and teachers may not
accompany students into the project display
area during the scheduled judging period.

56. Projects may not be
removed until after the public viewing.
Students who are unable to retrieve their
projects following the public viewing and
awards ceremony must identify someone to do
so. Anything left at the fair will be
discarded at the conclusion of the event.

57. Projects that win
first place at the state level will not be
eligible to compete in school, county, RESA
or state fairs in subsequent years.

58. Issues or concerns
about the judging process, particularly
those issues related to oral presentations,
must be addressed with the fair coordinator
immediately. It is often impossible to
resolve such matters after a category has
closed and judges have been dismissed.

59. At the state level,
student copies of score cards will be
provided to county fair coordinators ONLY.
Score cards will not be released to students
or parents.

60. Due to potential
conflicts, immediate relatives (parents,
grandparents, siblings, guardians, etc.) of
fair participants are not eligible to serve
as judges.