Coordinators

Who is the Contest Coordinator?

The contest coordinator is the key contact between the students and the United States Institute of Peace. The coordinator may be selected by the student and can be any adult-teacher, parent, youth leader, etc. USIP does not select coordinators. A Coordinator should register online as a coordinator, help each student write an essay that meets our requirements, and make sure the submission guidelines are followed. Coordinators do not need to contact the Institute to participate.

Coordinator Responsibilities

• Ensure that essays are conceived and written by students and represent the students' own thoughts;
• Review the essay requirements with students before students begin to write their essays and the essay requirement checklist with students after they have completed their essays;
• Review the essays to ensure that they follow the guidelines, to check for grammatical and typographical errors;
• Register online as a coordinator;
• Provide the student(s) with the webpage link or Coordinator Key you receive after registering. The student must use this link or Coordinator Key to register and submit his/her application;
• When the student registers, an email will prompt you to approve each student essay online to certify that the work is the student's own and that the information regarding the student's eligibility is true;
• May coordinate multiple students' (a whole class, for example) submissions. 
• Help the student submit the essay according to the entry guidelines.

*If no internet access is available, please email essaycontest@usip.org for information.