Why don’t I have an interview schedule?

Interview schedules will not be posted until all students and judges have “checked in” to the fair.  Participants and judges can expect to see their interview schedule available on the zFairs site by 8:00am on the morning of the day of interviews.  Only participants and judges who registered and checked in prior to the CSEF check-in deadline will be included in the interview schedule.

Judges can find their interview schedule by clicking on the “Go to Online Judging” tab.  Students will find their schedule under the Virtual Contest menu, near the top left of the zFairs page.  Each scheduled interview session will appear in its own box, indicating the required start time.  If you see such boxes listed on your page, then click those boxes at the designated time to open the interview room.

Only “Category Finalists” and the judges scheduled to interview them will actually see an interview schedule.

This year’s CSEF is judged in multiple rounds, the first round of judging is focused upon the submitted project report presentation and may or may not consider any other supporting materials.  Due to scheduling limitations, and the desire to ensure that all “Category Finalists” participating in the second round have a scheduled time with every judging team in their category, only qualifying “Category Finalists” will receive an interview schedule..  

If you are logged into zFairs and on the “Go To Online Judging” page after 8:50am on interview day, but do not see a schedule of interviews then you may not be a  “Category Finalist”.  If you are not a "Category Finalist", you should have already received notification prior to the day of the fair.  Please check for such a notification.   If Tuesday, after 8:50am, you have not received a notification and still do not have a schedule in your zFairs account, please send a message to the CSEF help desk. 

If you are not a "Category Finalist", this does not mean you have not participated in the fair, and does not necessarily indicate that your project will not be recognized with an award.  

In addition to Category Awards, there are many Special/Recognition Awards available covering a variety of Categories.  Whether or not you are a “Category Finalist”, you may still qualify and have won one or more of these valuable and very prestigious honors.