College Coordinators

Coordinators Create Success, Stimulate Enthusiasm 

Presidents have identified coordinators at each college.  Coordinators play a pivotal role in the success of the Poet Laureate and Visual Art Luminary competitions at the college.  While they are responsible for the overall success and become the primary contact at their colleges, the success of the competitions is really a team effort. Coordinators should consider identifying a few colleagues to support the success, from beginning to end. 

Coordinators are responsible for: 

1. working with faculty members, student support services, and the PR/Marketing team to recruit students to participate in both the poetry and visual arts competitions;

2. identifying judges from the college's service region for the competitions (Judges should not be college employees, if at all possible); 

3. ensuring all information is submitted to the VCCS no later than March 1, remaining mindful that colleges set local deadlines in order to meet the March 1 deadline (complete applications from VAL and PL, head shots of individual winners, image/s of the winning visual art piece);

4. creating a recognition event or ceremony for the winners; 

5. coordinating the delivery of the Visual Art Luminary's piece to Virginia Western at Roanoke; and 

6. perhaps accompanying the winners to Roanoke. Winners must have college T-shirts for the competition.

Student recruitment: 

In promoting the competition, coordinators should encourage faculty to share information about the competitions by adding information to Canvas sites or creating assignments related to the competition's theme, "I Dream." PR/Marketing professionals at each college can use their skills to promote the competitions through social media or other media and events. Posters (think digital and actual) also can be created.  In a survey, poet laureates said they learned about the competitions from faculty members, an email, or Canvas. Applications are available through this website. 

Judges: 

In choosing judges, coordinators should strive for fairness and insight. Finding judges who have a background in poetry, writing, or the arts is preferable, but not required. College employees should become a last resort for judges to avoid perceived or actual conflicts of interest. Possible sources of judges include but not limited to libraries, art associations, art supply shops, writers' groups, poetry groups, and even educators at high schools or neighboring colleges.  In addition, coordinators will receive a list of organizations that may yield judges. Judges will receive scoring criteria. 

Deadlines: 

Meeting deadlines is paramount for the success of the program. Each college must set its own deadlines, but brief biographies, photographs, and completed applications must be submitted no later than March 1, 2026. This deadline is important to meet design and publication deadlines. Additionally, judges for the state competition must have materials as some of the judging will occur in advance of the state competition. 

Recognition: 

Identifying ways to recognize the accomplishments of winners is a wonderful way to celebrate student creativity. Coordinators should work with the PR/Marketing team to announce the winners. This should include but not be limited to a media release with photographs for local media outlets in the college's service region. One important event to coordinate is a meeting or lunch with the college president with the college's poet laureate and visual art luminary. The winners also should be introduced at a meeting of the local advisory board. Some colleges have arranged art shows and announced the winners, while others have had poetry readings.  The coordinator, along with the college's team, should consider and promote opportunities to showcase the work of the student winners. For example, a college might display the winning visual art piece at a prominent place on the campus or invite the poet laureate to deliver the winning and/or other original poetry at college events, such as graduation.  The opportunities to highlight our students' creativity are boundless. 

Competition preparation: 

The College's Poet Laureate will be asked to perform the original poem related to the "I Dream" theme.  The poet laureate may memorize the poem or read - with the requisite enthusiasm - the poem at the competition.  Performance is one of the judging criteria.  The artwork of the winning Visual Art Luminary should be delivered to Virginia Western as soon as the person has been named. Each winner should be given a college shirt to wear during the competition.  College is responsible for the lodging costs of the poet laureate and visual art luminary. 

On-site support: 

The coordinator or perhaps a student services team member may accompany or bring the winners to Roanoke for the event, which is scheduled for March 27-28, 2026, at Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke. 

Key Dates:

October 2025: Recruitment begins for poet laureate and visual art luminary applications. Each college sets its application deadlines. 

November-December 2025: Begin identifying judges from the community. Judging should occur no later than February.

March 1, 2026: All information - completed final applications, which include brief bios, head shots - must be submitted to the VCCS for both poet laureates and visual art luminaries.

March 27, 2026: Poet Laureates and Visual Art Luminaries arrive in Roanoke for private interviews with judges, stage time, and professional development sessions. Interview times will be available no later than February. 

March 28, 2026:  Poet laureate performance event, which is free and open to the public. Exhibit of available visual art is unveiled. Public gets to vote on a People's Choice Award.

April 2026: Visit to New Horizons Conference (details forthcoming)