2021 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest (NPSREC)

This contest, established in 1999 by ACTR, has become a signature Russian language contest for post-secondary students around the country. ​Students taking Russian in accredited colleges and universities are invited to participate in the annual National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest sponsored by the American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR). 

Essay topic was emailed on Feb. 14th.

Important Dates and Information
  • Deadline for registration for the 2021 Contest is Feb. 10th. NO LATE REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!
  • At least one instructor per participating institution must be a current ACTR member, with paid dues.
  • Registration fee is $5.00 per student.
  • Instructors must register students through this webpage (see the Registration section).
  • Codes and essay topic will be emailed by Feb 13.
  • ​The contest should be held from Feb. 15 to Feb. 26.
  • Submissions should be uploaded to this Box folder. Make sure that essays are saved as PDFs, that the naming conventions are followed, and that all essays contain the necessary headers. 
  • All essays must be emailed by Feb. 28. NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED!
  • Judges' results are expected by early April barring any unforeseen circumstances.
  • Results will be posted by mid-April.
Quick Links
Registration
Administering the Contest
Submitting the Essays and "Student Declaration and Waiver" Forms
Evaluation of the Essays
Overview of Categories and Levels
Registration
Instructors must register their students through the link below. The deadline for registering students for the 2021 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest is February 10th. Instructors at an institution with at least one current ACTR member, with paid dues, are qualified to register students. There is a non-refundable $5.00 registration fee for each participating student. No late registrations will be accepted.
Administering the Contest
Click here to find instructions for administering the essay contest in 2021. [link coming]

​Preventing Cheating
Because this contest may be held remotely in some states/institutions, instructors are responsible for determining how to prevent cheating.
Submitting the Essays and Student Declarations Forms
Due to COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, participants will fill out the waiver and declaration online using this Google form.

See this page for instructions for naming and submitting essays.
Evaluation of the Essays
All essays will be evaluated anonymously; no essay will be identifiable by the name or institution of the student who wrote it. Three judges in Moscow will evaluate essays according to content (the ability to express ideas in Russian and communicate information about the topic) and length, lexicon, syntax, structure (grammatical and orthographic accuracy), and originality or creativity. The judges' results are expected by April 1st, and winners will be announced around mid-April in the ACTR Newsletter and on ACTR website. Gold, silver, bronze, and honorable mention certificates will be awarded for the best essays at each Category and Level.
Student Categories and Levels
Instructors must place their contest participants into the appropriate CATEGORY and LEVEL. 
OVERVIEW OF CATEGORIES AND LEVELS
There are three CATEGORIES:
  • Category A: Students with no exposure to any Slavic languages at home;
  • Category B: Heritage speakers of a Slavic language other than Russian AND/OR native speakers of languages of the former Soviet Union with some prior experience with Russian; and
  • Category C: Russian heritage speakers.
​
The LEVELS for Categories A and B are based on the number of contact hours of formal Russian language instruction at the time of the essay contest, including high school. See below for the criteria.

The LEVELS for Category C are based on the degree of exposure to Russian and contact hours of formal Russian language instruction in college only. ​See below for the criteria.

For study abroad or other immersion programs:
Calculate the number of contact hours of formal language instruction, multiply that number by 2, and use the result as the total number of contact hours.
CRITERIA FOR CATEGORIES AND LEVELS
Students other than Russian Heritage Speakers
Category A: Students who do not and did not ever speak Russian or any other Slavic language at home.
Category B: Heritage speakers of a Slavic language other than Russian AND/OR native speakers of languages of the former Soviet Union who have had some prior experience with Russian.
  • Level One (A1, B1): fewer than 100 contact hours of instruction in Russian
  • Level Two (A2, B2): 100-250 contact hours of instruction (2nd-year Russian)
  • Level Three (A3, B3): 250-400 contact hours of instruction (3rd-/4th-year Russian)
  • Level Four (A4, B4): more than 400 contact hours of instruction (4th-/5th-year Russian)​
Heritage Speakers
Category C: Students who were born to Russian speaking families and received most or all of their education in English. These students did not have any formal instruction in Russian before college. 
  • Level One (C1): Students who may or may not speak Russian with their families, and who have NOT attended school in Russia or the former Soviet Union and who had to learn reading and writing skills after emigration. These students have had less than 60 contact hours of Russian instruction in college.
  • Level Two (C2): Students who may or may not speak Russian with their families, and who have NOT attended school in Russia or the former Soviet Union and who had to learn reading and writing skills after emigration. These students have had fewer than 120 contact hours of Russian instruction in college.
  • Level Three (C3): Students who speak Russian with their families, and who attended school for fewer than 5 years in Russia or the former Soviet Union and may have had to relearn reading and writing skills after emigration, and who have had fewer than 60 contact hours of instruction in college.
  • Level Four (C4): Students who speak Russian with their families, and who attended school for 5 or more years in Russia or the former Soviet Union and have not had to relearn reading and writing skills.
2021 CONTEST FORMS
2021 Contest Instructions
2021 Declaration and Waiver
Essay Template

​FORMS FOR OTHER YEARS
Contest Instructions
Student Declaration and Waiver
Essay Submission Instructions
CONTACT US
Registration inquiries:
Dr. Jennifer Bown
jennifer_bown@byu.edu

Category placement inquiries: 
Dr. Alla Smyslova
as2157@columbia.edu

Submission inquiries:
Dr. Nina Bond
nbond@fandm.edu
Past Topics and Award Recipients

2021
2020
​2019
2018
2017
​2016
​2015
​2014
​2013