diff --git a/prisma/migrations/20260202100000_add_award_ai_toggle/migration.sql b/prisma/migrations/20260202100000_add_award_ai_toggle/migration.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3f241c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/prisma/migrations/20260202100000_add_award_ai_toggle/migration.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+-- AlterTable
+ALTER TABLE "SpecialAward" ADD COLUMN "useAiEligibility" BOOLEAN NOT NULL DEFAULT true;
diff --git a/prisma/schema.prisma b/prisma/schema.prisma
index fbe856f..5708552 100644
--- a/prisma/schema.prisma
+++ b/prisma/schema.prisma
@@ -1090,8 +1090,9 @@ model SpecialAward {
   status           AwardStatus      @default(DRAFT)
 
   // Criteria
-  criteriaText     String?          @db.Text    // Plain-language criteria for AI
-  autoTagRulesJson Json?            @db.JsonB   // Deterministic eligibility rules
+  criteriaText       String?          @db.Text    // Plain-language criteria for AI
+  autoTagRulesJson   Json?            @db.JsonB   // Deterministic eligibility rules
+  useAiEligibility   Boolean          @default(true) // Whether AI evaluates eligibility
 
   // Scoring
   scoringMode      AwardScoringMode @default(PICK_WINNER)
diff --git a/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/[id]/page.tsx b/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/[id]/page.tsx
index bda010e..3a4d4d5 100644
--- a/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/[id]/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/[id]/page.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {
 import { Badge } from '@/components/ui/badge'
 import { Skeleton } from '@/components/ui/skeleton'
 import { Switch } from '@/components/ui/switch'
+import { Label } from '@/components/ui/label'
 import {
   Table,
   TableBody,
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ export default function AwardDetailPage({
     trpc.specialAward.listJurors.useQuery({ awardId })
   const { data: voteResults } =
     trpc.specialAward.getVoteResults.useQuery({ awardId })
-  const { data: allUsers } = trpc.user.list.useQuery({ page: 1, perPage: 200 })
+  const { data: allUsers } = trpc.user.list.useQuery({ page: 1, perPage: 100 })
 
   const updateStatus = trpc.specialAward.updateStatus.useMutation()
   const runEligibility = trpc.specialAward.runEligibility.useMutation()
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ export default function AwardDetailPage({
   const setWinner = trpc.specialAward.setWinner.useMutation()
 
   const [selectedJurorId, setSelectedJurorId] = useState('')
+  const [includeSubmitted, setIncludeSubmitted] = useState(true)
 
   const handleStatusChange = async (
     status: 'DRAFT' | 'NOMINATIONS_OPEN' | 'VOTING_OPEN' | 'CLOSED' | 'ARCHIVED'
@@ -103,7 +105,7 @@ export default function AwardDetailPage({
 
   const handleRunEligibility = async () => {
     try {
-      const result = await runEligibility.mutateAsync({ awardId })
+      const result = await runEligibility.mutateAsync({ awardId, includeSubmitted })
       toast.success(
         `Eligibility run: ${result.eligible} eligible, ${result.ineligible} ineligible`
       )
@@ -201,7 +203,7 @@ export default function AwardDetailPage({
               {award.status.replace('_', ' ')}
             </Badge>
             <span className="text-muted-foreground">
-              {award.program.name}
+              {award.program.year} Edition
             </span>
           </div>
         </div>
@@ -262,23 +264,55 @@ export default function AwardDetailPage({
 
         {/* Eligibility Tab */}
         <TabsContent value="eligibility" className="space-y-4">
-          <div className="flex justify-between items-center">
+          <div className="flex flex-col gap-3 sm:flex-row sm:justify-between sm:items-center">
             <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground">
               {award.eligibleCount} of {award._count.eligibilities} projects
               eligible
             </p>
-            <Button
-              onClick={handleRunEligibility}
-              disabled={runEligibility.isPending}
-            >
-              {runEligibility.isPending ? (
-                <Loader2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
+            <div className="flex items-center gap-4">
+              <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
+                <Switch
+                  id="include-submitted"
+                  checked={includeSubmitted}
+                  onCheckedChange={setIncludeSubmitted}
+                />
+                <Label htmlFor="include-submitted" className="text-sm whitespace-nowrap">
+                  Include submitted
+                </Label>
+              </div>
+              {award.useAiEligibility ? (
+                <Button
+                  onClick={handleRunEligibility}
+                  disabled={runEligibility.isPending}
+                >
+                  {runEligibility.isPending ? (
+                    <Loader2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
+                  ) : (
+                    <Brain className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                  )}
+                  Run AI Eligibility
+                </Button>
               ) : (
-                <Brain className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                <Button
+                  onClick={handleRunEligibility}
+                  disabled={runEligibility.isPending}
+                  variant="outline"
+                >
+                  {runEligibility.isPending ? (
+                    <Loader2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4 animate-spin" />
+                  ) : (
+                    <CheckCircle2 className="mr-2 h-4 w-4" />
+                  )}
+                  Load All Projects
+                </Button>
               )}
-              Run AI Eligibility
-            </Button>
+            </div>
           </div>
+          {!award.useAiEligibility && (
+            <p className="text-sm text-muted-foreground italic">
+              AI eligibility is off for this award. Projects are loaded for manual selection.
+            </p>
+          )}
 
           {eligibilityData && eligibilityData.eligibilities.length > 0 ? (
             <Card>
diff --git a/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/new/page.tsx b/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/new/page.tsx
index cd11404..6576227 100644
--- a/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/new/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(admin)/admin/awards/new/page.tsx
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import {
   SelectTrigger,
   SelectValue,
 } from '@/components/ui/select'
+import { Switch } from '@/components/ui/switch'
 import { toast } from 'sonner'
 import { ArrowLeft, Save, Loader2 } from 'lucide-react'
 
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ export default function CreateAwardPage() {
   const [scoringMode, setScoringMode] = useState<
     'PICK_WINNER' | 'RANKED' | 'SCORED'
   >('PICK_WINNER')
+  const [useAiEligibility, setUseAiEligibility] = useState(true)
   const [maxRankedPicks, setMaxRankedPicks] = useState('3')
   const [programId, setProgramId] = useState('')
 
@@ -47,6 +49,7 @@ export default function CreateAwardPage() {
         name: name.trim(),
         description: description.trim() || undefined,
         criteriaText: criteriaText.trim() || undefined,
+        useAiEligibility,
         scoringMode,
         maxRankedPicks:
           scoringMode === 'RANKED' ? parseInt(maxRankedPicks) : undefined,
@@ -140,6 +143,21 @@ export default function CreateAwardPage() {
             </p>
           </div>
 
+          <div className="flex items-center justify-between rounded-lg border p-4">
+            <div className="space-y-0.5">
+              <Label htmlFor="ai-toggle">AI Eligibility</Label>
+              <p className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
+                Use AI to automatically evaluate project eligibility based on the criteria above.
+                Turn off for awards decided by feeling or manual selection.
+              </p>
+            </div>
+            <Switch
+              id="ai-toggle"
+              checked={useAiEligibility}
+              onCheckedChange={setUseAiEligibility}
+            />
+          </div>
+
           <div className="grid gap-4 sm:grid-cols-2">
             <div className="space-y-2">
               <Label htmlFor="scoring">Scoring Mode</Label>
diff --git a/src/server/routers/specialAward.ts b/src/server/routers/specialAward.ts
index 621a393..a9d357e 100644
--- a/src/server/routers/specialAward.ts
+++ b/src/server/routers/specialAward.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ export const specialAwardRouter = router({
             select: { id: true, title: true, teamName: true },
           },
           program: {
-            select: { id: true, name: true },
+            select: { id: true, name: true, year: true },
           },
         },
       })
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ export const specialAwardRouter = router({
         name: z.string().min(1),
         description: z.string().optional(),
         criteriaText: z.string().optional(),
+        useAiEligibility: z.boolean().optional(),
         scoringMode: z.enum(['PICK_WINNER', 'RANKED', 'SCORED']),
         maxRankedPicks: z.number().int().min(1).max(20).optional(),
         autoTagRulesJson: z.record(z.unknown()).optional(),
@@ -102,6 +103,7 @@ export const specialAwardRouter = router({
           name: input.name,
           description: input.description,
           criteriaText: input.criteriaText,
+          useAiEligibility: input.useAiEligibility ?? true,
           scoringMode: input.scoringMode,
           maxRankedPicks: input.maxRankedPicks,
           autoTagRulesJson: input.autoTagRulesJson as Prisma.InputJsonValue ?? undefined,
@@ -130,6 +132,7 @@ export const specialAwardRouter = router({
         name: z.string().min(1).optional(),
         description: z.string().optional(),
         criteriaText: z.string().optional(),
+        useAiEligibility: z.boolean().optional(),
         scoringMode: z.enum(['PICK_WINNER', 'RANKED', 'SCORED']).optional(),
         maxRankedPicks: z.number().int().min(1).max(20).optional(),
         autoTagRulesJson: z.record(z.unknown()).optional(),
@@ -220,18 +223,24 @@ export const specialAwardRouter = router({
    * Run auto-tag + AI eligibility
    */
   runEligibility: adminProcedure
-    .input(z.object({ awardId: z.string() }))
+    .input(z.object({
+      awardId: z.string(),
+      includeSubmitted: z.boolean().optional(),
+    }))
     .mutation(async ({ ctx, input }) => {
       const award = await ctx.prisma.specialAward.findUniqueOrThrow({
         where: { id: input.awardId },
         include: { program: true },
       })
 
-      // Get all projects in the program's rounds
+      // Get projects in the program's rounds
+      const statusFilter = input.includeSubmitted
+        ? (['SUBMITTED', 'ELIGIBLE', 'ASSIGNED', 'SEMIFINALIST', 'FINALIST'] as const)
+        : (['ELIGIBLE', 'ASSIGNED', 'SEMIFINALIST', 'FINALIST'] as const)
       const projects = await ctx.prisma.project.findMany({
         where: {
           round: { programId: award.programId },
-          status: { in: ['ELIGIBLE', 'ASSIGNED', 'SEMIFINALIST', 'FINALIST'] },
+          status: { in: [...statusFilter] },
         },
         select: {
           id: true,
@@ -259,9 +268,9 @@ export const specialAwardRouter = router({
         autoResults = applyAutoTagRules(autoTagRules, projects)
       }
 
-      // Phase 2: AI interpretation (if criteria text exists)
+      // Phase 2: AI interpretation (if criteria text exists AND AI eligibility is enabled)
       let aiResults: Map<string, { eligible: boolean; confidence: number; reasoning: string }> | undefined
-      if (award.criteriaText) {
+      if (award.criteriaText && award.useAiEligibility) {
         const aiEvals = await aiInterpretCriteria(award.criteriaText, projects)
         aiResults = new Map(
           aiEvals.map((e) => [