diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/tracks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/tracks_controller.rb
index 0eed1b2d..2cb6ec2b 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/tracks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/tracks_controller.rb
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ module Admin
 
     def create
       @track = @program.tracks.new(track_params)
+      @track.state = 'confirmed'
       if @track.save
         redirect_to admin_conference_program_tracks_path(conference_id: @conference.short_title),
                     notice: 'Track successfully created.'
diff --git a/app/controllers/tracks_controller.rb b/app/controllers/tracks_controller.rb
index 529767cd..59deae3c 100644
--- a/app/controllers/tracks_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/tracks_controller.rb
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ class TracksController < ApplicationController
   def create
     @track = @program.tracks.new(track_params)
     @track.submitter = current_user
-    @track.state = 'new'
     @track.cfp_active = false
     if @track.save
       redirect_to conference_program_tracks_path(conference_id: @conference.short_title),
diff --git a/app/models/track.rb b/app/models/track.rb
index f29babde..a53471bc 100644
--- a/app/models/track.rb
+++ b/app/models/track.rb
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ class Track < ActiveRecord::Base
             inclusion: { in: %w(new to_accept accepted confirmed to_reject rejected canceled withdrawn) },
             if: :self_organized?
   validates :cfp_active, inclusion: { in: [true, false] }, if: :self_organized?
-  validates :start_date, presence: true, if: :accepted_or_confirmed?
-  validates :end_date, presence: true, if: :accepted_or_confirmed?
-  validates :room, presence: true, if: :accepted_or_confirmed?
-  validate :valid_dates, if: :accepted_or_confirmed?
+  validates :start_date, presence: true, if: :self_organized_and_accepted_or_confirmed?
+  validates :end_date, presence: true, if: :self_organized_and_accepted_or_confirmed?
+  validates :room, presence: true, if: :self_organized_and_accepted_or_confirmed?
+  validate :valid_dates, if: :self_organized_and_accepted_or_confirmed?
 
   before_validation :capitalize_color
 
@@ -129,12 +129,12 @@ class Track < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   ##
-  # Checks if the track is accepted or confirmed
+  # Checks if a self-organized track is accepted or confirmed
   # ====Returns
   # * +true+ -> If the track's state is 'accepted' or 'confirmed'
   # * +false+ -> If the track's state is neither 'accepted' nor 'confirmed'
-  def accepted_or_confirmed?
-    accepted? || confirmed?
+  def self_organized_and_accepted_or_confirmed?
+    self_organized? && (accepted? || confirmed?)
   end
 
   private
diff --git a/app/views/admin/tracks/index.html.haml b/app/views/admin/tracks/index.html.haml
index 82167bb8..4da97a18 100644
--- a/app/views/admin/tracks/index.html.haml
+++ b/app/views/admin/tracks/index.html.haml
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
               - if track.self_organized?
                 = track.state
               - else
-                N/A
+                = track.state.humanize
             %td
               - if track.self_organized?
                 = check_box_tag "#{@conference.short_title}_#{track.short_name}", track.id, track.cfp_active,
diff --git a/db/migrate/20170715131706_make_track_state_not_null_and_add_default_value.rb b/db/migrate/20170715131706_make_track_state_not_null_and_add_default_value.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3d2520cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20170715131706_make_track_state_not_null_and_add_default_value.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+class MakeTrackStateNotNullAndAddDefaultValue < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  class TmpTrack < ActiveRecord::Base
+    self.table_name = 'tracks'
+  end
+
+  def change
+    TmpTrack.where(state: nil).each do |track|
+      track.state = 'confirmed'
+      track.save!
+    end
+
+    change_column :tracks, :state, :string, null: false, default: 'new'
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index d3e14687..aa2f160d 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -511,15 +511,15 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(version: 20170807092805) do
   end
 
   create_table "tracks", force: :cascade do |t|
-    t.string   "guid",         null: false
-    t.string   "name",         null: false
+    t.string   "guid",                         null: false
+    t.string   "name",                         null: false
     t.text     "description"
     t.string   "color"
     t.datetime "created_at"
     t.datetime "updated_at"
     t.integer  "program_id"
-    t.string   "short_name",   null: false
-    t.string   "state"
+    t.string   "short_name",                   null: false
+    t.string   "state",        default: "new", null: false
     t.boolean  "cfp_active"
     t.integer  "submitter_id"
     t.integer  "room_id"
diff --git a/spec/controllers/admin/tracks_controller_spec.rb b/spec/controllers/admin/tracks_controller_spec.rb
index 2177af2f..ed76fe68 100644
--- a/spec/controllers/admin/tracks_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/controllers/admin/tracks_controller_spec.rb
@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@ describe Admin::TracksController do
       it 'creates new track' do
         expect(Track.find(assigns(:track).id)).to be_a Track
       end
+
+      it 'the new tracks has the correct attributes' do
+        expect(assigns(:track).state).to eq 'confirmed'
+      end
     end
 
     context 'save fails' do
diff --git a/spec/factories/tracks.rb b/spec/factories/tracks.rb
index 091d8d07..d30a686e 100644
--- a/spec/factories/tracks.rb
+++ b/spec/factories/tracks.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ FactoryGirl.define do
     description { Faker::Lorem.sentence }
     color { Faker::Color.hex_color }
     short_name { SecureRandom.urlsafe_base64(5) }
+    state 'confirmed'
     program
 
     trait :self_organized do