Competition Rules

DATA ETHICS CASE COMPETITION RULES and GUIDE

Top Ten Reasons to Participate:

1. Experiential learning that bridges your classroom learning with a real-life situation and important questions for the future.
2. Network with students from multiple disciplines, and with corporate judges.
3. Enhance your communication and decision-making skills.
4. $5,000  scholarship money:  1^st place $2,500; 2^nd place $1,500; 3^rd place $1,000 (divided among team members)
5. Chance to make an impact by sharing unique, creative recommendations about data-driven ethical decisions
6. A chance to set yourself apart from other job/internship applicants

Eligibility and Composition of Teams:

• Team members must be enrolled Virginia Tech students.
• It is highly recommended that teams be diverse; case analysis will likely be difficult without a trans-disciplinary team, and scores will be negatively affected by a one dimensional approach.
• Teams must consist of three or four members.
• Each team must designate a team leader who will file the documents and receive communication for the team.

Individual and Team Registration:

• In order to view the documents for the case competition, individuals must register on the Canvas site.
•  Please email cbia@vt.edu with any questions.
• Teams must register by March 10^th.

The Case:

• All teams will receive access to the case on March 12^th.
• The written summary and the PowerPoint slides deadline for posting on Canvas: March 20. No changes to the written material may be made after this point.  
• Preliminary Round of Case Presentations: March 21.
• Final Competition: March 23.
• When the case is released, a more specific rubric for judging will also be posted—please review this rubric.
• Consultation or discussion with anyone outside the team is prohibited. No team member may discuss the case with anyone outside the team; teams will be disqualified if this occurs.
• Teams may incorporate feedback from the judges in the Preliminary Round into the March 23 Final Oral Presentation Round (but not the PowerPoints)

The Presentation:

• Presentation time: 12 min with 5 min additional for Q&A.
• Presentation must be in PowerPoint format; no more than 10 slides allowed, not counting the team introductory slide.
• The first slide of the PowerPoint presentation must contain the team name and names of the team members.
• Business professional attire is required for the presentation on March 21^st and March 23^rd.
• All members of the team must present a portion of the case to the judges, however, all team members do not need to speak the same amount of time.

The Summary:

• Length limited to three single spaced pages, 12 point type. It may be shorter.
• See the judging rubric for more information; this is a summary of the ethical issues identified and an explanation of the recommendations for the business.
• A title page and a resources-used page are required and are not part of the three page limit.

Overview of Expectations:

• Identification of ethical issues
• Application of multiple modes of ethical decision making
• Understanding the context of the case as it applies to the issues
• Recommendations for the business that are supported by ethical data science and management reasoning
• Technical solutions can be considered, but are not the goal of the case.

Presentation Scheduling:

• On March 21st your team will make the first presentation.
• You will need to schedule the presentation. Email cbia@vt.edu for scheduling.
• Presentation schedule is 4pm -8pm. These presentations are private, only your team and the judges will be in the room.

Timeline:

• Sign up via Canvas: https://canvas.vt.edu/enroll/PAY7RW    Deadline for sign up is March 10th.
• March 12th Case Release – via Canvas.
• March 20th Case Due- Submit through Canvas.
• March 21^st  Preliminary Presentations & selection of teams for March 23 final presentation.
• March 23rd Final presentation; and winners announced.
• Questions:  cbia@vt.edu