OtterBox has partnered with the College of Business for the second year in a row to sponsor the OtterBox Ethics Challenge for undergraduate students. A team of four Colorado State University students will win free in-state tuition and be crowned OtterBox Ethics Scholars as part of the second annual OtterBox Ethics Competition. Teams of eligible students must sign-up by Oct. 18 at 10 a.m. to compete for the first place the in-state tuition prize.
Additional students will receive partial scholarships at the end of the four-week competition, which combines written case analysis with an in-person presentation in a tournament-style elimination competition. The competition is open to all full-time undergraduate students who have passed or are in enrolled in “Ethics in Contemporary Organizations” (BUS220) and who will be enrolled in the Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 semesters.
The competition gives students an opportunity put the ethical business skills they develop in the classroom to the test in a real-world setting. In the first round, teams of students submit a written analysis of a challenging ethical dilemma. The ten teams with the most compelling written analysis advance to the final round, where they’re paired with professional mentors from Otter Products. Drawing on their mentors’ guidance, the ten teams develop another response to a second ethical dilemma and present their final analysis to a panel of judges on Nov. 21. Winners are announced at a dinner and ceremony that night.
“Ethics is at the very core of our College of Business’s principles and is deeply embedded throughout our business curriculum,” said Beth Walker, CSU Dean of the College of Business. “The integration of ethical decision-making into the everyday lives of students, faculty, and staff is one of our most important commitments. I’m delighted to once again partner with OtterBox, a company that champions personal and professional ethics, in alignment with the College’s mission.”
A partnership in ethics education
The competition returns in 2019 with the support of OtterBox, which donated $100,000 to fund the initiative. In addition to providing a year of in-state tuition to the winning team of four, all members of the second- and third-place team receive scholarships of $1,000 and $500.
Even students who don’t win scholarships emerge from the competition with valuable experience about what it takes to make ethical decisions as a business leader. The partnership with OtterBox, and direct interaction with professional mentors, offers participants valuable exposure to corporate viewpoints that accentuate academic skills.
“Actually using ethics in a real-world situation made the things I’m learning in the Business school come to life and made me realize these skills will come in handy at some point in my career. This makes me really confident that I’m going in the right direction,” said 2018 OtterBox Scholar Tori Chao.”
More information
The deadline to sign up for the OtterBox Ethics Challenge is 10 a.m. Oct. 18. For complete competition and scholarship details, visit https://biz.colostate.edu/events/2019/october/otterbox-ethics-challenge.
