Business Students Join Analytics Competition at Manhattan College in NY

For the second year in a row, a UCA student team has competed in the business analytics competition at Manhattan College. Students in the CISA 4V71 Project Course began in February to analyze the dataset provided by the competition. After months of preparing, teams presented their results to a UCA committee in the form of a poster on May 1. Once the winning team was announced, they began preparing for competition against other university teams in New York City. [Read more…]

All Students Welcome to Compete in COB Homecoming Innovation Challenge

Imagine Lab Innovation Challenge 4: The Homecoming Challenge

Entries due October 29, 2022

Download Details

COB launched this challenge series to help students develop and exhibit their talents in innovation. For this fourth and final open-call opportunity this semester, think about current UCAers and alumni. Think Homecoming 2022 – the pageantry, the festivities, the memories. Current and former students can find something meaningful during Homecoming.

WHO: Any UCA student is welcome to enter this challenge whether you attend UCA online or in person.
WHAT: Imagine Lab Innovation Challenge 4: The Homecoming Challenge
WHEN: 
Video submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, October 29, 2022.
WHY: (1) Prizes. (2) Entry into Tournament of Champions. (3) Bragging rights on your resume.

For Homecoming this week, students are invited to participate in an either/or challenge. Either
(a) design an “official” sticker to be placed on water bottles, personal tech devices, car windows, etc. or
(b) make a music video using the UCA Fight Song as the music and lyrics.

Students from any major or college at any level — both face-to-face and online — can participate in the Innovation Challenge Series.  The deadline is Saturday, October 29, 2022, at midnight to exercise their opportunity-seeking and problem-solving skills.

Using tools found in the Imagine Lab (3rd Floor of UCA’s College of Business), make Homecoming memorable in this core challenge. Then, make a video of yourself highlighting the features of your approach. Upload that video to YouTube and share a link via this form. Please know that the video can be as long as you want, but only the first two (2) minutes will be viewed for prize consideration. Prizes are gift cards valued at $100 for the best approach, $50 for second, and $25 for third. Email for questions or details.

Also, many thanks to Stoby’s for contributing to the first place winner prize!

Be sure to request access to the Imagine Lab via the Department of Marketing & Management: mktgmgmt@uca.edu.

All UCA Students Welcome to Participate in TLC Box Challenge

Innovation Challenge Series at UCA
Challenge 3: Due October 16, 2022
The TLC Box Challenge | Download the Details

Students from any major or college at any level can participate in the Innovation Challenge Series.  The deadline is Sunday, October 16, 2022, at midnight. For this 3rd challenge, think inside the box to brighten someone’s day – and not just any someone. Brighten an Arkansas Children’s Hospital patient’s day. Provide some TLC or Tender Loving Care in a box to a child. Hospitalized children and their families can experience long, and sometimes painful, lonely days. This is not only true in hospitals but also in venues like Ronald McDonald Houses. Unboxing joy, and delivering smiles or laughter, are welcome distractions on most days.

Using tools found in the Imagine Lab (3rd Floor of UCA’s College of Business), help a child unbox some joy in this core challenge. Then, make a video of yourself highlighting the features of your approach. Upload that video to YouTube and share a link via this form. Please know that the video can be as long as you want, but only the first two (2) minutes will be viewed for prize consideration. Prizes are gift cards valued at $100 for the best approach, $50 for second, and $25 for third. Email for questions or details. 

Be sure to request access to the Imagine Lab via the Department of Marketing & Management: mktgmgmt@uca.edu.

Photo by Count Chris on unsplash.com 

Innovation Challenge 2 Winners Announced

Congratulations to our Imagine Lab Innovation Challenge 2 winners: Savannah Conly, Grayson Pinson, and Veronica Bertolusso!

The competition launched early this fall, and this time students were challenged to select a day in September and tell us how to celebrate it in a big way. Using tools found in the Imagine Lab (3rd Floor of UCA’s College of Business), the competition winners designed a big-time celebration that, at the least, brings people together.

Many thanks to Stoby’s, a long-time Arkansas favorite, for contributing to our prizes for our first place winners!

See Related Article: Innovation Challenge Series at UCA: First Winners Announced!


First Place: Savannah Conly – ($100 value prize) + Stoby’s prize

Cinema day is a day all about relaxation, connecting with your friends and family, and having fun. By making this a National Holiday, it brings people together and allows them to enjoy something together. It caters to all ages, it brings people together, and creates a new market for a different spin on gift giving.


Second Place: Grayson Pinson ($50 value prize)

The Birth Day is a day where we recognize everyone’s birthday on one day. It doesn’t replace your actual birthday; instead, it is a day that we can all come together to commonly celebrate one day that we all love. It solves all gift-giving problems related to birthdays. We now have one centralized day that gifts can be expected rather than having to decide who you will gift a gift to on their actual birthday. It is a day I would personally also love to celebrate- it sounds very fun for everyone to have a birthday at the same time.


Third Place: Veronica Bertolusso ($25 value prize)

My proposed day of celebration is the International Student Day! It would be celebrated yearly on September 28. ISD will allow international students (and not!) to get together and appreciate all cultures from around the globe. During ISD international students will celebrated together throughout one big cookout where everyone will make their most loved Home meal and will later be followed by a karaoke night with song in each home language. ISD is celebrated during the first two weeks of Hispanic Heritage Month. However, many cultures not only aren’t celebrated well enough, but some of them are still unknown! ISD would help solve this issue and expand cultural knowledge to international students and not! And who doesn’t love a good cookout and karaoke night!


Congratulations to these winners. Stay tuned for the announcement of our next challenge on Monday, October 10!

Innovation Challenge 2: Due October 2, 2022

Feedback from all types of industries continues to speak to the desire for more creative, innovative, and problem-solving talent. COB has launched this challenge series to help students develop and exhibit their talents in innovation. Get ready to compete!

WHO: Any UCA student is welcome to enter this challenge whether you attend UCA online or in person.
WHAT: Imagine Lab Innovation Challenge 2: The Celebration Challenge
WHEN: 
Video submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, October 2, 2022.
WHY: (1) Prizes. (2) Entry into Tournament of Champions. (3) Bragging rights on your resume.


For challenge 2, select a day in September and tell us how to celebrate it in a big way. Is it a gift-giving occasion? Are specific foods available? At a minimum, bring people together for a celebratory event with this challenge.

One option is to select an existing September day that you believe deserves more festivities (see NationalToday.com listings). Labor Day is one such day that is perhaps not celebrated to the magnitude of October’s Halloween. Another option is to create your own “day.” Either way, make it as grand as your favorite holiday. 

Using tools found in the Imagine Lab (3rd Floor of UCA’s College of Business), design a big-time celebration that brings people together. Then, make a video of yourself highlighting all the specifics. Upload that video to YouTube and share a link via this form. Please know that the video can be as long as you want, but only the first two (2) minutes will be viewed for prize consideration.

Prizes are gift cards valued at $100 for the best big day, $50 for second, and $25 for third. First prize gains entry into the Tournament of Champions set for November 16.

For on-campus students, the Imagine Lab has simple innovation tools available for use.  If students need Imagine Lab access or access to COB over the weekend, they can email mktgmgmt@uca.edu for more information.  For online students, accessing the Imagine Lab is not a requirement to participate.

Want to know more about the first challenge? Check out the competition.

Email for questions or details. Department of Marketing & Management: mktgmgmt@uca.edu 


Photo by Kym MacKinnon on unsplash.com

Innovation Challenge Series at UCA: First Winners Announced!

See related post: Innovation Challenge Series Released at UCA

The first two winners of our new and exciting innovation challenge are Connor Tuttle and Savannah Conly! The competition launched in the COB Imagine Lab last week challenging students to design a suitcase that accommodates clean clothes at the beginning of a trip and dirty clothes during and at the end of a trip. Using tools found in the Imagine Lab (3rd Floor of UCA’s College of Business), the competition winners designed a suitcase that overcomes this core challenge.

Best-upgraded design – $100 value prize: Connor Tuttle

Many thanks to Stoby’s, a long-time Arkansas favorite, for contributing to our prizes for our first place winners!

In his submission, Connor said:
“Imagine a for-the-most-part normal ole’ suitcase, with a golden twist addressing an issue that has been around for decades! The fundamental design premise behind this suitcase is that down the middle of the main compartment there is a stretchy nylon divider that allows for different proportions of clothes to be held on either side depending on how far along you are on your trip! The front-facing section of the suitcase has the typical small, medium, and large compartment. The back, however, is also accessible for dealing with dirty laundry. Taking up approximately half of the top portion of the back-facing side will be a zipper compartment housing all of the tools necessary to temporarily deal with dirty laundry while on the go. Within the flap in the back, there is a mesh-like pocket to slide dryer sheets that have been folded twice right into the space to serve as a form of temporary air freshening.”

Second Place Design – $50 value prize: Savannah Conly

Savannah branded her suitcase and described her design as, “a suitcase designed to help keep you organized, from the beginning to end of a trip. With the detachable laundry bag, clothes rack, and hard shell, it is easier than ever to Rome more organized than ever before. Not only does it offer a way to keep your clean and dirty clothes separate, it offers an at-home closet feel, and you lose no space to pack.

Stay tuned. The first challenge was for students, but we will be engaging other friends on and off campus this semester. Get ready to compete! Teams are welcome. Email for questions or details. And if you plan to compete in the next challenge, request access to the Imagine Lab now!

Department of Marketing & Management: mktgmgmt@uca.edu

COB Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Places First and Second at Regional Conference Competitions

UCA’s Theta Lambda Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi earned a first place win at the 2022 regional conference in the category of Best Practices in the Art of Engagement. Several members worked to create an escape room with a resume theme and offered the escape to teams of students. Harris Felton and Tristen Porter presented the project for the virtual competition. Because of the first place regional win, the Theta Lambda Chapter will compete against the other regional winners in Orlando this summer.

UCA students also earned a 2nd Place regional win for Best Practices in the Art of Change. Chapter members Claire DeBusk, Yulia Lyubchenko, and Kaidan Zheng shared how the Theta Lambda Chapter changed in the face of covid and the increased demands of members.  [Read more…]