The College of Business Administration Honors Academy at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln took two teams of students to compete in a case competition at the National Collegiate Leadership Conference at the University of Arizona in Tucson from February 12-14. DeAnna Masterson, a junior marketing and global studies major from Lincoln, and Magella Swanson, a junior international business major from Doniphan, Nebraska, won first place out of the 15 teams from universities across the nation.
“DeAnna and Magella stood out from the other competitors with their conversational, yet well-prepared presentation,” said Becka Neary-DeLaPorte, coordinator for the CBA Honors Academy, who helped the students prepare for the competition and accompanied them on the trip. “This win speaks to the caliber of students we have here at CBA.”
Masterson (left) and Swanson present poster
For the competition, the University of Arizona partnered with the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona to develop a challenge for participants. Students analyzed the Food Bank’s current gleaning program – through which they salvage fresh food in the region and distribute it to those in need – and developed a plan to expand and organize the program in a way that benefits the organization and its stakeholders.
Each team explained pros and cons of the current program, developed a community asset map of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona’s regional resources and made a comparison with another non-profit organization with an effective gleaming system to offer further insight on what improvements the food bank could make.
Teams first created a poster incorporating their ideas. For the final round they were to create a digital presentation to better elaborate on their plan for the food bank.
This was the first year UNL was invited to the NCLC Case Competition. Other UNL students who competed included Timothy Blaser, a junior actuarial science major from Bloomington, Illinois, and Stephanie Brummond, a junior management major from Omaha, Nebraska, and Daniel Woodworth, a junior finance major from Papillion, Nebraska.
Published: February 16, 2016