The University of Texas at Austin was selected as one of twelve universities to compete in a nationwide campus competition to raise awareness about the long-term U.S. fiscal debt challenge. Many economists believe that a debt-to-GDP ratio of 60 percent or less is a desirable fiscal goal. The U.S. public debt is 70 percent, and the Congressional Budget Office predicts that it will climb to nearly 100 percent of GDP by 2024 and more than 200 percent by 2040.

The University of Texas at Austin team is being led by McCombs undergraduate Hamid Poorsafar and includes Grace Fu, Philip Wiseman, McCombs alumni Novin Ghaffari, and Carter Pearson. The team’s goal is to bring together the campus community and start the conversation needed to solve the fiscal debt. The campaign will begin in January and will include a variety of ways to get involved including arrangement of a speaker series.

The first step to get involved is to join us through our Causes page; this is where we will be consolidating all our communication efforts. Please sign up and join our Cause by clicking through the following link: http://www.causes.com/hookthedebt

Also, please join us on our Facebook, and Twitter.

The Student Activity Center is excited to launch a brand new photography contest: Through Our Eyes.

Through Our Eyes captures campus life on the 40 Acres through student photography. Each semester, students are encouraged to submit their own photographs portraying a different theme or element of student life. Open-ended themes allow students the freedom to create unique and personal entries. A panel of students, faculty, and staff will judge the submissions and the top fourteen entries will be on display in the Student Activity Center (on the first floor hallway outside the Auditorium) for a full semester.

This semester the contest is focused on the theme of “Student Activities.” Students interested in participating in the contest may submit their photographs on student activities on campus via e-mail to throughoureyes@universityunions.utexas.edu. The contest runs through October 31st and all submission details can be found here:  https://www.utexas.edu/universityunions/node/531

This year marks the 22^nd anniversary of Deloitte Consulting’s Annual McCombs Case Competition.  Deloitte would like to include approximately 18 BBA Juniors in the competition this year.  Through the inclusion of standout undergraduate students, Deloitte hopes to more closely mirror the typical composition of a Deloitte Consulting engagement team.

One BBA student will be selected to serve as an Analyst on each competition team that will consist of 4 MBA students.  Selected students will be expected to contribute to their assigned case team by exhibiting the following skills:

• Conduct targeted primary and secondary research
• Perform analysis
• Summarize appropriate conclusions
• Contribute to the creation of team presentations and other documents
• Demonstrate strong communication skills and the ability to convey complex ideas in clear, concise fashion
• Exhibit client presence and contribute in meetings
• Identify, document and escalate any project issues
• Provide overall support for the case competition team

Awards:
1^st place team- $3,500
2^nd place team- $1,000
3^rd place team- $500

Read the rest of this entry »